The Distraction Cycle and Hacks I am using to break it

I am learning to increase my attention span

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In 2004, Psychologist Dr. Gloria Mark conducted a study to show how technology was affecting our attention span. In the study, the psychologist had this to say;

“We measured the average attention on a screen to be 2½ minutes…Some years later, we found attention spans to be about 75 seconds. Now we find people can only pay attention to one screen for an average of 47 seconds.”

I resonate with Mark’s findings in my own life where I have observed that too much distractions, both externally and internally have negatively affected my attention span.

Externally, thousands of notifications from social media, text messages and phone calls beckon for my attention and sometimes, I lose focus.

Internally, in other cases, my mind wanders. Sometimes, I could be in a meeting but shortly after, my mind wanders to Bali, by the beach watching the waves (with a cocktail).

I simply am not fully present in the task I am doing. And this is detrimental because as a writer, I am chasing down deadlines and attention is everything.

Additionally, Dr. Mark also reported that it took 25 minutes to restore our attention to the task after interruption. This means more productive time is lost as I try to regain the tasks I was doing due to many distractions.

You may also be facing a similar predicament and feel helpless as your productivity declines and the deadlines loom.

3 hacks have however come in handy.

Practicing Mindfulness

I have learned that switching off from internal and external distractions can be pretty difficult. To achieve greater concentration, I practice mindfulness and meditation so that I can feel calmer and focus on my tasks.

Sleep and physical exercise

Getting enough rest at night and engaging in physical exercise will also help improve your concentration. I observe that when I sleep for at least 8hrs and engage in physical exercise for at least 20 minutes, I concentrate better the next day.

Using technology to automate work

Lead generation is an important part of the sales process and sometimes, it takes a lot of my productive time. I have adopted Phantom Booster which lets me generate leads from all major networks and websites, with 100+ ready-made automation tools that anyone can use.

If you want to free up time and streamline your lead generation process, then Phantom Booster is here to help.

Phantom Booster is designed with lead generation in mind. Anyone working in sales and marketing can be big fans, as it simplifies their processes and takes over boring manual tasks.

I can send personalized DMs on Twitter, Gather emails from a Sales Navigator search and even extract the followers of an Instagram account.

You can ease your work schedules too by simply signing up to PhantomBuster today. Get it here.

Take away

Distractions are everywhere. If not external from your devices and surrounding environments, they will arise internally in your mind. Learn how to embrace mindfulness, meditation, physical exercise and enough rest to boost your attention span.

What’s more, you can use tools such as Phantom Booster to automate your lead generation processes.

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