Is it difficult for you to stay away from your phone? Do you often find yourself searching your pockets for your phone, even when you are in a crowded metro or at the movies? Well, attention fragmentation is real, and it has quite become one of the most defining problems of our lives.
We are scattered, if not overstimulated; the screens are constantly pulling us. Resultantly, it has become nearly impossible to focus on a single task. Many experts argue that our attention spans are not just shorter now; they are deteriorating by design.
It’s just not us who are feeling it. The consequences of this shift run deeper, especially when you think of the slow immersive focus that is needed for reading. In his recent interview with the BBC Global, bestselling author John Grisham, when asked what he thinks is happening to the collective attention, curtly responded, “Our attention span was definitely longer.”
The famed author revealed that he has seen reading habits shift dramatically over the last two decades. “Video games will not make you smarter. TV will not make you smarter. Music will not make you smarter. Reading books will make you smarter, and that stays with you forever,” he told host Katty Kay. And yet the number of people actually reading for pleasure has collapsed. “We’re all reading less,” he said, “and what does it mean for me? I don’t know. Not good.”
Grisham is right, and if the attention issue is not fixed, the world may likely lose the very skill that makes deep work, learning, and even empathy possible.
Here are five science-backed steps that could help you rebuild your attention span before it’s too late.
Establish a baseline
Attention can be seen like a muscle. This means one cannot strengthen it if they don’t know how weak it has become. Experts recommend starting by grabbing a book and timing how long one can read without checking their phone or moving over to another task. An effective practice would be to write down the number, and that would be your baseline.
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Author Grisham, in his interview, revealed that he is witnessing the decay in real time. “People were reading more,” he said, thinking back to the pre-internet era. “I sold twice as many books before the internet because people were reading more.”
Baselines don’t lie. They tell you where to begin.
Eliminate the attention leeches
If you think of it, our environment is mostly rigged against focus. There are billion-dollar platforms that are working overtime to sharpen distraction. Experts recommend changing the environment before blaming oneself.
Some simple practical steps would be to keep your phone in another room, turn off the notifications, and most importantly close the hundreds of tabs that one may have been convinced to keep for later needs.
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Grisham puts it simply, “Our attention spans are short, and we don’t have time to sit down and won’t take time to sit down and enjoy a good book.” The tools stealing your attention are not neutral. Hence, treat them like the leeches they are.
Build deep work rituals
It is easier to focus when the brain picks up cues that signal it is time to work. For instance, writers light candles, coders play the same playlist, and entrepreneurs sit in the same chair with the same cup of tea. The specifics don’t matter here, but consistency does.
Grisham follows a similar practice in his own creative life. He shared that he cannot begin a novel until he’s lived with the story long enough to see it fully. “I can’t think about the audience,” he said.
“I think about the story and the next page, the next chapter… where’s the plot going?” Ritual turns wandering into flow. Create a cue your brain will recognise.
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Use breaks and movement before you crash
It is humanly impossible to focus for 12 hours straight. Some studies claim that 90 minutes is roughly the limit before performance drops steeply. Hence, it is advisable to take brief and strategic breaks, and this could be by walking, stretching, or going aside, and most importantly, religiously staying away from the phone. High performers understand what most of us ignore – breaks are not detours from work but part of it.
Grisham acknowledges that, and he expressed concern about screen time, not just for kids, but for himself. “I worry about my own screen time because I stare at a screen all day long,” he admitted. If someone like him who has authored over 50 bestsellers is apprehensive about digital overload, it is a sign for the rest of the world to take the hint.
Connect attention to meaning
Perhaps this is why it is important to understand that purpose fuels persistence. Remember, without a sense of meaning, attention wanes. This is also why it is key to ask questions like ‘Why does this matter?’ and ‘Who benefits?’ before embarking on a task. A useful practice would be to write the answers where one can see them. The author shared that when he applied this method while struggling through a book, the work finally clicked.
It needs to be noted that Grisham’s entire career is a testament to the power of meaningful creative focus. Simply put, purpose creates momentum. Without it, attention drains away.
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Grisham still believes in the magic of losing oneself in a book. “I want the readers to lose sleep,” he said. Because to lose yourself in a story is to find a part of your mind that modern life keeps trying to erase.