Christine L Robinson, M.Ed is the founder of ADD Action Coach Inc and a Master Certified ADHD Coach. With over 20,000 hours of professional coaching experience she comes ready to help entrepreneurs, corporate clientele, students, parents and couples overcome the negatives of ADHD through proven strategies and techniques.
I recently looked back on an article I had published in Attention Magazine back in August 2019 entitled “The Downside for Technology for Students with ADHD” and realized that the article would benefit anyone battling the constant struggle with managing technology in today’s world. Yes, I am a specialist in the field of ADHD, but the information I am about to share applies to anyone, whether you are 18 or 55, whether you are a student or a corporate executive. Our individual relationship with technology has a great impact on our day-to-day functioning, mindset, and mental health, our productivity, and even our physical health.
Working memory is an important component in this discussion of attention, executive functioning, and technology. Working memory is defined as a system for temporarily storing and managing the information required to carry out complex cognitive tasks such as learning, reasoning, and comprehension. Our corporations and schools constantly demand us to all use our technological devices fluidly and frequently every day. Currently, in our public school systems in the United States, pen-to-paper writing is rarely even encouraged, albeit only in the very early grades. Cursive writing is barely taught, but possibly touched upon for a few weeks when children are about 8 years old. Some high school students graduate and cannot read cursive writing at all. However, the research clearly shows that students learn and process information more effectively when they write their class notes by hand. Research also shows that writing with different colors of ink helps students retain information in their working memory. The use of color in writing increases attention as well as cognition. The more attention is focused on certain stimuli, the more chances there are that the stimuli will be transferred to a more permanent memory storage (Mueller and Oppenheim 2014). These students moved at a slower pace and were able to synthesize and understand the material better., therefore allowing their working memory to function more efficiently. The students in this study that typed their class lecture notes, often close to verbatim, often remembered the least amount of the lecture even though they typed more of the lecture than their “handwritten” counterparts. By “just typing” they were not able to hold the information in their working memory.
Now let us look at distraction. The continued use of electronics over many years is changing the way our brain responds to distraction which consistently comprises sustained attention. All electronic devices were made to be stimulating and addictive while giving their users regular “hits” of dopamine, making them come back for more. With every distraction arises a process of reorientation. Each time we are attempting to complete a task, it is essential to manage and manipulate that information and put it in context. Our capacity in our working memory can be quickly overburdened, which often results in a feeling of overwhelm and stress, even those without a diagnosis of ADHD. Throughout my coaching career, I have asked my clients to track their technology usage. It is not surprising when I receive feedback from my adult clients, many of who have successful careers, online with social media, scrolling, and the internet for over 5-6 hours per day. Our mainstream media tends to report that this is just a “teen problem”; however, it is certainly not the case.
What then can we do? We know that technology is comprising our attention spans and often preventing us from immersing in a subject for a sustained amount of time, regardless of your stage in life. It can prevent of from achieving our goals, reducing our ability to learn, attend and create. Consider a “digital detox” if this information is resonating with you. While doing concentrated work, put your phone away for a determined amount of time and eliminate email notifications and news notifications. Practice putting your phone or laptop away in one-hour increments, even while doing tasks, like cleaning or cooking, and you will notice a difference often in mood and focus. I am confident if you do this, you will also complete tasks in a shorter amount of time. Many of my students notice this immediately when coursework takes about half the time to complete when uninterrupted by screens, texts, and notifications. My clients, who are corporate employees or business owners, report the same type of results. Once we free our mind and attention from these distractions, we revert to the same level of clarity before these devices intruded into our lives. I encourage all my clients to look at our smartphones and laptops as “work devices” so we can also change our view on technology. If we look at our smartphones as leisure and entertainment, it will predictably lead to overuse resulting in unaccounted and lost time. Ask yourself, what can I be doing better than spending an hour and a half on Instagram? If we incorporate these questions into our “self-talk” we can shift more easily to productive tasks or activities.
Ultimately, it is up to each of us to assess where we are with regard to technology use. I encourage everyone to track how much time is spent with online and if in fact it is preventing us from reaching our career/personal goals or hindering us from initiating positive social interactions. These devices did not come with a rule book- it is incumbent on each of us to disengage. However, the overwhelming consensus of those people who limit social media and online use is that they have not missed very much at all. The increased clarity of focus is described by some as an “uncluttered mind,” freedom from the device, and an overall increased enjoyment of life is typically reported when we “unplug.” This change of behavior usually needs to take place gradually and intentionally, and the rewards will be greater focus, increased quality of work/life balance, and an overall healthier lifestyle! Unplug and enjoy! For a personalized consultation, please feel free to reach out and schedule a complimentary session. Send me a request on my website.
Read more from Christine L. Robinson, M.Ed
Christine L. Robinson, M.Ed, ADD Action Coach Inc.
Christine L. Robinson, M.Ed is the founder of ADD Action Coach Inc and is a Master Certified ADHD Coach and Educational Consultant. Christine looks to unlock the power of ADHD with all of her clients, whether they are entrepreneurs, corporate clientele, students, parents or couples struggling with ADHD symptoms. When Christine's child was diagnosed it drove her to find answers to help her own child which then led to her own coaching journey helping others since 2006. This passion has driven her to learn proven techniques and strategies and also to help the "whole person" beyond their diagnosis. She is currently working on a webinar and podcast that will increase her reach to help even more people.
