In an era when the average attention span clocks in at just eight seconds, it's no surprise most of us are struggling to focus. But now, a national survey from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine offers fresh insight into why your focus wanders and what you can do to reclaim your concentration.

The survey asked 1,000 U.S. adults what they believe most affects their attention span. The top culprit? Stress and anxiety which were cited by 43 percent of the respondents. Lack of sleep came next, at 39 percent, followed closely by the use of digital devices like smartphones and computers at 35 percent.

When you can't focus, you may not complete important tasks, miss important details and struggle to communicate effectively.

People also mentioned boredom or lack of interest (31 percent), multitasking (23 percent), lack of physical activity (21 percent) poor diet or hydration (20 percent) and medical conditions such as ADHD (18 percent) as reasons why their attention wandered.

Over 60 percent of the respondents reported that their lack of focus had gotten worse in the past two years. Only 25 percent of those who were surveyed said they didn't have any attention issues.

These findings reflect what lead author of the study, Evita Singh, a psychiatrist with Ohio State's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, observes in her patients. “The stress and the ruminating and thinking about things over and over in your mind can certainly impact attention span and the ability to focus,” Singh said in a press release.

“Often when patients come to see me, they're worried about their ability to focus, and it ends up being because they're so stressed out or they're anxious. So, we work on treating that.”

A short attention span doesn't just disappear over time. It can have long-term consequences. An inability to concentrate can not only interfere with academic and professional success, but it can negatively affect personal relationships. When you can't focus, you may fail to complete important tasks, miss important details and struggle to communicate effectively.

In some cases, people worried about their declining focus are feeling overwhelmed, anxious or burned out.

A short attention span doesn't just disappear over time. It can have long-term consequences.

Dr. Singh developed a simple, science-informed strategy called “Take Five” to help people manage distractions and improve concentration:

  • T Take frequent breaks. Short pauses can help reset your brain.
  • A Actively engage in the one task at hand. Focus fully on one thing at a time.
  • K Keep distraction to a minimum. Silence devices and limited interruptions.
  • E Eliminate multitasking. Doing less at once leads to more clarity.
  • 5 Take five minutes to refocus. Do something calming — like a short workout, deep breathing or a mindfulness practice.

You don't need to overhaul your life. Whether it's a walk around the block or a deep breath between tasks, the Take Five approach offers a way to stop the cycle of distraction and bring your mind back to the moment.

The study was conducted by the SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus a national, twice-per-month, probability-based survey. Data were collected from May 2 to May 5, 2025 among a sample of 1,008 respondents. All the data were weighted to represent the target population of U.S. adults ages 18 or older. The press release from Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is available here.