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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Devi Shastri and Laura Bargfeld

Easily distracted? How to improve your attention span

Be Well-Attention - (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Feel like you can't focus? Like you'll never finish a book again? Like the only way to keep your mind and hands busy is to scroll on social media for hours?

You're far from alone. One body of decades-long research found the average person's attention span for a single screen is 47 seconds, down from 2.5 minutes in 2004. The 24/7 news cycle, uncertainty about the state of the world and countless hours of screen time don’t help, experts say.

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