Is My Brain Being Rewired?

I've noticed lately that my attention span is shrinking, I get increasingly bored when I have to do something for more than 2 minutes at a time. I sometimes even struggle to watch a half hour, not very intense, TV show, which means trying to concentrate on important things like sermons and conversations with friends is a real feat.

Some would say that perhaps it's "baby brain" I've heard that can stay with you for years and years after pregnancy and kids and there probably is some truth to that. It's definitely hard to concentrate on a conversation when Aston is in the room wanting attention or doing something he shouldn't.

I mentioned my problem to Stuart who suggested that part of the cause may be due to my constant iPhone usage. I love my iPhone, it has so many fun apps on it I don't ever have to be bored, I can even play games with my friends who also have iPhones, (Words with Friends is a favourite at the moment).

According to this article by Nicholas Carr, as you spend time jumping from one thing to another on the web, a computer or iPhone your brain rewires itself to get used to quick topic changes and notice distractions. This is great when you need to find something quickly on the web but not so good if you need to read and concentrate on a big slab of text. This article in the New York Times says that only 3% of people can effectively multitask and actually process what they are taking in. They profile a guy who is always on his computer, iPad or iPhone and is so bombarded with information he forgets things and has missed really important emails and messages - I felt quite sad reading about him and his family.

So, I think it's time to take some action, I've come up with a few ideas to decrease the jumpy-ness of my iPhone usage, feel free to add suggestions.

1. I won't use my phone or the computer while eating with Aston, or when he's in the bath, or when I've said I will play with him
2. I've turned off the push notifications for my email, Facebook, eBay and Words with Friends
3. I won't use my phone while watching TV (unless it's live TV and there is a really long ad break - which doesn't happen often as we mostly watch things that have been recorded).
4. I will read long articles and blog posts slowly, I've noticed that I often skim read and my eyes rush to the end of the page before my brain has really taken in what I've read.
5. I think (although I haven't completely decided on this one) I shall deactivate my Twitter account
6. I will embark on an intensive Facebook friend cull
7. I will try to only check Facebook on my phone every 2 hours
8. I have started a Bible Reading Plan, that means I will read the whole bible in a year, to do this I need to read 2-3 chapters at a time so hopefully as well as getting to know God more I will also be increasing my ability to concentrate

Well, this was a long post but I managed to concentrate for the whole thing. Perhaps writing it while procrastinating at work made concentrating a bit easier (sorry Paul).