Short tiny attention spans.. uhh ohh
Attention spans are on the decline while our capacity to be distracted is on the increase.
If something hasn’t caught our attention immediately we move on. We invite distraction to feed our appetite for stimulation and the next new moment.
Focusing on one thing for a long period of time is becoming increasingly foreign and difficult.
Which is why I don’t write really long blog posts. Which is why my sermons these days are around 10 minutes long. Which is perhaps one of the reasons why so many are turned off from the Bible with its long passages and dense meanings (?).
It is also why I see a dumbing down of what is communicated. With shorter space to share we simplify arguments and points. It is the age of catchy sayings.
My major source of news is a news aggregator. Short and succinct with a link if I want the full story. And with this I can have hundreds of news sources all easily accessible on the one page. (click on the image to zoom)
So how does this reduction in attention span and the simplification of content and presentation affect ministry? Here are five suggestions:
//.. It will become increasingly difficult to retain the attention of a group of people for more than 5 minutes. Use visual aids, get them involved, change your style of delivery every few minutes (so from story, to lecture, to joke, to slide or video etc..)
//.. Publications need to be visually appealing, succinct and full of variety.
//.. Consider using blogging to communicate to your constituency. In particular make use of micro blogging also known as life streaming. The most popular is Twitter which is both mobile and web based. Twitter gives you a 140 word limit to answer the question: ‘What are you doing?’ See also the very cool Twitter Vision to get a sense of this new communication tool.
//.. Offer and/or attend silent retreats. Engage in long periods of prayer (ie more than 10 minutes.) Expect the first time attendees to be hugely resistant to the idea.
//.. Invite people to bring their laptops to meetings and provide wireless network, and be cool with this.
Filed under An oldy but a goody | |
8 Responses to “Short tiny attention spans.. uhh ohh”
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You have some very interesting thoughts but i lost interest. I think one idea that has much merit is
sorry gotta go
On short tiny attention spans….
I have noticed this too. Over nearly twenty years of working with children and young people and in my own life, things like change in use of things like T.V. / internet etc. The pace of life is much faster than it used to be and compared with other cultures too. Working with children from Slovakia was very different from working with British children 6 years ago. Children there would play a game we introduced over and over again and then adapt it and continue playing it whilst leaders had a brew. Here children were asking every few minutes ‘What are we doing next?’ or ‘Can I do something else now?’
Hard to pin point what cultural factors in Slovakia exactly caused this difference
…but I’m thinking surely it can only go so far before we realise the detrimental effects and take steps to re-address the balance of our lives to eliminate harmful stress and anxiety. I hope so.
Realising what is happening in our lives and thinking about the affect it has on our spiritual life and general levels of mental health is surely the starting point for making changes to simplify our lives a bit more, to prioritise and commit deeper to what’s really important.
That’s why it’s good to have these sort of discussions!
LOL! Very good Adrian!
G’day Katie, I think you are spot on when you say, ‘…I’m thinking surely it can only go so far before we realise the detrimental effects and take steps to re-address the balance of our lives.’ Perhaps this is something each of us in ministry can lead, seeking more balance. How do you think we could acheive this?
I can’t agree with the “it’s ok to bring laptops to meetings” comment. A person who is constantly reading email, for instance, during a meeting, is highly unlikely to be paying attention to the meeting. If they really don’t need to be in the meeting, they can leave.
LOVE Adrian’s comment!
yes, I know there are legitimate reasons to have a laptop during a meeting . . . also know how prevalent email usage is, too
No easy answers, but personally I’ve taken some tough decisions about doing less in order to commit more to priorities (after stuggling for a couple of years and much prayer and heart searching). Not easy when it means giving up things which are ‘ministry’, but I was literally making myself ill doing too much.
As a family I think we’ve also benefitted from having summertime with no T.V licence, avoiding large supermarkets where ever possible and walking to school with bags of time to spare and stare at stuff on the way.
Ha Ha to Adrian’s comment.
Thanks Katie they are excellent suggestions and I am glad you have shared them publicly.