Attentions span by different age groups

Attention span is the amount of time a person can concentrate on a single task without getting distracted. Now, this attention span varies in different age groups.

The average attention span for different age groups:

AgeAttention span
2 years4 to  6 minutes.
4 years8 to 12 minutes
8 years16 to 24 minutes
10 years20 to 30 minutes
12 years24 to 36 minutes.
14 years28 to 42 minutes
16 years32 to 48 minutes.

There is an ocean of information available at a click and coupled with various digital activities, our attention span gets affected. We tend to multitask and when we pay attention to multiple tasks at one time, we are more prone to making mistakes and becoming slower. “Poverty of Attention” is the phrase coined by Economist Herbert Simon about 50 years ago. According to him “Information consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence, a wealth of information created poverty of attention”. People tend to multitask a lot these days and because of which they are becoming attention deficit. Especially in the case of children from age group 6-15, attention deficit is becoming a topic of concern. Common symptoms of this are missing details, difficulty in maintaining focus, having problems in organising activities, and having difficulty in concentrating on lectures.

How to improve attention span:

  • It’s very important to have a balanced approach to improve attention span. We have to be careful in sharing information i.e share appropriate and limited information to the learner and seeker and don’t overload them with its ocean.
  • Attention management is another great way to improve our attention span: Knowing what information needs to be conveyed at what time helps us save our time and help us to focus on the task at hand.
  • Bring creativity to your regular boring tasks. For example: A child who does not like math will find it interesting when you’ll do the questions using finger paints.
  • Short breaks for tough tasks: Toughness of a task increases by two or three times when we sit for long hours working on it. Thus, it’s important to take some short breaks to refresh your mind.
  • Meditation and physical exercises are also great ways to improve your attention span as they relax both mind and body.
  • Interestingly enough, a piece of advice given by various studies is that chewing gum can decrease stress, increase alertness and increase attention span.

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