Where have our attention spans gone? How can we go about improving our self-control to focus better on God, his word, and our own physical, mental, and spiritual health? We need to be less entertainment driven and more reality driven. Our focus seems to be on the here and now rather than delighting in the Lord and having our eyes focused on His second coming.
What practical steps can we make in establishing good, disciplined habits to help us focus on worship, to have self-discipline around Bible study, and good routines for daily life?
Our attention spans are getting shorter. Experts say that’s due to digital overload from the sheer volume of entertainment at our fingertips, social media, short-form content and constant notifications.
Gloria Mark, PhD, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine, found in her research that people’s attention spans have shrunk over the past twenty years. In 2003, the average attention span that she and her fellow researchers measured was two and a half minutes; it dropped to one minute and 15 seconds by 2012 and currently sits at around 47 seconds.
She told the Independent last year, “People have these short attention spans, and so they’re being fed content to try to hold their attention. And that content is short, and then people learn this pattern of not being able to pay attention. It’s a cycle.”
Social media algorithms are designed to keep you scrolling in search of your next dopamine hit, while Netflix now makes ‘second screen’ shows for audiences who are sitting on their couches looking at their phones and aren’t giving the TV their full attention. We spend time rapidly switching between apps or watching short videos, and before we know it an hour has passed by.
If you’re like me, your phone is probably the first thing you reach for in the morning to turn off your alarm. While you’re there, you check your messages, emails, social media, the news – anything you may have missed overnight. This isn’t good for our brains; taking in so much information before we’ve even woken up properly triggers the stress hormone cortisol and can lead to mental fatigue before the day has even begun, making it hard to focus on tasks throughout the day.
How does this affect our spiritual lives?
This can also have an impact on our prayer lives, personal devotions, and worship.
Maybe you made a resolution to read the whole Bible this year, but you’re finding it hard to focus on the long chapters of Old Testament history. You might find your mind wanders much more quickly when you’re praying than it used to, or you struggle to recall the message of the sermon you heard last Sunday morning.
By contrast, it’s all too easy to spend an evening binge-watching TV, gaming, or scrolling social media. Of course, these aren’t the only things that distract us, nor are they inherently bad – but they can be some of the most time-consuming.
The good news is that we can improve our attention spans, so how do we start reclaiming the time we’ve been given and reprioritise it for God’s glory?
Looking after our physical and mental health and wellbeing
We know that God has designed our bodies and brains to work together. If you’re neglecting your overall health and wellbeing, simply making another resolution to read your Bible more often probably isn’t going to work.
A healthy diet, regular exercise and good sleep are all key in supporting focus and concentration in general (though professional help should also be sought for attention disorders).
Dr Michael Ziffra, a psychiatrist at Northwestern Medicine, told the Associated Press last year, “[The attention span] is in many ways similar to a muscle in the sense that we can build it up with practice and exercise. Conversely, it can weaken if we’re not exercising it.”
Taking active breaks throughout the day can help exercise your attention span, whether that’s a 30-minute walk, some stretches, or simply stepping away from your desk or getting a change of scenery.
Learning a new hobby, skill, sport or instrument, or activities like reading, crafts and cooking can also help – any mental or physical activity that doesn’t involve passive scrolling on your phone.
For better sleep, experts recommend getting fresh air and natural light in the morning. This switches off the sleep hormone melatonin and regulates cortisol, helping you focus better during the day and sleep better at night.
Consider these tools and techniques
If you find yourself tempted to scroll on your phone when you wake up or during your daily devotion or quiet time,you might need an internet blocker,or to set time limits on social media.
A physical device like Brick or Void can be set up to block apps, making them inaccessible until you tap your phone to it.
For many of us, the temptation to scroll is habitual – it’s muscle memory. How do we make a habit of daily devotion instead?
It can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to form a habit, and an average of 66 days for that habit to become automatic. You’ve probably heard of habit stacking – a technique created by social scientist BJ Fogg and popularised in James Clear’s book Atomic Habits.
Clear writes, “One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behaviour on top…
He lists some examples: “After I pour my cup of coffee each morning, I will meditate for one minute. After I take off my work shoes, I will immediately change into my workout clothes. After I sit down to dinner, I will say one thing I’m grateful for that happened today. After I get into bed at night, I will give my partner a kiss. After I put on my running shoes, I will text a friend or family member where I am running and how long it will take.”
This technique could help you refocus on the Lord as you go about your day. For example: “After I pour my cup of coffee each morning, I will pause and pray… After I sit down to dinner, I will thank the Lord for something I’m grateful for that happened today.”
Rather than setting your alarm from your phone, you could invest in an alarm clock and keep your phone in the kitchen or lounge instead of beside your bed. Keep your Bible on your bedside table where it’s easily accessible when you wake up, bookmarked at the page you want to read first thing in the morning.
If you make a coffee or tea each morning, keep a sticky note on the coffee machine or kitchen wall with a Bible verse on it that you can reflect on as you make your drink.
Choose a Bible audiobook or Christian podcast to listen to during your commute, your lunchtime walks around the block, or as you do the dishes.
Each one of our daily lives looks a little bit different, and so will our daily devotions.
If you set out to read ten chapters of the Bible every day, you might find that it quickly becomes difficult and may even take you away from other duties like parenting or work deadlines. Set yourself a sustainable goal of reading a few verses, a page, or a chapter a day. Pick a book of the Bible you don’t know much about and work your way through it slowly and methodically along with study notes or a commentary.
If you struggle with long prayers, start with five minutes daily. God hears us whenever we pray and for however long, and His word has meaning and value for us no matter how short or long the passage.
After a tough day at work or looking after the kids, you may not feel like opening your Bible every day. But if you wait until you feel like it, or until you have more time, you’re denying yourself the incredible privilege of meeting with the Lord.
Accountability and community
One of the purposes of the church community is to build each other up and encourage each other in our individual walkswith the Lord.
None of us are immune to the struggle with distraction during a worship service. Church might be the longest time you’ve sat still all week, and your brain decides that now is the perfect time to think about your plans for the coming week, what’s on your to-do list at work, what to make for lunch. We need to remember and to remind each other that worship is not about us.
If you find that reading your Bible on your phone tempts you to distraction, leave your phone in your car and bring your physical Bible instead. If writing notes helps you focus, bring a notebook and pen – keep these in your car during the week so you don’t forget them. If you don’t understand something or have a question, write it down and make a beeline for your pastor after church. Ask a church friend to commit to talking about the sermon with you each Sunday after the service over coffee, before you talk about what you’ve been up to during the week.
Attend a regular home group or Bible study if you can. It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet with church family and encourage each other. At my home group, we pray in a circle for the person next to us and his or her specific needs. It’s a wonderful way to get to know each other’s practical needs and how we can serve each other, and to see those prayers answered over time.
Our worship, prayer and devotion aren’t going to be perfect. It’s important to remember that God has grace for us when we’re tired, distracted, unfocused. If this is something that we struggle with, we can come to Him at any time of the day or night and ask for His help.
He’s made Himself and His word freely available to us and it’s an incredible privilege to be able to cast our cares upon Him, to learn more about His amazing purpose and work, to experience His love, and look forward to eternity spent with Him. Why would we trade that opportunity for time spent entertaining ourselves or looking for fulfilment anywhere else?
Bethany Haverland is a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Bucklands Beach and is a journalist at the NZ Herald.
