The Science of Cognitive Performance: Focus Can Fix Your Life

Few resources are scarcer than people’s attention. The average person’s attention span has fallen to 8 seconds. If that seems absurdly short, consider the world we live in. We are fighting more digital distractions than ever before. You receive hundreds of marketing messages and phone notifications every day. Office workers are interrupted every 11 minutes, on average. For reference, humans take about 23 minutes to recover from a distraction. In a world like this, time for recovery is rare.

Our lack of focus comes at a cost. The time we lose to digital distractions costs over $10,000 per person each year. Arguably more important than our money is our sleep. Digital distractions disrupt circadian rhythms, creating the most sleep-deprived generation in history. Without proper sleep, our ability to engage fully with the world disappears. Sleeplessness is linked to a whole host of additional health problems.  

What do you do to focus better? If you’re like millions of people around the world, you self-medicate with caffeinated drinks. In the USA alone, the average adult drinks 85 liters of caffeinated drinks in a year. Caffeine consumers cite increased alertness, elevated mood, and aerobic endurance as reasons for drinking it. However, the benefits of caffeine are misconstrued: caffeine provides energy. Not focus. 

Moreover, caffeine is addictive, and withdrawal decreases productivity and mental alertness. Beyond that, caffeine reliance is unsustainable in the long term. Caffeine may be linked to lifelong health concerns like poor heart health, digestion issues, and dementia. Wouldn’t you prefer a healthier alternative?

If you limit or remove caffeine from your diet, what else can you do to focus better? Science is studying this question in detail. One solution is biohacking. Biohacking is a DIY approach using a mix of science and self-experimentation to change behavior and improve well-being. Some behavioral changes include reducing blue light exposure around bedtime and removing excess noise and clutter from the working environment.

Another area of study is nootropics. Which nutrients and minerals work best with the body in supplements to improve cognition? Nootropics could build the next generation of drinks boosting focus ability.