The Internet Is Creating a Short Attention Spanned Society

I remember when I was younger, I could read an article, or write a whole paper without having reel myself back into my reading or writing. Now I have to constantly remind myself of what I am doing and to stop daydreaming. I blame the Internet. There is constantly something else that crosses my mind while I am working and I have access to the answer simply by using the Internet. Unfortunately it is not that simple. This access to answers opens up more and more questions, until I have spent a half hour learning things that I don’t need to know, and leaving me with a lot more work to be done. I am so used to instant gratification that when I have to actually put my mind to a task for a long amount of time, it starts to wander. If I have a question, I can get an answer within a couple of minutes, if I want to say something to a cousin in another state, bam, I can contact them through Facebook. Need a new sweater? Ordered in less than 5 minutes. Unfortunately, reading and writing is not so quick, so once you sit down at the computer, you are expecting a quick turnaround, but instead you get a whole lot of time wasted. My multitasking gets the best of me. I am programed to want to accomplish things very quickly and have results immediately. I am constantly looking things up at work only to remember that I need to pay my rent, and so I go pay my rent and I realize there are other bills to pay, but once I am in my checking account, it’s over. Not only do I realize I need to e-mail my boss about my paycheck, but I also remember a friend owes me money from last time we were out. Better write them on Facebook.

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