We can distract ourselves from what we’re doing 345,600 times a day, and this number can actually be reached if we have a procrastinating brain. Various stimuli try to steal our attention when we’re engaged in an activity, like that quick glance at the phone when we’re in the middle of work, but it’s not all darkness. If you didn’t resist this time, you probably resisted many other distractions.
Attention is not just the act of focusing on something but also what our brain chooses to learn. Investigating the brain patterns of people trying to focus on something, computational neuroscientist Mehdi Ordikhani-Seyedlar hopes to build a platform that can be used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and help people who have lost their communication abilities.
Watch more about this fascinating study in the video below, from a talk given at a TED-style conference event. In it, Mehdi Ordikhani-Seyedlar presents his key findings and shares very interesting insights about attention.
A good way to stay more focused on a task is by creating a barrier between you and distractions.
Microsoft conducted a study with its employees and found that when we get distracted by email or message notifications, it takes about 15 minutes to return to the level of concentration we had before. So try picking up your phone and turning off all non-essential notifications.
Do you work with it? Then, if possible, set specific times to check messages because constantly being on alert with your phone compromises your focus on any other activity you’re doing.
