Scatterbrained or ScreenBrained?

Scatterbrained is becoming a new normal. It’s not for the betterment of mankind.

We all bought the idea that you had to have supernatural powers to multi-task. We tried, and we succeeded.

Unfortunately, the result is that we humans find ourselves more scattered than ever. We even have an official diagnosis. A.D.D.

Lack of focus is all around us;  from jumping between work tasks to the interrupts driven by social media and media alerts, from our distraction with our mobile devices to the simple act of channel flipping. We’re caught up in a  frenzy of nano-length attention spans.

In the process, we’re losing one of our most powerful human weapons, the power of focus.

ScreenBrain Triggers ScatterBrained

Have you noticed that even as we lose our power to focus on a conversation, we’re simultaneously becoming more focused on our screens? Look around a restaurant, airport or mall. You’ll find most humans buried in their mobile screens. You may believe we’re attracted to the information those screens deliver.

In reality, it’s the screens themselves that are addictive.

The refresh rates on screens create a hypnotic state in viewers. Within 30 seconds, the refresh triggers your unconscious mind into an alpha state – which is in effect a hypnotic trance. Once you’re in that state, the screen itself and the information it delivers is designed to keep you in that hypnotic and highly suggestible state.  From advertising to video delivery, the news to political speeches, programmers and writers use the power of hypnotic techniques, technology and neural linguistics to program your mind.

No wonder we focus on those screens. But is that a healthy point of focus?  I don’t think so.  Which is why I began to set timers to limit my time on a screen (unless I’m writing or creating.)  I also cut way back on the television and spend more time reading the old fashioned way.  It took almost five months, but the addiction to the screens is finally behind me.

What’s Wrong with My Mind?

A few years ago I realized that I’d lost my power of focus. I was caught in a cycle of skipping between productive work, social media platforms, email, shuffling my desk and searching on the web, not to mention reading the news alerts coming to my phone and tablet. While I spent hours and hours in front of my computer screen, I was getting less and less actually accomplished by the end of the day.

To make matters worse, I was having trouble focusing on my day, moment to moment.  I was so scatterbrained I couldn’t remember what I was doing long enough to finish writing a sentence.  Really?

The clincher came when I was sitting at my computer screen once again streaming social media conversations. A timer went off in the kitchen and I bounced up to check it. There was nothing on the stove, in the oven or on the counter tops. What the heck was that alarm doing? I couldn’t remember.

I went back to my computer and about 5 minutes later my unconscious mind gave me the answer. I’d put some lettuce in the freezer to crisp it before I made a salad. I’d set the timer for 2 minutes. I was in such a hurry to get back to my screen and the other world of social that I couldn’t even remember what I was doing  2  minutes ago in my own life.  WHOA.

That was enough for me. This wasn’t some form of mental pause. This was much more.  I wanted my mind back!

So I began to research the scatterbrained syndrome.  I had to find an answer.  To get there,  I combined a number of simple techniques from some of my favorite mind magic (aka neuroscience) to regain my mental focus.

After a bit of time (and perseverance) it worked. I got my mind back! Whew. what a relief!

Want to know what I did?

Here are my simple steps and some powerful mind tools to Get Your Focus On!