The day starts with trying to get the kids off to school while texting your husband about dinner. Simultaneously, you’re sipping a cup of joe to wake up from a sleepless night. And you’re worried you may have forgotten to pay the utility bill.
Unfortunately, you’re so stressed out you feel like you could scream. You need to focus, but that’s nearly impossible given the situation. There’s too much to do in too little time.
If this sounds familiar, listen up. We’ve got big news for you. Four “seemingly normal” things are killing your concentration and affecting your life.
1. Technology
Did you really need to text your husband about dinner? Come on now, be honest. We know the truth. That text can wait.
When it comes to focus, you need to remember this equation: Technology= Trouble.
That’s because simple tasks like texting are concentration killers, and research backs this up. Dr. Larry Rosen addressed this concept for Psychology Today. Rosen organized a research team to study focus in 300 middle school, high school and college students. “Every minute we noted exactly what they were doing, whether they were studying, if they were texting or listening to music or watching television in the background, and if they had a computer screen in front of them and what websites were being visited,” Rosen said.
Guess what he found? Technology is a real problem when it comes to focus. The students were only able to concentrate for an average of three measly minutes.