How Long Is Your Attention Span?

I’m sure many of us are familiar with a common guessing/estimating game in which you are asked to guess the number of items held in a container.  This could be a mason jar with gumballs in it, for example.  This is usually a task at which we have very little experience, and we usually arrive at our answer based on extremely limited information.

If you were to ask 100 people for estimates on a task like this, you’re likely to get a wide variety of responses.  Most of the responses will get close to the true number, but a small number of guesses will be much higher or much lower than the true number.  This is an example of the social psychological phenomenon called “The Wisdom of Crowds,” in which the average estimates of a group are usually more accurate than many of the single estimates provided.  I want to underline one of the assumptions in The Wisdom of Crowds concept to help make a point, which is how bad we are (on average!) about estimations.

Now consider a task that is more well-learned than guessing the number of gumballs in a jar.  A junior college student estimating how long reading 20 pages of their history textbook will take them.  An accountant on how long it will take to complete a quarterly report.  A contractor estimating how long a bathroom remodel will take.  In each of these examples, the person making the estimate has experience and a knowledge base to help them determine the length of time it will take to complete the task.  However, despite previous experience and specialized knowledge, many of these estimates will be off by some degree.

The concept of estimates and specifically with estimating time is important in managing aspects of ADHD.  Many of the patients I have worked with have said that they are likely to underestimate how long certain tasks will take and overestimate their ability to focus on those tasks for as long as they would like.  These errors can lead to a host of problems affecting not only productivity, but self-worth, levels of anxiety, and sleep among other outcomes.

As such it makes sense to reduce the guesswork in how long it takes to complete certain tasks by gathering accurate information which can better inform future estimates.  For example, if I played the gumball game 10 times and found out that I over-estimated on 8 of my 10 guesses, this can be useful information for the next time.  I can use this information to reduce my initial guess and arrive at what might be a more accurate response.  It could be helpful then to take the same approach of learning how long it takes to engage in low-reward tasks.

Engaging in Low-Reward Tasks

Characterizing those with ADHD as individuals who are unable to maintain focus is a common misconception of the condition.  Those with ADHD are capable of attending to information for longer periods of time, though these tasks are usually ones that they view as highly rewarding.  For tasks that are dull, complex or unrewarding, those with ADHD can have an especially difficult time maintaining their attention.

Being able to accurately estimate how long you can work on a task before you tend to get distracted or need to take a break can be very helpful information and lead to better efficiency.  This information could then allow you to set realistic blocks of active work and leave you feeling more accomplished when you stick to the plan.  By contrast, setting aside 6 straight hours to “work on my paper,” only to engage in 2 hours of work due to avoidance and distraction can be disheartening.

Before measuring your attention span, it is important to mention that there is no ideal amount of time.  Your attention span is going to vary based on a variety of factors, such as the kind of task being performed, your energy level, interest in the subject, and other factors.  While there are a number of variables that can affect your ability to sustain attention, it is still useful to have an idea of how long you typically spend focusing on a low-reward task.  Just know that from task to task this number likely varies a bit.

First you should choose a task to complete that is boring or unattractive.  You could choose an article from a website you do not normally read from, cleaning out a junk drawer in the home, or some other kind of task you normally wouldn’t be thrilled to take on.  Using a timer, you can record how long it takes before you become distracted or intentionally take a break from this task.  This should be repeated on a number of occasions to help you arrive at an overall average.

Armed with this information, you can now use this estimate to help develop strategies for managing other low-reward tasks.  For example, if you determined that you typically spend 10 minutes before getting distracted when reading a dull passage, you can aim to read in 10 minute blocks with 2-5 minute breaks between to help you be more productive.  If you generally stick to the 10 minute blocks, this would represent an improvement over trying to read for 2 hours straight and becoming frustrated when you struggle in meeting this unrealistic goal.

What to do with Distractions?

Many of us have some intrusive thoughts when we’re working.  While we may want to focus our attention on a task, we sometimes might find our mind wandering to other topics (e.g. “did I remember to lock the front door?” “I haven’t texted my sister back yet…” “I wonder what the weather will be tomorrow…”).  I’ve had many patients report that once an intrusive thought enters their mind, they feel a strong urge to take care of it right away.  In many instances, they’ve become so fearful of forgetting things, the strategy they’ve come to rely on is to handle tasks the moment they think about it, even if it interrupts another important task. If smartphones are interfering with your focus, learn about Dr. Angelo Rannazzisi’s strategies to reduce phone use.

Another strategy to pair with the timing of your attention span is the “parking lot” of ideas strategy.  While setting a more reasonable timeframe for working on a low-reward task, intrusive thoughts may still come.  When this happens, it could be helpful to have a notepad or notes app open to document these ideas.  The goal here is to simply write the idea down so you can remember to return to it later.  This provides some psychological satisfaction of having “acted” on the thought by writing it down, but without completely abandoning the target task.

Either during breaks or after the target task is completed, you could then return to the list that’s been created to see how many of these tasks are really necessary.  The items on this list can then be transferred to a more formal to do list or discarded completely if you decide they’re not a priority at all.

Conclusion

By timing how long it takes for you to persist on a dull task and by implementing strategies to help reduce the likelihood that you become distracted by intrusive thoughts, you can improve your chances of being as productive.  Though like any other skill, it may take time to learn and implement well.  Just because I can walk you through the instructions on baking a cake doesn’t guarantee that you’ll end up with something delicious and beautiful (I have pictures of deformed lemon bars as proof).  These are some initial coping skills for ADHD and in executive skills training, I work with others on how to build skills like this to better manage one’s responsibilities and follow through on their intentions more consistently.