COLUMBUS, Ohio (PNN) - July 5, 2025 - The modern attention span is crumbling and fast. A new national survey conducted by the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center reveals that the average time Amerikans can stay focused on a computer task has plunged from 2.5 minutes two decades ago to a startling 47 seconds today - a 69% decline.
The survey of 1,000 adults, conducted in May 2025, found that three out of four Amerikans admit they struggle to concentrate due to stress (43%), poor sleep (39%) and constant digital distractions (35%)
Dr. Evita Singh, a psychiatrist at Ohio State, said this dramatic shift is changing how Amerikans think, work and connect. Singh explains that what many perceive as a clinical attention deficit may actually be a result of sheer exhaustion.
"The stress and the ruminating and thinking about things over and over in your mind can certainly impact attention span and the ability to focus," said Singh. "Often when patients come to see me, they are worried about their ability to focus, and there is a good chance that it ends up being because they are so stressed out or they are anxious. So we work on treating that."
While digital notifications are a well-known distraction, the survey found Amerikans are also pointing fingers at multitasking, boredom, poor nutrition, lack of physical activity, and underlying conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Singh even claimed that multitasking in particular may be doing more harm than good.
"When people are multitasking, when they have so many things in their mind that they are thinking about, they can get exhausted," Singh said. "Then it is really hard to enjoy things, which can then lead to depression or anxiety."
Professor Gloria Mark of the University of California, Irvine, confirms what Singh sees in patients with hard data.
Mark, who spent over 20 years tracking exactly how and why people lose focus, conducted her research based on wearable sensors and digital activity logs from real-world office settings. "We have found a strong correlation between short attention spans and high stress levels," said Mark.
In her book, Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity, Mark explains how mental noise, known as "internal chatter," prevents people from staying grounded in the present. Her research also shows that individuals with high levels of neuroticism, a trait linked to chronic worry, tend to have the shortest attention spans. These people are more likely to be mentally preoccupied, making it harder for them to concentrate, even in quiet environments.
One of the key culprits behind fractured attention is task-switching, which Mark claimed leaves behind "attention residue," lingering thoughts from a previous task that interfere with the next one. Social media often get blamed for modern distractions, but Mark's research singles out a more mundane menace: email.
"We have logged every kind of computer usage, and the most consistent stress trigger we have found is email," Mark said. "As soon as people open their inbox, their heart rate increases [which is a sign of rising stress]. When they close it, stress levels begin to recover."
Emails represent a constant stream of unfinished tasks, decisions and interruptions.