Attention and Gadgets: What Is Happening to Our Ability to Concentrate?
Attention and Gadgets: How Phones and Short Videos Affect Concentration
Have you noticed that sometimes it has become difficult to sit still, finish a task, or simply read something without being distracted by a series of supposedly “very important things”?
Perhaps you read less than you used to.
And when you open a document, an instruction manual, or an academic text, you may find yourself drifting away after just a few paragraphs. Or reaching for your phone without even consciously deciding to do so.
Sometimes you finish a page and realise that you cannot explain what you have just read.
This is familiar to many people. And the problem is not necessarily that we are “lazy”, “undisciplined”, or simply unwilling to concentrate.
The way we consume information has changed.
What Is Attention?
Attention is the ability to direct and maintain mental activity towards a particular object, task, or thought while filtering out other stimuli that are not relevant at that moment.
Concentration requires several things: intention, the ability to sustain attention, and the ability to filter out distractions.
This is why attention is important not only for work and studying.
We need it to finish even a small task, hold a thought, listen to another person, read, plan, and make decisions.
Difficulties with attention can take different forms: problems concentrating, being easily distracted, difficulty switching attention appropriately, becoming mentally fatigued quickly, or struggling to distinguish what is important from what is secondary.
Attention also changes throughout life.
It develops differently in different people and is influenced by age, sleep, stress, emotional state, the nervous system, and many other factors.
What Is Happening in the Digital Environment?
Modern technology gives us constant access to an enormous amount of information.
Messages, notifications, emails, news, short videos, advertising, and social media are all competing for our attention.
Short-form video is particularly interesting — Reels, TikTok, Shorts, and similar content.
Recent research synthesising studies on short-form video use has found associations between heavier use and poorer cognitive outcomes, particularly attention and inhibitory control. However, these findings should be interpreted carefully: much of the existing evidence is correlational and does not establish that short-form videos directly cause changes in attention.
There is another issue: constant switching.
When we work while simultaneously checking our phone, replying to messages, opening another tab, or scrolling through a feed, our attention has to repeatedly shift.
After an interruption, returning fully to the previous task can be difficult.
So the issue may not simply be how much time we spend on screens, but how we use them.
What About the Brain?
Research does find associations between higher levels of screen use and certain differences in brain structure and functioning, particularly in children.
But this does not mean that phones or short videos simply “damage the brain”.
Recent reviews suggest that the relationship is much more complex. Age, duration of use, type of content, context, sleep, physical activity, and other aspects of everyday life all matter.
There is also an important question of causality: does screen use influence cognitive development, are people with certain attention characteristics more likely to engage with digital content, or do both processes influence each other?
ADHD Is Not the Same as “Poor Attention”
It is also important to distinguish everyday concentration difficulties from ADHD.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition with a strong genetic component. It can affect attention, impulse control, and executive functioning.
However, difficulties concentrating do not automatically mean that someone has ADHD.
Problems with attention can also occur in the context of chronic stress, lack of sleep, anxiety, depression, overload, or certain patterns of digital media use.
So it is not helpful to diagnose yourself with ADHD simply because concentrating has become more difficult.
What Can We Do?
In my view, the first step is not to try to completely eliminate technology.
Phones, computers, and digital content are part of modern life. The question is whether we are managing our use of technology, or whether technology is managing our attention.
We can start with simple things:
- turn off unnecessary notifications;
- keep your phone out of sight when working;
- create periods of focused work without switching between tasks;
- read longer texts without simultaneously checking your phone;
- consciously limit endless scrolling through short-form videos;
- create parts of the day that are free from digital content;
- pay attention to sleep, physical activity, and recovery.
There are also practices aimed at developing attention and self-regulation, including mindfulness, meditation, breathing exercises, certain yoga practices, tai chi, and other forms of movement-based meditation.
These should not be treated as a magical way to “repair the brain”. But for some people, regular attention practices under supervision of qualified trainer can be a useful part of broader work on concentration and self-regulation.
Perhaps We Have Not Lost the Ability to Concentrate
Perhaps we are simply living in an environment that constantly demands our attention.
If so, the task is not only to force ourselves to become more disciplined. It is also to create conditions in which concentration is possible.
Attention is a resource. And what we repeatedly choose to give our attention to gradually shapes the way we experience and interact with the world.
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