Over the last few months I have given myself a self-diagnosis of A.D.D. While I’m not sure that I meet the criteria to make me a hardcore case of Attention Deficit Disorder, I certainly have been struggling with “Attention Distraction Disorder.” And the more I’ve shared my problem with other people – whether friends, clients or colleagues – the more I’ve realized just how prevalent this problem is. So if you are also struggling with keeping focus in a world brimming with distractions, read on…before your phone rings and your attention is pulled elsewhere.
Between our Blackberries (dubbed “Crackberries” for a good reason), Twitter, Facebook, texting and a zillion other sources of potential distraction, it’s becoming harder and harder to stay focused on one thing for very long. Ask most Gen Y’ers about this and they will tell you they can easily finish an essay while texting friends and engaging in 5 simultaneous online chats discussions. But studies by leading universities, from MIT to Stanford, are finding that our brain simply cannot do multiple things at once. As our attention becomes spread across multiple tasks, it grows weaker, our focus poorer and our productivity lower. A recent study by Workplace Options has found that American businesses lost $650 billion dollars a year lost productivity through workplace distractions. Yes, that was billion, not million. [Read more…]