Can We Heal Our Attention Spans?

Do you ever feel like your attention span is shrinking? You’re not imagining it. Many of us report being more distracted, more restless, and less able to focus for long periods than we used to be. Between social media notifications, work demands, and family life, it can feel like our concentration is constantly under siege. But the big question is: can our attention spans be healed—or are we stuck with what we’ve got?

Nature vs. Nurture: Where Attention Comes From

Psychologists often frame attention as the product of both nature (our biology) and nurture (our environment).

• Nature: Some people are born with brains that are naturally more distractible. For example, research shows that people with ADHD have differences in brain networks linked to attention and impulse control. Their distractibility isn’t simply a bad habit—it’s built into how their brain processes information. Healing attention in this case doesn’t mean “fixing” the brain, but rather learning strategies and using treatments (like medication, therapy, or coaching) that support the way the brain works.

• Nurture: Even those without ADHD are influenced by the world around them. If we spend hours each day switching between emails, TikTok, and Netflix, our brains learn to expect novelty and stimulation. The good news? Habits and environments can be changed. When distraction is shaped by nurture rather than nature, it’s easier to reverse.

How Attention Works

Psychological theory suggests that attention is like a spotlight. The spotlight allows us to scan through our environments and then highlights something that needs more attention and leaves other parts of our environment in the dark. But the spotlight is limited and trying to focus on too many things (multitasking) dilutes the beam. Over time, constant switching weakens our ability to hold the light steady. The felt experience of this is where we find it difficult to focus on a task for any length of time.

Theories like cognitive load theory explain why: the brain can only process so much information at once. When overloaded, it seeks relief through distraction. Similarly, reinforcement learning reminds us that every time we check our phone and find something rewarding, our brain is trained to do it again—making it harder to resist.

Healing Our Attention

So what can we do? While biology sets the stage, environment and habits play a huge role in how well we focus. Here are evidence-based ways to rebuild attention:

1. Reduce distractions in your environment. Turn off non-essential notifications and keep your phone in another room while working or playing with your kids or watching TV.

2. Practice single-tasking. Use techniques like the Pomodoro method (25 minutes of focused work, 5 minutes of rest) to retrain your brain to stay with one thing at a time. However, I have found that for some people focus can only be maintained for minutes and so build up from there.

3. Strengthen attention with mindfulness. Studies show that mindfulness meditation improves the brain’s ability to notice distraction and redirect focus. This doesn’t have to be for any length of time but focusing on what you can see, hear, touch, taste or smell for seconds or a few minutes repeated throughout the day can help to build focus.

4. Prioritise sleep and exercise. Both boost brain function and concentration.

5. Be compassionate with yourself. Distractibility is human, especially in a world designed to pull our attention.

The Bottom Line

Attention spans aren’t set in stone. If your challenges are mostly nurture-based—shaped by habits, overstimulation, and modern life—you can absolutely heal and strengthen your ability to focus. If your challenges are more nature-based, such as ADHD, healing may look different: not about “fixing” but about finding supportive strategies and treatments that work with your brain rather than against it.

In both cases, the answer isn’t to berate ourselves for being “bad at paying attention.” It’s to understand what drives our distractibility, and then make changes—big or small—that give our minds the chance to thrive.