Has the pandemic shortened your attention span? Experts’ tips on overcoming mental exhaustion from Covid-19

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated a shift in attention spans and we may find it easier to satiate ourselves with shorter-form content

To improve your attention span, experts recommend a healthy diet, regular exercise, meditation and a good night’s sleep, and practising mindfulness

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If you find your attention wandering when you watching a film, it might be because of the pandemic. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 5:15am, 26 Dec 2021Updated: 12:18pm, 30 Dec 2021

Maybe you’re the kind of person who could stomach – even enjoy – a two-hour-plus movie before the coronavirus pandemic. But have your feelings changed now?

We are two years into a disease crisis that continues to ravage the globe, most recently through the Omicron variant which makes up the majority of new cases in places including the United States.

A potential side effect may be our inability to concentrate on much of anything else – like a movie. Planning to sit through one? The latest running times for Oscar-hungry films like Dune, House of Gucci and West Side Story are more than two-and-a-half hours.

Checking out Netflix or HBO’s latest drama? It likely has an hour-long running time per episode.

A potential side effect of the pandemic may be our inability to concentrate on much of anything else – like a Netflix movie. Photo: Shutterstock

It’s unclear whether the Covid-19 era has had a quantifiable effect on our attention spans, though experts confirm mental exhaustion is widespread.

“Covid-19 has pretty much eaten up my attention span,” says Kathleen Schmidt, publicity director at independent book publishing company Skyhorse Publishing in New York.

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