Inevitably, these factors wear down on our ability to focus throughout the day, exhausting our limited attention spans and willpower. Attention relies on other mental abilities doing their jobs, too - like working memory kind of like your brain's RAM , inhibition inhibiting off-task stimuli or mental behaviors , and mental flexibility shifting between and synthesizing concepts.

There are an infinite number of things happening around us at all times, but the brain can only process so much. To illustrate how our brains decide what to pay attention to, psychologists use the classic example of a cocktail party.

At this cocktail party, you could focus on any number of stimuli in a room: the music playing, the sound of glasses clinking, the person walking by, or the conversation happening behind you. But say someone walks by and says your name.

Of course, for someone with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD or autism spectrum disorder ASD , this process can be more difficult.

Both conditions present challenges with executive functioning 2 , which includes attention and focus. This can be compounded by overly sensitive sensory systems 3 , which make it easier to focus on certain sounds and stimuli in the environment and harder to tune other ones out.

You can read more about how ASD and ADHD affect women specifically in our wellness trend. The most obvious example of how technology grabs our attention is through push notifications. Pings and pop-ups divert us from the task at hand and into our feeds or inboxes.

The brain relies on past examples to interpret new information. The study also found that with more phone usage came more phantom phone signals. In a review from the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine , researchers found that even the healthiest brain can miss major differences between two images when interrupted with a flash of light.

They hypothesize that similar distractions say, a pop-up alert or other digital notification also have the ability to completely derail your attention 5. It's clear that our society has a serious problem with attention.

The inability to focus can decrease your productivity at work, make it more difficult to complete personal chores, and even impact your relationships if you've ever zoned out in the middle of your friend's story or reached for your phone during dinner with your partner, you know the result is less than desirable.

Thankfully, recent research indicates there are scientifically proven ways to stay more present and focused. A study from the Harvard Business Review found the average worker switches tasks 1, times per day. This persistent bouncing from one thing to the next can have detrimental effects on our focus and performance.

Case in point: A observational study found that office workers spent an average of only 11 minutes working on one project before switching to another.

Once interrupted, participants took an average of 25 minutes and 26 seconds to resume their work, only after switching their focus to an average of 2. Some of this is unavoidable and built into the nature of a job. So, if you must ping between tasks, consider stopping to take a breath between each one—it may save you time and improve your accuracy in the long run.

In a Psychological and Cognitive Sciences study evaluating over college students , heavy multitaskers were shown to be more distracted by irrelevant information on the screen, less capable of filtering out irrelevant memories of past experiments and examples, slower to respond when distracting information was present, and slower to respond when asked to switch tasks—something to remember the next time you open TikTok or Twitter while watching TV.

Meditation can alter your brain chemistry and has a slew of worthwhile benefits : including an improved attention. While keeping a regular meditation practice is ideal, a Frontiers in Human Neuroscience review found even just one ten-minute guided meditation can improve your ability to pay attention for longer 9.

Not sure where to start? Check out our favorite meditation apps there are options for every budget and experience level. Here are a few:. Hint: These are our favorites. It serves as the raw materials the brain uses to create ATP, which provides energy for many metabolic processes. While some functions e.

With this complexity comes variability—i. To better understand your own attention span, Ricker recommends keeping a work log. Set aside a specific amount of time to get work done and set a timer.

Once the time is up, rate yourself on whether you completed the task, how focused you were, and whether you were in a state of flow. Plus, the log of your good days can be motivating. Maintaining focus can feel like an increasingly uphill battle. On the bright side, there are expert-backed practices we can implement to preserve our attention.

Limiting multitasking, deepening your meditation practice, and figuring out which times and in which environments you work best can all help. For additional support, consider taking a targeted focus supplement. Being dehydrated for only two hours leads to trouble focusing and processing information.

Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD is a class of neurodevelopmental disorders that lead to social, communication, and behavioral difficulties. Those diagnosed with ASD may struggle to convey feelings, relate to others, repeat certain behaviors, or have a fear of people touching them.

But if no amount of physical wellness improves your focus, it might be time to check for a deeper cause. It also improves your overall performance and effectiveness in the workplace. Here are some additional benefits of increasing attention span. Being able to focus for extended periods of time helps you work smarter, not harder.

Sustained attention during working hours helps you cover more ground and stay ahead of the curve. Following strategies to increase focus and improve your attention span helps you devote your mental resources to the task at hand and improves your performance.

No matter the activity, concentration and attention are key to effectiveness. Part of that means achieving a flow state , referring to the ability to fully immerse yourself in a task.

It demands that the difficulty of your task only slightly exceeds your ability. And if your job is too hard, motivating yourself to do the impossible makes it hard to focus. A greater attention span will help you find the right level of difficulty to best focus. When you have an increased attention span, you have an increased capacity to listen, allowing you to better hear people out and make an informed response.

That can be especially important at work, where coworkers or customers may have significant concerns or issues that need addressing. With an improved attention span, not only can you focus on what someone says, but you can deliver what they need.

You might even make more friends at work. Increasing your attention span brings many benefits, for you and your employer. And by implementing the above-listed strategies, you can hone your focus and concentration levels, perform your best, and help your company reach its goals.

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Automatic notifications prompt engagement with technology at random intervals throughout the day, priming you for a dopamine hit of bright lights or social reinforcement. This constant multitasking wears on our ability to filter out irrelevant information. Inevitably, these factors wear down on our ability to focus throughout the day, exhausting our limited attention spans and willpower.

Attention relies on other mental abilities doing their jobs, too - like working memory kind of like your brain's RAM , inhibition inhibiting off-task stimuli or mental behaviors , and mental flexibility shifting between and synthesizing concepts. There are an infinite number of things happening around us at all times, but the brain can only process so much.

To illustrate how our brains decide what to pay attention to, psychologists use the classic example of a cocktail party. At this cocktail party, you could focus on any number of stimuli in a room: the music playing, the sound of glasses clinking, the person walking by, or the conversation happening behind you.

But say someone walks by and says your name. Of course, for someone with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD or autism spectrum disorder ASD , this process can be more difficult. Both conditions present challenges with executive functioning 2 , which includes attention and focus.

This can be compounded by overly sensitive sensory systems 3 , which make it easier to focus on certain sounds and stimuli in the environment and harder to tune other ones out.

You can read more about how ASD and ADHD affect women specifically in our wellness trend. The most obvious example of how technology grabs our attention is through push notifications.

Pings and pop-ups divert us from the task at hand and into our feeds or inboxes. The brain relies on past examples to interpret new information. The study also found that with more phone usage came more phantom phone signals.

In a review from the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine , researchers found that even the healthiest brain can miss major differences between two images when interrupted with a flash of light.

They hypothesize that similar distractions say, a pop-up alert or other digital notification also have the ability to completely derail your attention 5. It's clear that our society has a serious problem with attention. The inability to focus can decrease your productivity at work, make it more difficult to complete personal chores, and even impact your relationships if you've ever zoned out in the middle of your friend's story or reached for your phone during dinner with your partner, you know the result is less than desirable.

Thankfully, recent research indicates there are scientifically proven ways to stay more present and focused.

A study from the Harvard Business Review found the average worker switches tasks 1, times per day. This persistent bouncing from one thing to the next can have detrimental effects on our focus and performance.

Case in point: A observational study found that office workers spent an average of only 11 minutes working on one project before switching to another.

Once interrupted, participants took an average of 25 minutes and 26 seconds to resume their work, only after switching their focus to an average of 2. Some of this is unavoidable and built into the nature of a job.

So, if you must ping between tasks, consider stopping to take a breath between each one—it may save you time and improve your accuracy in the long run. In a Psychological and Cognitive Sciences study evaluating over college students , heavy multitaskers were shown to be more distracted by irrelevant information on the screen, less capable of filtering out irrelevant memories of past experiments and examples, slower to respond when distracting information was present, and slower to respond when asked to switch tasks—something to remember the next time you open TikTok or Twitter while watching TV.

It might feel counterintuitive when you feel unable to concentrate, but remember that you choose where you focus. It's tough to concentrate when your mind is always in the past and worrying about the future.

Acknowledge the impact, what you felt, and what you learned from it, then let it go. Similarly, acknowledge your concerns about the future, consider how you are experiencing that anxiety in your body, then choose to let it go.

We want to train our mental resources to focus on the details of what matters at the moment. Our minds go in the direction we choose to focus. Take a short break.

This also might seem counterintuitive, but when you focus on something for a long time, your focus may begin to die down. You may feel more and more difficulty devoting your attention to the task.

Researchers have found that our brains tend to ignore sources of constant stimulation. Taking very small breaks by refocusing your attention elsewhere can dramatically improve mental concentration after that. The next time you are working on a project, take a break when you begin to feel stuck.

Move around, talk to someone, or even switch to a different type of task. You will come back with a more focused mind to keep your performance high. Connect with nature. Research has found that even having plants in office spaces can help increase concentration and productivity, as well as workplace satisfaction and better air quality.

Finding time to take a walk in the park or appreciating the plants or flowers in your garden can boost your concentration and help you feel refreshed. Train your brain.

Scientific research is starting to amass evidence on the ability of brain training activities to enhance cognitive abilities, including concentration, in adults.

Such brain training games for concentration can also help you develop your working and short-term memory, as well as your processing and problem-solving skills.

Examples of such games include jigsaw puzzles, sudoku, chess, and brain-stimulating video games. Start your day with simple exercise and get your body moving. According to the May issue of the Harvard Men's Health Watch, regular exercise releases chemicals key for memory, concentration, and mental sharpness.

Other research found that exercise can boost the brain's dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin levels and all these will affect focus and attention. Individuals who do some form of exercise or sports perform better on cognitive tasks when compared with those who have poor physical health.

Physical movement helps relax the muscles and relieve tension in the body. Since the body and mind are so closely linked, when your body feels better so, too, will your mind. Listen to music.

Music has been shown to have therapeutic effects on our brains. Light music may help you to concentrate better, but some music may distract you.

Experts generally agree that classical music and nature sounds, such as water flowing, are good choices for concentration while music with lyrics and human voices may be distracting.

Multiple apps and services offer background music and soundscapes designed for different types of focus and work needs. Eat well. Choose foods that moderate blood sugar, maintain energy, and fuel the brain. Fruits, vegetables, and high-fiber foods can keep your blood sugar levels even.

Reduce sugary foods and drinks that cause spikes and dips in your sugar levels make you feel dizzy or drowsy. Your brain needs lots of good fat to function properly. Nuts, berries, avocados, and coconut oil are all great ways to get healthy fats into your diet and help your brain run more smoothly.

Research has found that foods like blueberries can boost concentration and memory for up to 5 hours after consumption due to an enzyme that stimulates the flow of oxygen and blood to the brain, helping with memory as well as our ability to focus and learn new information.

Leafy green vegetables such as spinach contain potassium which accelerates the connections between neurons and can make our brain more responsive. Set a daily priority.

Write down what you want to accomplish each day , ideally the night before, and identify a single priority that you commit to accomplishing.

This will help focus your brain on what matters, tackling the big jobs first and leaving the small stuff till later.

Break large tasks into smaller bytes so that you will not be overwhelmed. Identifying true priorities can help relieve distracting anxiety, and achieving small daily goals can wire your brain to achieve success.

Create space for work. Create a calm dedicated space for work , if possible. Not everyone can have a well-appointed office, but desk organizers, noise-canceling headphones, an adjustable monitor, and adjustable lighting can help.

Clear clutter out of sight, make it as ergonomic and comfortable as possible, and try to keep your space neat and ventilated. Use a timer. Train your brain to hyper-focus on a task by using a timer or phone alarm.

First, decide what task you want to complete. Set your timer for 20 minutes generally not more than 30 minutes and concentrate on the task. When the alarm rings take a short break for 5 minutes.

You can either take a walk and do some stretching exercise, then reset the timer and start again. This technique has shown to be effective to improve your concentration. Switch tasks.

While we may want to concentrate on a particular task, sometimes we get stuck and our brain needs something fresh to focus on. Try switching to other tasks or something you love to do.

Switching tasks can help you stay alert and productive for a longer period. Learning how to improve focus and concentration is not something you can achieve overnight. Professional athletes like golfers, sprinters, gymnasts take plenty of time to practice and usually have a coach so that they can concentrate and get the right move at the right moment to achieve excellence.

The first step to strengthen your concentration is to recognize how it is affecting your life. If you are struggling to meet commitments, constantly sidetracked by the unimportant, or not moving toward your aspirations, it is time to get help with concentration so that you can focus on what matters most to you.

Learning how to concentrate at work is essential for succeeding in your career and life. By improving your concentration, you will find that you can accomplish more of what you value and feel better doing it. Just announced! Explore the agenda for Uplift April 10—11 in SF. EN - US English US Deutsch English GB Français.

Integrations Explore how BetterUp connects to your core business systems. Behavior therapy refers to several types of therapy that treat mental health conditions. It helps identify and change unhealthy or self-destructive behaviors.

See a healthcare provider if you frequently have trouble focusing or your short attention span is interfering with your ability to perform daily tasks.

There are things you can do to help improve a short attention span. If your inability to focus concerns you, talk to a healthcare provider. Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

If you're actively managing your ADHD, you're likely interested in improving your confidence and enhancing how you interact with the world. We'll show…. Meditation is the process of redirecting your thoughts to calm your mind. It may also improve your overall quality of life.

This is what the research…. Here's what having a healthy relationship means and how to get there. A dangerous new trend is gaining popularity on TikTok of people drinking borax cleaning powder, claiming it has benefits.

But experts warn this toxic…. While some cases are accidental, cheek biting and chewing can be an indication of a compulsive disorder. Learn about cheek biting and cheek chewing….

A new analysis, published by the Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA , has found that drinking low amounts of alcohol does not have….

A Quiz for Teens Are You a Workaholic? How Well Do You Sleep? Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. What Are the Causes of a Short Attention Span, and How Can I Improve It? Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD — By Adrienne Santos-Longhurst on February 22, Risk factors Causes Treatments Medical help Summary Some simple strategies, like chewing gum and staying hydrated, can help to improve attention span temporarily.

Risk factors for having a short attention span. Causes of short attention span. Activities to increase attention span. When to see a healthcare provider. How we reviewed this article: Sources.

Having too much alcohol impairs thinking and causes interrupted sleep, which affects concentration. Information overload. We are bombarded with information from TVs, computers, and messages such as texts or emails. When there's too much material, it burdens our filtering system and it's easy to get distracted.

Want a way to boost your attention and focus? Neuropsychologist Kim Willment of Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital suggests a single-task exercise like reading. When it goes off, ask yourself if your mind has wandered. If so, just refocus on what you're reading," she says.

She recommends sitting still for a few minutes each day, closing your eyes, and focusing on your breathing as well as the sounds and sensations around you.

Cognitive training. Computerized cognitive training games aim to improve your response times and attention. Evidence that this works has been mixed. So if you reach a certain level of sustained attention, pushing it to the next level can help improve it, and this may translate to everyday life.

A healthier lifestyle. Many aspects of a healthy lifestyle can help attention, starting with sleep and exercise. There is a direct link between exercise and cognitive ability, especially attention. When you exercise, you increase the availability of brain chemicals that promote new brain connections, reduce stress, and improve sleep.

And when we sleep, we reduce stress hormones that can be harmful to the brain, and we clear out proteins that injure it. Aim for seven to eight hours of sleep each night, and minutes per week of aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking.

Other healthy steps to improve focus: eat a Mediterranean-style diet, which has been shown to support brain health; treat underlying conditions; and change medications that may be affecting your ability to focus. Getting older is out of your control, but healthier living is something you determine, and it may improve concentration.

As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

When you want to produce your best work and stay focused, what are some strategies for increasing your attention span? Moving your phone to somewhere out of sight and out of mind is one strategy.

Have you wondered how to increase your attention span and focus on your demanding tasks? Your attention span refers to your ability to focus without letting unnecessary distractions interrupt your work.

It also affects your conversations and interactions, with some people unable to concentrate on the person in front of them without losing interest or becoming anxious. These attributes vary from person to person, with some having longer attention spans than others.

A noisy office can further decrease your ability to concentrate. An increased attention span could be your key to unlocking further efficiency at work. When that happens, apply yourself to demanding tasks without letting outside distractions hinder your performance and keep working for longer periods.

If you have immense trouble concentrating or a declining attention spa n , it might indicate a more serious underlying cause. You might consider investigating the root cause if you struggle to keep alert during meetings or become easily distracted while working on a challenging task.

Below are some common causes of a short attention span and how they affect concentration. People typically receive an ADHD diagnosis during childhood and experience symptoms after becoming adults. Symptoms of ADHD include difficulty paying attention, issues with time management, agitation, and more.

Adults with ADHD may frequently switch employers or have recurring communication issues. Not only does depression negatively impact your sense of well-being, but it hinders your ability to concentrate. People experiencing depression might feel sad or hopeless, lose interest in activities they once enjoyed, or have trouble falling asleep.

Speaking to a doctor or mental health professional can help you manage these symptoms and feel like yourself again. When someone experiences a head injury, one of the most familiar symptoms is a decreased ability to pay attention.

Head injuries consist of all categories of injuries to the skull, scalp, head, or brain. They could result from trauma, seizures, and more and cause headaches, nausea, brain fog , or memory loss, among other symptoms.

A learning disability is a neurodevelopmental condition affecting learning abilities in areas like math or reading. Though many types of learning disabilities exist, the most common are dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. People experiencing these disorders may have symptoms like decreased skills in reading and writing, an inability to follow instructions, or a tendency to become distracted, in that order.

Being dehydrated for only two hours leads to trouble focusing and processing information. Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD is a class of neurodevelopmental disorders that lead to social, communication, and behavioral difficulties. Those diagnosed with ASD may struggle to convey feelings, relate to others, repeat certain behaviors, or have a fear of people touching them.

But if no amount of physical wellness improves your focus, it might be time to check for a deeper cause. It also improves your overall performance and effectiveness in the workplace. Here are some additional benefits of increasing attention span. Being able to focus for extended periods of time helps you work smarter, not harder.

Sustained attention during working hours helps you cover more ground and stay ahead of the curve. Following strategies to increase focus and improve your attention span helps you devote your mental resources to the task at hand and improves your performance. No matter the activity, concentration and attention are key to effectiveness.

Luckily, some experts have answers…. Adam Gazzaley is a neuroscientist and a professor in neurology, physiology and psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco. Larry Rosen is professor emeritus of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Their book is The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World. First off, stop blaming technology. Tech just makes it worse. Our brains are designed to always be seeking new information. In fact, the same system in your grey matter that keeps you on the lookout for food and water actually rewards you for discovering novel information.

The role of the dopamine system has actually been shown to relate directly to information-seeking behavior in primates. Macaque monkeys, for example, respond to receiving information similarly to the way they respond to primitive rewards such as food or water.

Okay, fine — but if your brain is so good at seeking out new info, why is it so terrible at follow through? From an evolutionary standpoint, realizing there was a lion behind you was far more important than sticking to whatever task you were busy with before Simba showed up.

Our cognitive control abilities that are necessary for the enactment of our goals have not evolved to the same degree as the executive functions required for goal setting. Indeed, the fundamental limitations in our cognitive control abilities do not differ greatly from those observed in other primates, with whom we shared common ancestors tens of millions of years ago….

fMRI studies of the brain show ignoring irrelevant stimuli is not a passive process. Just like noise-canceling headphones need batteries, your brain has to expend precious resources in order to filter distractions around you. So doing the same task is harder in environments with more tempting or annoying stimuli.

To learn more about the science of a successful life, check out my bestselling book here. Alright, you know a little more about how your brain works. So how do you go about increasing your attention span? This results in more errors and makes things take longer than they would have if you had done them each separately.

Oh, really? Yes, you probably feel good when you multitask. But feeling good and efficiency are not the same thing. Multitasking meets your emotional need to do something new and exciting… while also slowing your brain down and increasing errors.

So stop thinking you can efficiently multitask. To learn how to stop checking your phone, click here. Strengthen your body and you strengthen your brain. In fact, cognitive control is measurably better after just a single exercise session. Boosts in cognitive control abilities occur even after engagement in a single bout of physical exertion, as assessed in healthy children and those diagnosed with ADHD, with benefits extending to academic achievement.

Interestingly, it seems that the impact on the brain is greater if an exercise program is also cognitively engaging. Similar training benefits of acute and chronic exercise on cognitive control have been shown in both young adults and middle-age adults. There is also a very large body of research on the cognitive benefits of physical exercise in older adults.

To learn how to best use exercise to strengthen your brain, click here. Exercise makes you brain healthier and that sharpens cognitive control. Focus on your breath and when your mind wanders, return your attention to your breath.