I had an appointment with my ADHD doctor today and she shared some slightly horrifying statistics from recent studies she's been reading:
- Having your phone by you and checking notifications creates a "switching" mindset that causes your concentration to go down by 20%. With ADHD individuals, especially students, this is even more problematic and can be devastating because they already struggle with focusing.
- Reading content on a screen (computer, phone, tablet, etc) causes your reading comprehension to be diminished by two-thirds!!! Our brains read screens differently, taking in information in "flashes" or by simply "scanning" to try and find what may be important.
- The average person only has a focus time of 3 minutes.
We discussed my current personal struggles after I took an evaluation, and the two domains I'm having the most difficulty with are Mood Shifts and Attention. My doctor, referring back to the studies, helped me brainstorm ways to improve these domains, and these are some tips that can help anyone, not just those with ADHD:
- Put your phone away! Phones bombard us with notifications day and night, so a prime solution that was shared was to move your phone away from you (on silent), or, better yet, turn it off.
- Don't look at your phone first thing in the morning or last thing at night, and charge your phone in a different room. You'll have deeper sleep, a better mood, and this allows you to unwind and create healthier morning and evening routines, free of distractions.
- Read physical, printed copies of books. This will help you think deeper, concentrate longer, and comprehend more of what you're reading.
- Set up your phone so that you have a specific amount of time to be on apps before it will kick you out of them (my phone kicks me off of Instagram after 15mins, Facebook after 1 hour, etc).
I'm going to apply these methods over the next two months, until my next appointment, and see how it goes.
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