Have We Lost the Ability to Focus?

It’s always taken me a while to start working on something. Procrastinating has been a lifelong ailment for me. However, when I did manage to get started, nothing could break my concentration. I would go into “deep work” mode and not snap out of it until I was done.

Yet these days, I can’t seem to focus on anything for too long. Getting started still remains a problem and in addition to that concentrating has become a challenge.

It doesn’t really have to do with notifications on my phone. I know this because firstly, most of my notifications are muted and secondly, I never feel the need to check the what’s popped up on the screen. Yet, when I sit to do something, I can seem to get keep my attention on it.

I find myself trying to read a book or an article and then randomly remembering something. At this point, I’ll grab my phone and start looking it up and from there, I’ll look up something else and then another. Before I know it, almost an hour has gone by and I haven’t really done anything all that productive.

Could it be that the distraction caused by our phones have seemed into the very fabric of our natures? So much so that we can’t concentrate on anything for too long. This scares me a little. I find myself wondering if I can ever go back to giving things my undivided attention.

Have we lost the ability to focus?

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