Messages For Mindfulness

Dr Narjes Gorjizadeh shows us how to turn the distracting nature of modern life to our advantage by using each distraction as an opportunity for practising mindfulness

- Dr Narjes Gorjizadeh

Distraction seems to be a natural element of today’s lifestyle. Gadgets and features of modern technology bring us more comfort and accessibility, but they come at a significant cost. They disconnect us from ourselves and disrupt one of the essential skills that we human beings need to thrive in life—the ability to pay attention.

All the constant beeps, dings, rings, and buzzes that come from our smartphones and other digital devices fragment our attention and wire our brain for distraction. Also, researchers say that when we hear a notification sound, our heart rate goes up, and we feel anxious until we check what the notification was for.

It is a natural tendency of an untrained mind to get distracted. Our brain loves novelty; it thinks there might be something better in the next new thing, and it rewards us whenever we get distracted. Modern lifestyle feeds this quality of the brain and trains our mind to crave for more distraction. But the long-term effect is detrimental to our brain. Constant distraction has a negative impact on our performance, our productivity, and our ability to focus, not to mention its detrimental influence on our relationships and sense of happiness. Moreover, research shows that distraction decreases our attention span and leads to stress and anxiety.

Smartphone addiction

Nowadays, many people are addicted to their smartphones. Research shows that adults check their phones 52-80 times a day. Staying focussed on one task is becoming a challenge for most people these days. We often feel a need to check our emails or social media feeds frequently to see if something is happening, even when we don’t hear any notification sound.