Attention deficit in the digital age

If readers believe that the ailment of lacking focus and attention is an affliction limited to the politicians; then let this piece be a surprise. This disease is all-pervading, penetrating every segment of society and vocation. The business world, including both leaders and followers, is no exception. What is strikingly surprising is the fact that the lowering of concentration levels has nothing to do with the availability of time. The causes for this disorder are aplenty.

The improper usage of available time, which by nature’s design is inherently limited, is one of the major contributing factors. Many begin a day with no plans of action. They jump out of bed only upon realisation that they have overslept. Sleep beyond regular hours is itself usually caused by sleeping very late, sometimes in the wee hours of the morning. Hence, the day begins with the pressure of simply reaching work on time.

Disorderliness is the first rung on the ladder of becoming inattentive.

The human mind rushes to sift through tasks, between urgent and important. If the to-do list is long, then obviously many items are either discarded or they are given scant attention.

Those who simply adore the idea of being seen as a ‘busy bee’ crowd their dairies with one meeting after another, which eventually hurts attention spans. The pressure of thinking and preparing for the next meeting clogs the mind and, as a consequence, the meeting at hand is ruined by a lack of focus. I had a colleague, who plotted meetings schedule on the weekly/ monthly/ yearly calendar in difficult colours. The colour coding was not meant to reflect the significance or importance of the meeting; the individual simply liked to make the dairy look like a rainbow.

Lack of attention is a direct cause of a distracted mind. While the human brain has amazing potential to remain focused on any item or subject, it is also prone to diversions. Most interruptions are due to the domineering role of social media platforms. There are millions (possibly billions) of people whose fingers are firmly placed on the keyboard of whatever instrument they could be using, itching to press the ‘forward & send’ key, to anything received by them across several platforms. Personally, I see this as a psychological disorder. The frenzy with which ‘forwards’ are made, gives an insight into the tumultuous emotional maturity of the sender. The speed of communication is directly proportional to the reduction of focus and attention span.

The younger generation, nay any generation that has succumbed to being imprisoned by their iPhones, tablets, laptops etc, desire that everything said and does not go beyond ‘three long minutes’. Life is a short-term game of TikTok.

We all now have devices that feed us with e-mails, short text messages, unauthentic news updates to serious posts by reliable news agencies; social media gossip, religious sermons etc. Literally, all information is away from a push on the keypad. Some experts believe our phones have become like digital prostheses, an extension of our identity or being.

All of us are guilty of spending at least two to three hours every single day on our devices. We neglect our personal relationships and become so engrossed that we become oblivious of our surroundings. No decent time is spent on striking conversations. It is almost a surrender of social values to contraptions.

A Harvard University blog explains that several major social media platforms leverage the very same neural circuitry used as slot machines and cocaine to keep us using their products as much as possible. The addiction to a three to four-minute time-bound viewing of a post severely attacks the span of attention. Information overload, particularly when it is of no relevance to our everyday personal and professional lives, is a major cause of mental distress and depression.

While it is imperative to remain in step with the latest technology; it is also important to remember that all advancements in science and technology have their pros and cons, depending on their usage. If the global average phone use is around three to four hours a day, I would wager that this is one of those rare cases where our nation is ahead of the world.

This affliction is not constrained by age, profession or social strata. Of the many segments of society, politicians, of course, take the cake. In my limited interactions with these blessed people, I have witnessed that their attention span has nosedived over the years. These individuals are not millennials; most of them belong to the baby boomer era. Whenever these individuals are tortured with a PowerPoint presentation, you will hear remarks like ‘skip this’ and ‘come to the last slide please’. Now, the last slide is usually the one that seeks either acceptance or disapproval — being men/ women of action (the media presents them in that frame) they rush to give a decision, without full knowledge and with no sense of the impact the decision is likely to cause.

I once had some visitors from Central Europe accompanying me to one such meeting. It was a proposal to finance oil imports on a deferred basis. After the first slide was put up on the screen, an army of waiters and attendants raided the room and filled it with mouth-watering delicacies. The discussion forked into the benefits of having walnut tarts, almond tarts etc. There was a complete lack of focus and attention. The meeting was promptly filed and consigned to the dustbin of memory.

Managers and leaders need to focus on listening while hearing. Doing one thing at a time is also critically important. If you are enjoying a pastime, do not punish your mind with work. When at work, do not spend all your energy on imagining the next holiday. Listen to what is being said and concentrate on what you are reading. If other things are imposed, the likelihood is that no fresh knowledge or newer understanding can ever be developed. A straight path never leads to anywhere but the objective. Focus on solutions, not the problem. It is focus that determines your reality.

The human mind is very prone to distractions. If it was not so, then many of us would remain focused. Even at places of worship, the device is opened to check the score or the share price.

Interest wanes in both spiritual and worldly pursuits, for lack of attention. A few years back, in a place of worship, I heard the head priest, before leading a funeral prayer, make this humorous and comical announcement: “Please put your cell phones on silent mode….otherwise some of you may start to swing to and fro to the melody of the Titanic song cell tone”. We, on the other hand, are capable of losing focus due to the smallest of distractions.

For effective management of human capital, it is an absolute necessity to pay undivided and unalloyed attention and focus to both people and issues.

The writer is a senior banker and a freelance columnist.