Weakened Concentration At Work In The Era Of Technology Problem and Solution

Categories: Problems

Have you ever checked how many hours you spend on social networking websites every day? Does the screen time exceed your assumption? Virtually, most netizens now are spending plenty of time on screen especially on social networking websites like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Skimming various message randomly may make you feel like knowing the world better than ever. However, it is said that excessive phone use may lead to irrational procrastination and thus possible work underperformance (Lian, Sun, Zhou, Fan, Niu, &Liu,2018).

To alleviate the problem of weakened concentration caused by overuse of phone, feasible solutions could be enhanced government promotions, mindfulness therapy and alternative recreational activities.

The weakened concentration could be primarily attributed to phone overuse especially excessive skimming on social networking sites (SNS). SNS provides platforms for users to interact with each other by exchanging each other's generated ideas (Nesi&Prinstein,2015). Apart from the easy access of various information upon, SNS gains much popularity nowadays because it caters to human nature.

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Catherine, P. (2018) wrote that we human instinctively have an inherent desire to gain new messages to avoid surrounding dangers. Adapting of this nature, many apps are designed to have endless layout to attract users to browse constantly. Consequently, heavy phone or SNS users would encounter some disorders like sleep disorders, anxiety and difficult focus in-depth on a task (weakened concentration) (Babic, Smith, Morgan, Eather, Plotnikoff, &Lubans,2017).

As for the seriousness of the problem, a glance in Hongkong People’s screen-time would do the analysis. It is yet shown that 89% of Hong Kong residents surfed the Internet in 2018 and more than 80% of them visit social networking sites with average phone use hours of more than 6 per day (Hootsuide,2019).

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Additionally, it is shown that only 15% of Hongkong people used SNS for work purposes(Hootsuide,2019).In other words, major phone users spend much time on their phone for merely entertainment and it is possible that the majority could have encountered weakened concentration.

If the problem is not solved, irrational procrastination could be developed and thus unsatisfying work and study performances (Lian.et al.,2018).Irrational procrastination is introduced as the intentional delay of action despite knowing that the work result will be worse off if delayed(Lian.et al.,2018).In this case, SNS users are likely to pick phones even during professional occasions like lectures, classrooms and workplaces. A research has shown that jumping out messages averagely interrupt a worker six to eight times per day and workers require about 25 minutes to focus back to the original task (Brooks,S.,2015).The work interruption could eventually make SNS users tolerate worse work outcomes and a justifiable instance could be lower grade point average(GPA) of heavy Facebook student users in university (Brooks,S.,2015).It is assumable that weakened concentration may do harm to individuals’ well-being without appropriate intervention.

To alleviate the problem, one practical solution could be better governmental promotions about detriments of weakened concentration and feasible methods to deal with. Despite the occurred clips promoting detriments to excessive phone use, promotions about detailed methods to enhance citizens daily habits should have be implemented. To make an alarming call, it is worth promoting that browsing phone spree could be 'associated with lower task performance, increased technostress and lower happiness'(Brooks, S.,2015). For the habit enhancement, it could be promoted that using screen time function to track daily phone use habits would make citizens more aware and have clearer consciousness on phone use. After that, concrete ways to enhance concentration like concentration training and wiser screen time management could be taught by workshops in schools and enterprises where people need to concentrate to work efficiently. The advantage of the solution is that the audience is large so that many people could be influenced by infiltrating the concept. Nevertheless, it is always observed that promotional work like slogans and propaganda footage on Television are ignored and slighted as well as unmindful listeners in speech or workshop. Therefore, the promotional content should be more attractive and intriguing and the speakers’ quality should be standardized. Overall, the process may be obstacle-ridden, but the first step should still be taken.

The second solution to phone addiction and weakened concentration could be mindfulness therapy. Mindfulness refers to observing and realizing someone's reaction (both brain and emotional) when addiction occurs but not to object every invitation the brain gives (Catherine, P.,2018). Mindfulness is always mentioned when we try to treat addictions like food, drugs gambling and sex (Peltz&Black,2014). Apart from the traditional mediation, Catherine (2018) said that being mindful to phone use is more about observation and self-communication. In How to break up with your phone, after encouraging gaining data of screen time, Catherine then advises people not to do sudden blame or change because of the possible backlash. Instead, phone addicts may try to communicate with themselves and realize their internal needs like appeasing potential sorrow, anxiety and stress. The book also provides a 30-day therapy for phone addicts involving stopping phone use for a weekend and things to do when no phone is nearby. It is justified that the therapy could help remedy phone addiction and improve concentration in a soft and painless way; therefore, it makes breaking with phone more acceptable. For the drawback, it needs more patience due to the 30-day durations, people living in fast paced society may consider it troublesome and may not give it a try.

The last solution to the problem is to enrich life by alternative recreational activities. Despite the commercial effects like designing the SNS to be appealing, many phone users browse phone spree simply for killing the time. If people could find other things to concentrate with, then they would spend less time on phone. In addition to work and study, developing skills or hobbies may help phone users devote their mind for longer and thus better concentration in long term. Even doing an easy thing like reading a book could help people concentrate and create peaceful mood (Catherine, P.,2018). For the target audience, this solution is more specific for certain groups since it is learned that for people who gain social voids in reality, thrills brought by new information or others’ interactions (like thumbs-up) could do more in obsessing the vulnerable brains (Li,F.&Liu,QH.,2019).For instance, the NEET, refers to people who are not in education, employment nor training, could be seen as extreme cases of virtual world addiction (involved but not limited to SNS)(Heery&Noon,2017). On one hand, this solution help SNS addicts raise awareness of their surroundings and thus more colorful and fulfilling lives. On the other hand, heavy phone users could hardly implement the solution by their own so more exterior resources like consultations with social workers and parental encourage are required during the process.

To summarize, overuse of phone and the caused weakened concentration is now gaining more popularity globally. The problem could be alleviated by both better governmental promotion and individual efforts like mindfulness therapy and alternative entertainments. Although the head-down habit is very ubiquitous, it is astonishingly starting to enslave our human being. The concern is not only about the undermined work performance, but also our socialization, self-identity and the next generation’s growth in the future. It is a paramount importance that we take back our control and be more conscious to our actions in order to make our life more intentionally organized and less unintentionally controlled.

References:

  1. Babic, M. J., Smith, J. J., Morgan, P. J., Eather, N., Plotnikoff, R. C., & Lubans, D. R. (2017). Longitudinal associations between changes in screen-time and mental health outcomes in adolescents. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 12, 124–131. doi:10.1016/j.mhpa.2017.04.001
  2. Brooks, S. (2015). Does personal social media usage affect efficiency and well-being? Computers in Human Behavior, 46(C), 26-37. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563215000096
  3. [bookmark: _Hlk22461912][bookmark: OLE_LINK2]Catherine, P.(2018)How to break up with your phone. New York: Ten Speed Press.
  4. Lian, S., Sun, S., Zhou, Z., Fan, C., Niu, G. &Liu, Q. (2018). Social networking site addiction and undergraduate students' irrational procrastination: The mediating role of social networking site fatigue and the moderating role of effortful control. PLoS ONE, 13(12), E0208162.
  5. Heery, E., & Noon, M. (2017). NEET. A Dictionary of Human Resource Management, A Dictionary of Human Resource Management.
  6. [bookmark: OLE_LINK1][bookmark: OLE_LINK13]Hootsuide (2019). Digital 2019 Hong Kong. Retrieved from: https://www.slideshare.net/DataReportal/digital-2019-hong-kong-january-2019-v01
  7. Nesi, J., Prinstein, MJ. (2015) Using Social Media for Social Comparison and Feedback-Seeking: Gender and Popularity Moderate Associations with Depressive Symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 43(8): 1427–1438.Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-0020-0
  8. Peltz, L., & Black, D. (2014). The Thinking Mind as Addiction: Mindfulness as Antidote. Substance Use & Misuse, 49(5), 605-607.
Updated: Feb 29, 2024
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Weakened Concentration At Work In The Era Of Technology Problem and Solution. (2024, Feb 29). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/weakened-concentration-at-work-in-the-era-of-technology-problem-and-solution-essay

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