Social media has ruined my attention span.
I’m not kidding when I say that I used to read a book in a day, but now, after 10 pages, I can’t bear to sit any longer. I might continue if the book is fiction or I can’t detach myself from the story. But as far as self-help books are concerned, I have 3 that I am reading simultaneously. That is because reading the same book just gets so heavy. In my mind, the purpose of reading the self-help book is to read > analyze and process > implement.
This isn’t the only area where I have seen my attention span go downhill. If I do a task for more than 20-30 minutes, I start getting restless, and everything seems to be irritating. For example, if I am making notes or writing something and I am not in ‘the flow state’, I get distracted easily. Every 15-20 minutes, I need a shot of dopamine from social media.
If it weren’t for the endless scrolling on reels and shorts, I would have been just fine. I don’t know what these videos have in them; even after years of scrolling, I just can’t get enough. The moment I put my phone down, it seems like there is some information that I’m missing out on. I feel that if I scroll for just 5 more minutes, I might get that light bulb moment, or an idea that I can use, or a resource that I might need in the near future.
You know how I started to realize that this was becoming a problem? Any task that I know is going to take longer than 10 minutes makes me frustrated before I even attempt it. This is what it has come to. I am embarrassed and I cannot deny it. Because it might be okay today when I have the liberty to act like this, but later in life it will be extremely difficult for me to fight this urge.
If it isn’t clear by now, I do not like mindlessly scrolling on social media, but this is what my life has come to since I decided to make a career in it. Just detaching myself isn’t the sole problem now. It is affecting my attention span and areas of my life that I haven’t yet recognized. Do you feel like your phone is calling you too?
Until next time, Adios amigo!
There is one platform that I count in social media and that is Pinterest. You can see how and why I love it so much HERE. There is one more thing that I can’t stop doing on my phone and that is playing games. You can read about my obsession HERE!
