Have you noticed an increasing inability to focus for more than a split second on anything at all? Or what about that dopamine rush you get when you hear that ding on your phone? These constant short-term distractions add up to hours of mindless scrolling that is zapping our attention span.

I’ve noticed that I can’t focus like I used to. Reading a few pages of a book sometimes feels like an impossible task. Or sitting down to do homework, I find myself re-reading the same sentence over and over and not really getting the gist of what is being asked. And I’m not the only one. As screen time has increased among younger and younger kids, they are having a difficult time engaging in conversations, reading books, and other daily activities.

Teachers and parents are constantly telling us we’re distracted, and maybe they’re right. When kids are on screens all day, especially when their brains are not fully developed, they run the risk of overstimulating their brains and reducing their ability to focus. Research shows that when a person is using a device for long periods of time, especially when engaging in high speed screen scrolling, this activity triggers large dopamine releases that desensitize the brain’s ability to navigate experiences that don’t lead to on-the-spot rewards. As a result, over time, the high speed scrolling activity destroys the gray matter in your brain, which is crucial for long-term memory and emotional development. This happens without kids realizing they are permanently altering their memory, emotional maturity, and attention span. But parents and teachers are observing this transformation every day, and are feeling unable to prevent it from happening.

Screens definitely do have their advantages. We can stay in touch, instantly access information, and even learn new skills thanks to the broader access to information on phones and other devices. But there’s a big difference between using technology and letting it use us. The frequent alerts and endless scrolling are designed to keep us interested, and our ability to focus suffers as a result.

Now think about how much your parents or teachers have nagged you about not being able to focus on a conversation taking place over the dinner table or in class. And then rewind back in time to the pre-screen era, when you spent long hours with your cousins or friends wandering around the neighborhood, lost in conversation.

Or what about that summer camp month when all you had were the hum of the gnats, a lazy breeze, giddy laughter of the youngsters, and getting lost with your cabinmates through rustic woodlands. Those were places and times where you weren’t nagged to put down your phone. Those were also places and times when you weren’t on edge about the texts that you might be missing out on, or staying on top of your snaps, or getting woken up by a text.

Here’s how it all goes down:

Stage 1: When you first arrive at camp and you’re feeling anxious about leaving your phone behind, you command your parents to “make sure when you pick me up, you bring my phone” because a two hour car drive without it would be devastating.

Stage 2: A couple hours in, you are constantly checking your pockets to see if your phone is there, but then remember it’s not there.

Stage 3: A couple days in, you keep thinking about your phone, only to realize you don’t have it.

Stage 4: A week in, you are gradually acclimating to not having your phone and feeling refreshed, and not being constantly stressed about it.

Stage 5: Weeks in, and you understand why you were so stressed when you had your phone on you at all times.

At the end of camp, you realize that with a long break from your phone, you are liberated. You can easily do daily life activities without having your phone on you. And guess what? It won’t kill you. It might even make you more aware of the rest of the world around you, and in the process prevent brain cells from being destroyed, and strengthen your attention span.

So what can you do about the harmful effects of the devices that we all now have become accustomed to. Maybe it’s time to make a decision. While studying, think about putting your phone on silent for an hour or more. During dinner, keep it in a different room. Go on a walk without using headphones. Actually talk to your family on those long car rides instead of staring at your screen. You may be surprised by how much clearer you begin to think and how calm your mind feels.

https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/addiction/smartphone-addiction