Distraction Management and Attention: What Research Supports

What this page covers

Many apps, blockers and gadgets promise to protect your focus. This page looks at the research on phones, notifications and media multitasking, and at what it does and does not show. It is information only, not a treatment for attention problems. Evidence labels used: promising but limited, mixed, insufficient evidence and no good evidence of benefit.

What a major review concluded

A review of research on smartphones and cognition looked at attention, memory and delay of gratification. It described the research area as intensifying but still limited, and said that in some areas the science is not yet mature enough to support firm conclusions. [1] The review also pointed to limits in study methods and in how results are interpreted. [1] A large share of this work compares people who use phones a lot with people who use them less, which cannot show that phone use caused any difference in attention.

Notifications

In a 2015 experiment, phone notifications alone (a sound or vibration) significantly disrupted performance on an attention-demanding task, even when participants did not touch the phone. The size of the disruption was comparable to that seen when people actively used a phone for calls or texting. [2] Label: promising but limited. It is a short laboratory task, and it does not tell us how much real work is lost over a day or whether turning notifications off improves results outside the lab.

"Just having your phone nearby"

A well-known 2017 study reported that the mere presence of a smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity. A 2022 pre-registered direct replication used the same tasks and conditions, with the phone on the desk, in a pocket or bag, or outside the room. It found no difference between phone locations, and concluded that the mere presence of a phone may not be enough to affect cognitive performance. [3] Label: mixed; treat claims that a nearby phone drains your brain with caution.

Media multitasking

Some studies reported that heavy media multitaskers are more easily distracted. Two replication studies and a meta-analysis of 39 effect sizes found a weak association that was no longer significant after correcting for small-study effects, and the authors questioned whether the association exists in laboratory tasks. [4] Label: insufficient evidence that habitual media multitasking causes distractibility.

Phone breaks and "digital detox"

In one study, 24 hours without a smartphone changed craving but not mood or anxiety, and the authors concluded that heavy smartphone use did not meet the criteria for an addiction. [5] That study did not measure attention or work output, so it does not show a benefit from going without a phone. For longer-term, real-world trials of distraction-blocking tools, Proper evidence not found in the sources we read (a review of smartphone and cognition research and searches of PubMed for notification, phone-presence and multitasking studies).

What this means in practice

• Research supports caution, not alarm: some effects are real in short tasks, and some famous claims have not replicated.
• A gadget or app is a tool for a habit, not evidence of a benefit. Ask whether the claim comes from a trial of that specific tool.
• Trouble concentrating that is new, severe or lasting can have medical causes, including sleep problems, mood or anxiety disorders and medicine effects. Check with a clinician rather than relying on an app.

Related guides: focus habits and distraction, work-rest routines and breaks, cognitive performance overview and how to evaluate a biohack.