Margaret Canter, Ph.D (left) and Maree Jones (right) There was a time when the internet was a briefly visited place. People logged on, did what they needed to do and logged off. That time is gone, and society’s attention now has completely shifted to the online world as digital technology has evolved.
As director of Social Media Strategy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Maree Jones has watched the shift happen in real time. Spending 16 years in a field that never stops, Jones has seen technology go from sitting on desks to riding in people’s pockets from the moment they wake up until they go to sleep. Drawing on her years of expertise in an always-online world, Jones provides insight on how to protect attention and focus in the workplace.
The challenge of protecting attention is a workplace concern, and it also is a critical component in mental health and emotional well-being.
Margaret Canter, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and professor of pediatrics in the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine and Children’s of Alabama, speaks on the connection between attention and mental health, and shares her insight on attention protection and focus recovery. Canter’s work focuses on providing integrated behavioral healthcare to the pediatric clinic's patient population, which is children from birth through 18, and their families.
Protecting attention means protecting mental health
According to Canter, attention is a valuable resource because humans can give their attention to only one thing at a time, meaning what individuals choose to focus on and attend to must be worth it.
“When someone is able to focus and sustain their attention, they learn more and can be more efficient in completing their work or tasks,” Canter said. “If we are stressed or anxious about things getting accomplished, we may be preoccupied with those things’ getting done, which would negatively impact our attention.”
Difficulty paying attention and trouble focusing are symptoms of both anxiety and depression. If one already has difficulty paying attention, feelings of anxiety can become heightened, with mood and self-esteem being negatively impacted.
“In the age of social media, productivity isn’t just about how much work gets done. It’s also about how often we’re asked to stop what we’re doing and mentally shift to something else,” Jones said.
Likewise, if someone is already having feelings of anxiety and depression, individuals may not have the motivation to make the effort in their work, tasks and other responsibilities.
Why digital work and technology are so exhausting
Jones says that part of what makes constant connectivity so draining is not the volume of work; it is the volume of decisions. With access to all kinds of information, the mind can be easily susceptible to burnout, and it can be hard to determine which information should be attended to. This persistent hum of pressure can be especially draining for people whose jobs depend on staying informed.
“Burnout has become an increasingly important conversation because we’re finally beginning to understand what long-term exposure to that pace feels like,” Jones said.
Smartphones allow access to all kinds of information at any time and place, including consuming the news via social media instead of traditionally. Because news segments are delivered in 30-second to three-minute intervals, sustaining attention for longer can be more difficult.
“When they’re wanting to read about a news topic or event, I encourage individuals to find one or two sources or individuals they trust and limit their exposure,” Canter said. “If we are intentional about our attention, we will not have the constant stream of information negatively affect our productivity and mood.”
In her role, Jones has the potential to be exposed to thousands of notifications a day. Each one, she says, carries a hidden cost of deciding on what and which information needs to be attended to.
For Jones, she has learned to recognize the warning signs that technology has taken the wheel. The antidote starts with treating attention as a resource worth guarding.
“By the end of the day, people who largely do digital work can feel exhausted because they’ve spent the day managing interruptions and making thousands of tiny decisions,” Jones said.
“Protecting my attention has become just as important to me as managing my calendar, because attention is what allows me to do meaningful work.”
Boundaries that fit how you work
For many people, including Jones, simply spending less time online is not an option. Being online is the job. So instead of avoidance, she recommends building boundaries around intention and learning to let technology work for her, instead of against her.
“I’ve adopted a mindset of being intentional with my time online rather than constantly immersed in it,” Jones said. “Sometimes that means giving yourself permission to mindlessly scroll but setting a timer. Sometimes it means unfollowing accounts that consistently leave you feeling anxious or discouraged.”
Some recommended ways to protect attention include the following:
- Turning off one unnecessary notification this week
- Setting a timer before scrolling, and honoring it
- Using a status like “focus time” to signal when working heads-down
- Choosing one or two platforms to focus on rather than trying to master them all
- Scheduling specific times to check email instead of living in the inbox
- Keeping a non-digital hobby that pulls attention away from screens
- Breaking down tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks
- Charging phone in another room
- Taking a walk outside
When people are feeling stressed, they often seek distractions to take their minds off whatever is stressing them. While often associated with unproductivity, distractions can be a tool for attention protection and getting through a tough moment.
“Distraction is an excellent coping skill and one that I often use with children and teens in therapy,” Canter said. “Sometimes we need to get through a tough moment without doing something that would make the situation worse. However, it is important to remember that sometimes you need to come back to whatever is upsetting you and work through it, so it does not cause future problems.”
Redefining what it means to be responsive
Having to respond to multiple people, whether digitally or in-person, can be taxing on the mind and attention. To balance responsiveness and attention, Canter encourages having windows of time when they are truly offline. This powerful strategy helps rebuild attention stamina and allows individuals to have higher-quality responses when coming back online.
“As a parent, I try to not have my phone with me during the time I’m helping my kids get ready for bed,” Canter said. “When I’m successful, I’m able to be more present for my kids, which feels good, and we are more efficient in completing the bedtime routine because I am not distracted by whatever it is I’m looking at or whoever I’m talking to on my phone.”
One of the biggest barriers to setting boundaries in terms of responsiveness, Jones says, is the fear of seeming unavailable.
“In workplace culture, we sometimes unintentionally equate responsiveness with value,” Jones said. “Responding quickly doesn’t always mean you’re doing your best work.”
According to Jones, the healthiest teams she has worked with communicate expectations and preferred boundaries clearly. Everyone understands what requires immediate attention and what can reasonably wait. That creates trust without requiring individuals to be constantly interrupted.
“For any communication methods, expectations should be discussed with your manager and your team,” Jones said. “Different jobs require different response times, and having those expectations clearly defined removes a lot of unnecessary stress.”
Digital fatigue is real, and much of it is fueled by the belief that instant communication should always be the norm.
“Just because technology makes instant communication possible doesn’t mean every conversation needs to happen instantly,” Jones said. “Digital work is cognitive work, and sometimes what feels like burnout may actually be decision fatigue.”
Away from work, Jones guards her attention just as carefully, keeping few apps on her phone and even fewer with permission to send notifications.
“Every notification is essentially asking, ‘Can I interrupt what you’re doing?’ Very few apps deserve that permission, especially in my free time,” Jones said. “Just because I work in social media doesn’t mean I have to live in social media.”
For Jones, permitting herself to engage with social media intentionally instead of continuously has been the biggest change for her. Balancing her responsiveness in this way has allowed her to perform better at her job because she has more attention available for the work that matters.