Why Sarah Can’t Focus (and Other Questions About Paying Attention)

By John Tierney

We have more answers to your questions on the science of paying attention. This guidance comes from Winifred Gallagher, the author of “Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life,” which I discussed in my Findings column. (Another of the experts mentioned in the column, Robert Desimone of M.I.T., answered questions yesterday and will offer some more answers next week.) Here are some Lab readers’ questions along with Ms. Gallagher’s responses:

Loura White: I start a thought, an action and immediately a horde of other things I have to do descends. I get rattled and totally lose concentration – none of these “monkey brain ” thoughts are important and yet . . . .

Ms. Gallagher: Attention is always a process of selection: this or that. Both attention researchers and Zen roshis would advise you to make a list of your tasks in descending priority, focus on the first, then move to the second. When distracting thoughts arise, say, “I’m doing this now as well as I can.”

Sarah: I’m a writer and I can’t seem to focus on writing any more unless it’s under a deadline, i.e., today, in half an hour, two hours from now. I procrastinate over the weekend instead of writing even when I sit down in front of the computer. I’ve become a FreeCell addict, or I’ll check email or Facebook , read articles online when I know that focus on the writing is the only way to finish the book I started two years ago. . . .

I meditate almost daily for 10 minutes and that seems to calm me, but it doesn’t last. I feel like I’m coming apart at the center, flying off in all directions: put the flowers in, start the garden, paint the hallway, do the taxes, write, cook, see friends, study Chinese, etc. It seems an endless list of chores that are always nagging at me and I solve the whole thing by going prone and watching old movies. I know this is wasting time and my life but I can’t seem to concentrate.

Ms. Gallagher: The word that pops out from your post is “addicted.” All those calls, and Web surfing, and emails are forms of stimulation, and we easily get hooked on them. Like dieting, getting control of your craving for novel information requires rationing and self-control.

Rod: I’m a parent and high school teacher, and worry that the practice of concentration during studying is being demolished by phone texting. My own son will have his phone nearby, and about every 10-20 minutes, it buzzes, demanding a moment of his attention (”hey dude, what’s up” “not much dude”). From what you say, this pattern will prevent his brain from productively focusing on the history lesson in front of him. Is there any research on this effect? The remedy is obvious.

Ms. Gallagher: Many cognitive pschologists share your concern with the shallow quality of the “work” kids do while gaming, IM-ing etc. The short answer is that this technology is new, and we can’t evaluate the effects yet, but it seems prudent to set some limits, particularly with younger kids, as we do with other questionable activities.

Sharon Allen: So I get the not multi-tasking thing. I don’t. And yet I am the person who keeps track of a myriad and a multitude of details and I am pretty good at it. How can I improve on a pretty innate ability to do what I need to do now, now and write a list of what needs to be done later? What is the best way to train my brain up a level, if you will?

Ms. Gallagher: The easiest way to train your focus up a notch is a daily attentional workout, most of which are based on single-pointed meditation. Research shows that people who adopt such a practice improve their ability to concentrate in daily life.

Barbara Landy: I have always been envious of those of whom it is said “He makes me feel like I am the most important person in the room.” These charmers appear to be capable of super-focusing on the person with whom they are talking. I, on the other hand, seem to be incapable of such focus. However hard I try, I cannot avoid listening to others in the surrounding area. In fact, like L.S. above, it seems that the harder I try, the more difficult it is to focus totally on the person with whom I am conversing. Yet in a crowded airport waiting area, I was once so absorbed in my book that I failed to notice that my flight took off without me!

How can both be true? I would like to have some control over my own distractibility, but have never been successful. Do you have suggestions?

Ms. Gallagher: It’s no coincidence that you can tune in to your book but have trouble focusing in talkative groups. We evolved to attend to human speech, which can make life in an open-plan office very difficult. Also, you sound anxious about trying to focus, and anxiety prompts the opposite state of scanning the environment. When you tense up and feel distracted, take some deep breaths and refocus on our target.

Faith Frankel: As simplistic as this may sound, I recently found at least one answer to achieving better focus in our age of distractions: Stop watching TV. Since I work at home, it’s a great temptation to watch while eating my meals. As an experiment I have, in the past 7 days, kept the TV off; during meals I have read several back issues of National Geographic and The New Yorker which were piling up, learned a lot, enjoyed great nature photos, and returned to work at my computer refreshed, educated, and more productive. A few moments of temptation were overcome by listening to some music and doing slow breathing, during which I recognized that the TV had been a brain-numbing, mindless habit, nay mild addiction. Next step: Call and cancel the cable TV service.

Ms. Gallagher: Bravo for turning off the tube! Research on flow shows that TV provides some of the worst quality experience you can have. To flow instead, focus on challenging but enjoyable activities that demand your rapt attention.

By the way, one question I haven’t dared ask Ms. Gallagher is whether reading TierneyLab will distract you or help you concentrate. And I won’t put Dr. Desimone on the spot by asking him to address it when he returns next week to answer questions. Some things are best left unexplored, right?

[Update: Click here for the next batch of answers, from Dr. Desimone.]

Comments are no longer being accepted.

David Hughes May 8, 2009 · 7:46 pm

I find this article so difficult to relate to because when I’m concentrating, I’m very intense-if someone starts to say something to me, I’ll say, “you have about 5% of my attention right now…”

It’s almost as though I have the opposite problem-too focused.

simma May 8, 2009 · 8:21 pm

Would you please have one of your guest experts provide a more detailed answer to Sarah’s question?
What kind of cognitive behavior techniques would help her?
Is there some reframing or meditation that would help her focus on her tasks and stay away from free cell, etc.? What actions can Sarah take to get her desired outcomes?

Simma Lieberman
simma@simmalieberman.com
//www.simmalieberman.com

Johnny E May 8, 2009 · 8:37 pm

I had a boss who got so wrapped up in software he was developing you could barely wake him out of his trance. If you concentrate too much on a task you become oblivious to the world and become like the absent-minded professor. There is something to be said for situational awareness.

But multi-tasking is ruining my life because I’m not accomplishing the things I want to do. TV and web surfing are the big culprits. You can send all day reading the online NYT.

If I really need to concentrate I turn on some Renaissance music.

Peter K. May 9, 2009 · 3:33 am

I want to follow up on Sarah’s complaints, which are my own in surprisingly similar ways. If the distractability and tendency to procrastinate are due to an addiction to stimulation, then too they a consequence of deep exhaustion from all the fuss. We are strung out on ambition, duty, and in my case on fear of underachievement. So, in taking the addiction metaphor to its logical conclusion, is the cure a type of rehab? … If so, what does that look like? A meditation retreat? No TV to be sure, but no NPR, even? Cold turkey hardly seems practical in this world, when one has a job (or two) to juggle with family obligations. My compass is a bi-weekly therapy session, but I want a simpler life…sustainability at the smallest scale.

A scientist in Seattle, struggling to reach healthy balance.

Emma Frances May 9, 2009 · 7:07 am

Have come to this blog late but reading original article causes me to ponder a migraine theory experts might comment upon. “Ultimately, Dr. Desimone said, it may be possible to improve your attention by using pulses of light to directly synchronize your neurons, a form of direct therapy that could help people with schizophrenia and attention-deficit problems (and might have fewer side effects than drugs). If it could be done with low-wavelength light that penetrates the skull, you could simply put on (or take off) a tiny wirelessly controlled device that would be a bit like a hearing aid.”…”In the nearer future, neuroscientists might also help you focus by observing your brain activity and providing biofeedback as you practice strengthening your concentration. Researchers have already observed higher levels of synchrony in the brains of people who regularly meditate.”
From experience I know migraine attacks are launched by eye disturbances as a warning of what is to come; light is primary, and a bright glaring light may even trigger an attack. I have learned to use biofeedback which often is successful in aborting the attack, which may be triggered by an exhaustion/emotion/activity overload; the attack causes a halt to everything and concentration must be focused on getting rid of it by giving in to it yet attempting to relax the body/brain should it go through the full string of symptoms (vomiting, diarreah, head pain, etc.).
So I wonder if Dr. Desimone, or other scientists doing this type work, has looked at migraine attacks in his neuron research and can comment on the connection?
Every little bit of info helps in dealing with this debilitating condition.

William E Combs May 9, 2009 · 9:01 am

I think about having iron will-power. What I could accomplish! This is a fantasy that will not happen.

Auntie Wa May 9, 2009 · 9:17 am

After nearly living 20 years in Europe, what constantly amazes me whenever I return to the US is the bombardment from televisions wherever I go. Airports, train stations, restaurants, waiting rooms — it’s almost impossible to find a silent spot to simply sit and think. People have become so accustomed to this continual bombardment of noise and visual movement that they become bored if they have to (have the opportunity to?) sit in silence for 10 minutes. I was shocked and saddened to see a video screen in the Frankfurt train station yesterday . . . it distresses me to think that soon even Europeans will have the same limited concentration capacity as the US-Americans.

llyn May 9, 2009 · 10:16 am

A student who is failing my class came in to see me yesterday. He explained that he has ADD, can’t concentrate, can’t remember anything, can’t take tests. My class is not the only one he is failing, and his previous semester in this, his freshman year, was no more successful than the current one. Yes, he was working with DIsability Resource Services. Yes, he was being tutored. He may “get it” when he is doing homework or labs or being tutored, but when any pressure is put on him, everything flies right out of his head.

I can’t help but remember that this student invariably came to class with earplugs in and often left them in during class. (I asked myself if a lawsuit would result if I yanked them out.) I’m sure this student also has a cell phone– they all do. I’m sure this student has no problem interfacing with a computer to do computer gaming or cyber-socializing on his Facebook/Myspace page. However, he just can’t learn in a conventional school setting. He has an inability to concentrate, very poor reading comprehension, and very poor retention of information.

We see more and more college students like this, and my institution is one that has high admission standards. I am convinced that ADD is in part a result of students growing up in a multimedia environment. Their brains end up being wired differently than their parents’ and grandparents’ brains. The print oriented educational system is lagging behind contemporary culture and cannot compete with all the “toys” listed above– “toys” that alone or in combination require students to track many sources of stimuli all at once most of the time or alternatively require the laser focus concentration that gaming highly motivates them to engage. The contemporary media environment essentially trains nearly all children to have some ADD characteristics, and undoubtedly significantly worsens those who already have predisposition to these conditions.

Jon Rutherford May 9, 2009 · 11:59 am

I have long questioned the notion of “self-improvement,” and learning better ways to focus on a task at hand, and to cut out unnecessary and often trivial or even damaging distractions such as TV, feels to me suspiciously like self-improvement.

Wouldn’t a good prelude to self-improvement be to ask: “Who or what is this self that I want to improve?” After finding the answer to that — steam on ahead. But not before.

I’d like to add two things: the word “addiction,” in my opinion, is used all too freely and cavalierly in discussions of subjects like this one; and that, despite the tone of what I’ve said, I know the circumstance of Ms. Gallagher’s interest in and dedication to this topic, and both respect and admire her for it. I just happen to have been long wary of any régime of self-enhancement.

Patricia May 9, 2009 · 12:44 pm

As a writer I don’t think the advice to Sarah was very helpful — writing it off as addiction.

Writer’s block has been problem for writers long before technology came into the mix.

Writer’s block can involve any number of delaying strategies. Some of them involve addictions and some of them don’t.

But usually at the heart of things is the writer’s relationship with what the writer is trying to write.

Sarah, does your writing still mean anything to you? Are you being paid to produce things that don’t stir you up inside?

Maybe you no longer care about what you write?

Maybe you’re searching the world for something you care about more?

Attention isn’t just a physical process. It’s an emotional one too. You pay attention to the things you care about.

Patricia May 9, 2009 · 12:53 pm

Ilyn:

“Their brains end up being wired differently than their parents’ and grandparents’ brains.”

I disagree with this. I think the problem is their brains are wired the same as Grandpa’s brain was wired. It’s the world that’s changed, not the wiring.

Remember — back during Grandpa’s time — not everyone NEEDED a college education just to avoid minimum wage slavery.

Back in Grandpa’s time, a person who wasn’t organized enough to get through college could get a fine, well-paying job in a factory or on a farm or ranch somewhere.

Back during Grandpa’s time, there was no social mandate to force that person into college. There was no social sense that college was mandatory for Americans.

That world is gone, but the genes that were suited to that world are still here.

That I believe is part of the problem.

Our economy has made ADD into an issue. Our so-called “knowledge-based economy” has made college into the new high school and turned on its head the very manner in which we evaluate individuals as successes or failures.

In a manufacturing economy, ADD is not an issue, because not everyone has to get a college degree just to make a decent wage.

Patricia May 9, 2009 · 1:07 pm

Maybe people don’t realize nowadays how much the world has changed in the last 40 years.

In Grandpa’s time you did not have to pull down your pants and urinate into a plastic cup into order to get a job.

In Grandpa’s time, you weren’t considered a worthless failure and consigned to a minimum wage lifestyle if you didn’t go to college.

I couldn’t say for sure if our brains have changed, but the world that our brains have to cope with has changed almost beyond all recognition in a very short time — too short for evolution to respond by changing us.

Steve Levinson May 9, 2009 · 2:51 pm

A clinical psychologist with over 35 years of experience, I’m convinced that there’s a flaw in the design of the human mind that prevents most of us from focusing – and staying focused – on whatever we choose. The mind is largely designed to be reactive, which often works against concentrating. That’s why I set out over 20 years ago to find a way to capitalize on the mind’s often troublesome reactivity to actually improve focus. I invented a simple pager-like electronic device – known as the MotivAider – that automatically sends its user a steady stream of private signals to keep the user’s attention focused on any chosen objective. My idea was to make lemonade out of lemons – that is, to use what’s “wrong” with the mind to make the mind work better. There’s more about the MotivAider concept at //habitchange.com.

beth May 9, 2009 · 4:45 pm

I believe I understand the concept of “flow” or “to flow” referred to in the last paragraph:
“Research on flow shows that TV provides some of the worst quality experience you can have. To flow instead, focus on challenging but enjoyable activities that demand your rapt attention.”

At the same time I would find it most interesting to expand on this idea of “flow.” perhaps related to doing one thing at a time… or the synchronization one feels when pitching a strike….

Also, doing one thing at a time, and finishing it – or at least completing that step of it in a way to allow me to restart it easily has proved helpful to me.

Peter May 10, 2009 · 4:40 am

Could one of the experts please respond to Ilyn’s comments and observations?

What are the consequences of the split focus described? That is, the tracking of ‘many sources of stimuli all at once’ and ‘the laser focus concentration that gaming highly motivates them to engage’.

Are the abilities described more valid in our contemporary culture than those valued by the ‘print-oriented educational system’?

Boldizar May 10, 2009 · 4:46 am

I have extraordinarily good focus under 99.9% of work conditions, in the sense that I can put in 15 hour days on work that ranges from highly creative to tedious. But if something makes me angry, especially if it stems from frustration with things like unfairness or lack of logic in someone else, then I find myself unable to shut off.

Does the negative mechanism — i.e., shutting off an unwanted focus — work in a fundamentally different way from positive paying of attention?

//www.boldizar.com

Jan May 10, 2009 · 6:38 am

Preoccupation with distracting thoughts will take one away from the task at hand: washing dishes, gardening, practicing flute, whatever. One is simply not “available” for anything else.

You might try this:
A Zen teacher once recommended labeling, then returning. So, when a distracting thought of the future, past, a judgment, a fear, occurs one would simply label it by thinking “future”, “past”, “judgment”, or “fear” and gently return to one’s intended goal, such as weeding, or meditation on one’s breath.

I, myself, like to count my breaths when I feel distracted. So, I will count from 1 to 10 while washing dishes. I might do this twice. It’s amazing how pleasant and efficient the process is under that condition!

I have been doing Zen meditation for over 30 years. Once a day for 35 minutes. Sometimes more often. It helps to relax and concentrate. Preoccupations don’t interfere as much as before.

Lola May 10, 2009 · 8:14 am

Stop watching TV. I am an artist and I couldn’t concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time — the length of time between television commercials. It’s a bit the same with the computer/internet — peripheral ads, blinking, etc….
I stopped TV altogether and voila! I could paint.

Sigrd Heath May 10, 2009 · 9:54 am

Returning to Sarah’s situation (all too familiar), the various distractions and addictions she mentions – to which she’ll give attention until she has no choice but to sit down at the computer and complete her assignment – are easy. Writing is hard. Writing can be terrifying. Writing can reveal like few other tasks all sorts of weaknesses, some real, some imagined, most probably exaggerated the minute you put your fingers on the keyboard.
I think she needs to look at that, decide whether or not she really wants to write and then learn to to do it in spite of her fear. Then she can reward herself by doing her taxes.

Marisa Landau May 10, 2009 · 10:17 am

Many thanks for this article. I’ve done away with TV long ago, but my addiction is reading news on the web. I spend precious hours on this every day, descending from important and enlightening articles to trivial stories and even police stuf – instead of concentrating on finishing 3 or 4 books I have started to write.

I found an excellent piece of advice on this column – simply, as the author says: “Like dieting, getting control of your craving for novel information requires rationing and self-control”.

That’s advice for adults – nothing to do with “silver bullet” solutions like laser beams on the brain – simply, ***self control***.

It’s been said: “Genius is focus”.

Jonathan May 10, 2009 · 10:55 am

I agree with a lot of the sentiments about certain generations having their brains wired a bit differently – and that the constant stimulus that a television or internet provides has caused me to experience a certain amount of lapsing concentration. The one lucky thing for me is that at least, I am 28, I spent half of my life where a computer and television were not in a state of being a hyper-stimulus, where interaction is instantaneous. I just have to reconnect to the old wiring of sitting down with the history textbook and writing notes in outline form – or I need a new hobby, like playing soccer again. Therefore, I am signing off NYtimes and if I can do it, dissolve my facebook account – god! that makes me scared, talk about an addiction!

John May 10, 2009 · 1:15 pm

I second the comments about the response to Sarah. Many of us have these problems. In a lot of ways I feel we are conditioned to have them, maybe in a similar way to how Americans are conditioned to over eat. However, when I think of dieting tips they don’t really apply to cutting down on distractions when trying to work. Can you please give some concrete advice about this subject?

Phishaw May 10, 2009 · 4:01 pm

This may sound off-base, because it is not about professions, career or family life. However, I have noticed a couple of things while dating that I’d like to ask about, to see if anyone else has some feedback.

Until recently, I presumed that when a woman on a date with me would look around the room it would mean I was uninteresting and she was disinterested. I now tend to think that the general hubbub of anxiety of being on a date might provoke this. What is a good strategy for getting the person to relax or to stay focused with me, or as much as I am, on what is being discussed. I know this smacks of something an annoying person would say about people who don’t pay attention to him, but I generally feel I am a pretty good listener and I talk about relational things, not things that are solely about me.

The other thing I would like to know is why drunk people seem so focused on a particular subject once they reach inebriation. What causes that?

carlos montes May 10, 2009 · 4:07 pm

finally, this article has opened my eyes to something I already suspected. i flunked math, i never finished architecture, I have started writing my book dozens of times, I never finished Proust, I did manage to learn 5 languages and stay married for over 30 yers. Some comfort. And all because of butterflies in my my brain
thanks, C

Sam Punnett May 10, 2009 · 7:27 pm

I think I have a source that may help with llyn’s question. It comes from a local public broadcasting program and web initiative here in Ontario with Norman Doidge. If you go to tvo.org and search on his name you can find several items including a video interview with Dr. Doidge about his book and a page where he responds to questions from viewers.
I too believe that multitasking is a myth and that many of us have devolved into a state, as one commentator I heard recently called it, of having “continual partial attention”. I asked Dr. Doidge via the Q & A page his thoughts on whether he thought continual stimulation of the electronic visual media-kind (MTV style editing etc.) resulted in patterning/training the brain to be seeking continual distraction. He agreed that this is likely the by-product of our media environment. The good news is that he also believes that we can train ourselves away from this effect.
I believe that this condition is an issue of public health. Public mental health. Being conscious of the effect and taking steps to control overexposure is critical. Media seems innocuous enough, certainly much of the content is mind numbingly trivial, but it is not only the content but the resulting effect on our brains of the way in which it is delivered that we need be more cognizant of. Forums like this one are important.

-Sam