The 47 Second Attention Span

That’s what it is right now – down from 75 seconds in 2012 according to CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

  • Commercials have decreased to match the fading attention span from what was once the common 60 second spot, to 30 seconds, then 15 and now it’ not unusual to see 6-second commercials.
  • “There’s a fine line between attention and distraction” as almost everyone of all ages find themselves challenged to stay focused on what they are doing.
  • The key is to be both engaged and challenged and know when your best time is to focus says Dr. Gupta.

Multitasking is what we all do but it makes matter worse – doing multiple things simultaneously causes more anxiety and less productivity so the answer is prioritize that which is important and try to stay engaged while you make doing the task more challenging.