Report: American attention spans very small
May 21, 2014, 5:21 PM
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According to NBC News, most Americans have already tuned out when reading the above paragraph.
Since the year 2000, the average attention span of an American has dropped from 12 seconds to eight. But that’s not all. More than 40 percent of workers abandon long emails within 30 seconds and more than 30 percent stop listening to coworkers after 15 seconds.
According to Joseph McCormack, author of “BRIEF: Making a Bigger Impact by Saying Less,” the average professional receives 304 emails every week, checks her smartphone 150 times per a day and spends 28 hours each week reading and responding to emails.
“People’s brains are taxed,” says McCormack, because “too many things are competing for our attention.” And if you can’t get to the point quickly, you risk being dismissed or ignored.
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