In the previous blog post, I wrote about the evolution of the human brain and ended that post by talking about the four (4) brain challenges of the 21st-century digital economy. In this post, I will elaborate on the first challenge: Overload of Information and how that leads to lack of clarity, focus and concentration.  

Overload of Information: Lack of Clarity, Focus and Concentration

Unlike our ancestors, who had difficulties in finding, storing, processing and sharing information, we have built the internet, cloud and computers to do this for us. According to author and futurist Bernard Marr, we have created 18 zettabytes of data so far and that number is projected to explode to 175 zettabytes by 2025. What does 175 zettabytes even mean? According to a paper published by the market intelligence company, IDC, called Data Age 2025, if you were to store 175 zettabytes on DVDs, your stack of DVDs would be long enough to circle Earth 222 times. If you attempted to download 175 zettabytes at the average current internet connection speed, it would take you 1.8 billion years to download. Even if you enlisted every person in the world to help with the download, it would still take 81 days. That is an incredible amount of data that we are drowning in today. 

Picture this: Your boss has asked you to deliver a report by tomorrow morning. Your wedding anniversary also happens to be tomorrow for which you need to select the best gift for your spouse. You go online to look up gift ideas while also researching data for your report. You are bouncing from one task to another, from one browser tab to another. You get stuck in a loop of analysis paralysis because there is too much information to process and very little time. Eventually, you feel cognitively exhausted and face decision fatigue. Sounds familiar? Why does this happen? 

“Getting information off the internet is like drinking from a fire hydrant” -Mitchell Kapor 

The information overload creates brain fog, especially when you are under time pressure. Too much information can reduce our ability to think clearly. With a brain wired for distractions, it will look for other sources to keep engaged, resulting in a lack of focus and clarity.  

On top of that, most of us choose to do the one thing that neuroscientists have proven to be inefficient for the brain: multitasking. When you are consuming information, or in other words, learning something new, the following activities occur in the brain: 

• A large number of neurons in the frontal cortex (the conscious part of our brain) get activated to help us learn. 

• More and more neurons are recruited from other parts of the brain into the frontal cortex to accelerate the process of learning. As a result of the influx of additional neurons, the frontal cortex expands in size and becomes bigger.

• With adequate practice, time and effort, the skill becomes hardwired and the information gets crystallized in the brain. 

• The additional neurons that were recruited in the frontal cortex to learn the new skill or information are then shifted farther down the cortex to the lesser conscious part of the brain. This frees up the frontal cortex to learn other new skills and solve newer problems.

• In the end, an entirely new neuron network is created just to remember the newly learnt skill or information. This new neural network now sits in other parts of the brain that require much less conscious control.

  

The process of hardwiring decelerates if we are constantly distracted and shift from one task to another. In doing so, we activate completely different sets of neurons for each task. Hence, it becomes very difficult for a new neural network to form dedicated to the new skill. Through constant multitasking, we sabotage our own learning and development. 

According to neuroscientist, Daniel J. Levitin, multitasking has been found to increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol and the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline, which can overstimulate your brain and cause mental fog or scrambled thinking [1] 

Another neuroscientist, Russ Poldrack, found that learning information while multitasking causes the new information to go to the wrong part of the brain. If students study and watch TV at the same time, for example, the information from their schoolwork goes into the striatum, a region specialized for storing new procedures and skills, not facts and ideas. Without the distraction of TV, the information goes into the hippocampus, where it is organized and categorized in a variety of ways, making it easier to retrieve. [2] 

From a pure biological and chemical perspective, when the brain is asked to multitask, it burns oxygenated glucose - the same fuel that the brain needs to stay focused on a task. With continuous multitasking, we burn brain fuel even faster. This results in rapid mental fatigue and poor cognitive or physical performance. 

So what is the solution for overcoming lack of focus and multitasking? 

Coaching Tip # 1: 

Rate your level of focus & concentration on a scale of 0 to 10. Why did you give yourself this rating?

Coaching Tip # 2: 

Focus and concentration are like muscles. The more you exercise them, the better you become. Remember when your mom or teacher used to say to you as a kid: “Why can’t you just concentrate harder?” But did anybody teach you how to concentrate harder? Probably not. 

Focus and concentration are our abilities to keep our awareness on one thing only for a long period of time. Each time you realize losing focus, your powers of awareness will help you bring it back. So, the next time you are in a conversation with somebody that is dry and boring, and you find your mind wandering away, use your awareness to consciously bring your mind back to the conversation (yes, even if it is boring! You can use the opportunity to practice concentration). 

Coaching Tip # 3:

Do not multitask. The science of multitasking has been explained earlier in this blog and the only practical way to overcome multitasking is to avoid it. Period. 

Coaching Tip # 4:

Simplify, organize and minimize your environment 

If your working environment is unorganized with piles of books, papers, leftover food, disposable glasses & other scrap everywhere, you are more likely to get distracted. Each object in your working environment represents a stimulus that can detract you and make you lose focus. Hence, minimize and simplify your physical surrounding as much as possible to decrease the likelihood of getting distracted.

While working on a task on your computer, use only the apps that you need for the task at hand. Close all other tabs (including your e-mail inbox) to give yourself the best chance of working peacefully without losing focus. 

Coaching Tip # 5:

Guided Meditation & Breathing Practice

Use apps such as Calm or Headspace to perform guided meditations and breathing practice. I don’t think I need to convince you about the benefits of meditation, right? 

However, one thing I was to remind you is: practice makes progress. One or two sessions will not improve your concentration levels. It takes years of practice doing meditation to improve concentration levels. Stay true to the process!

Coaching Tip # 6: 

Book time in your calendar for procrastination

This one might sound silly, but it is very effective. When our concentration wanders off, our brain craves for easy rewards. And with social media, we have built the engine for effortless rewards. I am not saying you should quit social media. Instead, perhaps book 15 to 30 minutes of social media time in your calendar and stick to it. 

Try out these methods and share with us what method worked best for you to improve focus & concentration.