Future Of Work Podcast Reclaiming Your Focus in a World Designed to Distract You with Dr. Gloria Mark
Jan 14, 2025
Dr. Gloria Mark, Chancellor’s Professor Emerita at UC Irvine, shares her extensive research on how digital media affects our attention. She reveals that attention spans have dramatically decreased, now averaging just 47 seconds on screens. The discussion debunks the myth of multitasking, highlighting its negative impact on productivity and well-being. Dr. Mark offers practical strategies to manage digital distractions and emphasizes aligning work with our natural attention rhythms, encouraging listeners to reclaim their focus in a distraction-heavy world.
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Shrinking Digital Attention Span
- Our average digital attention span dropped from 2.5 minutes 20 years ago to 47 seconds today.
- Rapid task switching has drastically diminished how long we stay focused on screens in workplaces and studies.
Multitasking Harms Performance
- Constant multitasking increases errors, task completion time, and stress levels.
- Quickly switching between tasks drains cognitive resources and diminishes performance.
Work and Netflix Multitasking
- Daniel describes multitasking between work and distractions like Netflix.
- He notes it increases stress and reduces enjoyment of activities over time.
