Do you find it harder to read a book without checking your phone?
Do you open your computer to complete one task and, 20 minutes later, discover that you have checked your email, replied to a message, watched a video and somehow ended up scrolling social media?
You may start wondering:
What is happening to my attention?
It is an important question.
But there may be another question worth asking:
What kind of attention am I training every day?
Your Brain Learns What You Repeatedly Practise
We often think of attention as something we either have or do not have.
But attention is also a behaviour.
And behaviours are influenced by repetition.
Think about what happens during an ordinary hour online.
You read something.
A notification appears.
You check it.
You return to what you were doing.
Then you open another tab.
A message arrives.
You respond.
You watch a short video.
Swipe.
Another.
Swipe.
Another.
Your attention may change direction dozens of times.
From a neuroplasticity perspective, this raises an interesting question.
If your brain repeatedly practises switching attention, responding to novelty and interrupting one activity to check another, could sustained attention begin to feel more difficult?
This does not mean that smartphones cause ADHD.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition and should not be confused with everyday difficulties with concentration or digital distraction.
But not every experience of poor concentration automatically means that someone has ADHD either.
Sometimes, our environment and habits may be part of the picture.
What Does the Research Tell Us?
One fascinating study illustrates just how powerful our relationship with smartphones can be.
Researchers Adrian Ward and colleagues conducted two experiments examining whether the mere presence of a person’s smartphone affected available cognitive capacity.
In the first experiment, 548 university students were assigned to keep their phones on the desk, in their pocket or bag, or in another room.
Participants whose phones were in another room performed better on measures of available cognitive capacity than those whose phones were sitting on the desk.
Even more interestingly, participants were not necessarily consciously thinking about their phones.
The researchers described this effect as “brain drain”: cognitive resources may be recruited to resist or inhibit attention towards the phone, leaving fewer resources available for the task in front of us. (RCNi Company Limited)
Another influential Stanford study looked at media multitasking.
Researchers Eyal Ophir, Clifford Nass and Anthony Wagner compared people who frequently used multiple forms of media simultaneously with those who did so less frequently.
Heavy media multitaskers showed greater susceptibility to interference from irrelevant information and performed worse in a task-switching test. (DOI)
Importantly, later replication research found that some of these original media-multitasking effects were weaker or less consistent than first reported. So the science does not justify saying that digital multitasking permanently damages attention. (Springer Nature Link)
It does, however, give us a very good reason to become curious about our daily attention habits.
Maybe Your Brain Is Doing Exactly What You Trained It to Do
Imagine going to the gym every day and training for short, explosive movements.
Then one day you decide to run 20 kilometres.
Would you conclude that something is wrong with your body because long-distance running feels difficult?
Probably not.
You would recognise that you trained for something different.
Our attention deserves the same curiosity.
If most of your day involves notifications, short-form videos, multiple tabs, emails, messages and frequent task switching, sustained concentration may simply receive much less practice.
And that changes the question from:
“Why can’t I focus?”
to:
“How often am I actually practising focus?”
That is a much more empowering question.
Attention Can Become a Daily Neuropractice
You do not need to throw your smartphone into the ocean.
Although some days that may feel tempting.
Instead, begin by creating small periods in which your brain has the opportunity to practise staying with one thing.
Choose one task.
Remove unnecessary notifications.
Put your phone somewhere you cannot automatically reach for it.
Set aside a realistic period — perhaps 15 or 20 minutes initially.
And when your attention wanders, notice it and gently return to the task.
The goal is not perfect concentration.
The practice is the return.
Each time you notice distraction and deliberately redirect your attention, you are practising a different response.
At Brain Wellness, this principle sits within a broader approach to Applied Neuroplasticity and Brain Coaching: identify the automatic loop, interrupt the familiar pattern and repeatedly practise a more intentional response.
The 45 Day Brain Wellness Reset uses personalised sessions and daily neuropractices to help adults become more aware of repeated mental and emotional patterns and practise different responses in everyday life.
Before You Label Your Brain, Look at What You Are Training
Difficulty concentrating deserves to be taken seriously, particularly when it significantly affects daily functioning. If you are concerned about ADHD or another health condition, appropriate assessment should come from a qualified healthcare professional.
But there is another conversation we also need to have.
Our brains are living in an environment unlike anything previous generations experienced.
Infinite scrolling.
Constant notifications.
Multiple screens.
Information available every second.
Perhaps the question is not simply whether modern life is stealing our attention.
Perhaps we should also ask:
What kind of brain are our daily habits training us to have?
And if distraction can become habitual, perhaps focused attention deserves to become a deliberate practice again.
If someone you know keeps saying, “I can’t concentrate anymore,” share this article with them.
It may give them a different question to ask about their brain — and their daily habits.
Read to train your brain?
Book a free 20-minute discovery call with Paula to see if the Reset is the right fit for you. https://www.brainwellness.com.au/45-day-brain-wellness-reset
Brain Wellness provides complementary support for adults experiencing anxiety, stress, low confidence and feeling stuck. It does not provide diagnosis and is not a substitute for medical, psychological or psychiatric care. Results vary from person to person.