Reduced Productivity and Attention Span
Jokes are made that “kids these days” have the attention span of a goldfish. Science says not only may that be true, but cell phone use is likely to blame. The ability to access any information in a moment’s time, along with a constant feed of new information, has fed our desire for instant gratification to the point that any delay or waiting is seen as an immense inconvenience. If it takes more than a few minutes, it’s just plain too long. And as our minds keep thinking of things to look at, we do exactly that. But while we’re spending more time on our phones overall, we’re spending less time on any individual app or website in one sitting, constantly craving a distraction.
Even when were aren’t on our phones, the sound of a single notification significantly reduces our ability to focus on whatever else we may be attempting, and since it can take up to 25 minutes to return to a task after an interruption, that causes a huge loss of productivity. (We’re not even going to talk about how often I checked my phone while writing this!)
