How to improve your attention span

Feel like you can’t focus? Like you’ll never finish a book again? Like the only way to keep your mind and hands busy is to scroll on social media for hours?

You’re far from alone. One body of decadeslong research found the average person’s attention span for a single screen is 47 seconds, down from 2½ minutes in 2004. The 24/7 news cycle, uncertainty about the state of the world and countless hours of screen time don’t help, experts say.

“When my patients talk to me about this stuff there is often a feeling of helplessness or powerlessness,” says Dr. Michael Ziffra, a psychiatrist at Northwestern Medicine. “But you can change these behaviors. You can improve your attention span.”

Here are ways to start that process. As you read, challenge yourself to set a 2½-minute timer and stay on this article without looking at another device or clicking away.

How did we lose focus?

Our shifting attention is an evolutionary feature, not a bug. Our brains are hardwired to quickly filter information and home in on potential threats or changes in what’s happening around us.

What’s grabbing our attentions has changed. For our ancestors, it might have been a rustle in the bushes putting us on guard for a lurking tiger. Today, it could be a rash of breaking news alerts and phone notifications.

The COVID-19 pandemic warped many people’s sense of time and increased their screen usage like never before, says Stacey Nye, a clinical psychologist at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

Technology isn’t the only thing that influences our attention, experts say, but the effects of those pinging notifications or hours scrolling through 30-second-long videos can build up over time.

“Our attention span has really been trained to only focus in those little, small blips and it interrupts our natural focus cycles,” she says.

‘Active breaks’

Experts say “active breaks” are among the best way to retrain your mind and your attention. They only take about 30 minutes, Nye says, and can be as simple as taking a walk while noticing things around you or moving to another room for lunch.

Don’t be afraid to get creative. Develop a list of alternative activities or randomly choose ideas out of a fish bowl. Try craft projects, a short meditation, fixing a quick meal or taking a walk outside. All the better if you can involve a friend as well.

The break needs to be a physical or mental activity — no passive phone-scrolling.

When the brain is understimulated and looking for change, it’ll usually grab onto the first thing it sees. The smartphone, an “ever-producing change machine,” is an enticing option, says Cindy Lustig, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Michigan.

Turn off unnecessary notifications and put that “do not disturb” mode to good use, especially before bedtime. Better yet, put your phone in a whole different room, she says.

Say no to multitasking

Multitasking may make you feel like you’re getting more done, but brain experts don’t recommend it.

“Be a single tasker,” Nye says. “Work on one thing at a time, for a specified period of time and begin to work your way up.”

Lustig is a big fan of the “Pomodoro technique,” in which you set a timer and work on something for 25 to 30 minutes before taking a five-minute break.

She tells herself: “I can do anything for this amount of time,” and the world will still be waiting for her at the end.

Start with something you actually like and set a goal

It’s not enough just to have a hobby, Lustig says. It helps to choose hobbies that include deliberate practice and a goal to strive toward, whether it’s playing guitar for an audience or improving in a sport.

It helps to pick something that you enjoy as well.

“You don’t want to start with the heavy nonfiction or like ‘War and Peace,’ ” Lustig says. “If you need to start with the romance novel, then start with the romance novel. You can work your way up.”

It’s also important to be kind to yourself. Everyone has good and bad days, and attention needs are different — and even vary from task to task.

The key is to make an intentional effort, experts say.

“It is in many ways similar to a muscle in the sense that we can build it up with practice and exercises,” Ziffra says. “Conversely, it can weaken if we’re not exercising it.”