Constantly distracted? Here's how to wrangle '21st-century syndrome'

This ‘21st-century Syndrome’ is due to two factors:

1. An overabundance of dopamine-inducing options is taking its toll on our minds, making it difficult to relax.
2. A sea of unprocessed emotions coupled with social disconnection is making us constantly uneasy.

Our brains are facing an onslaught of information and ‘supernormal stimuli’ from a variety of sources like social media, gaming, pornography and the likes.

The brain needs time and space to process information. The breaks we take during work, like talking to a colleague at the watercooler provides a ‘downtime’ and helps process information.

This takes the shape of distractions when we are at home. You could even be problem-solving while quietly doing the laundry at home, as your brain processes the events and information in the background.

Our feelings, emotions and fears remain largely unshared at home, when we are trying to do many things at once, fighting countless battles single-handedly to balance everything.

Not having someone to talk to gets us into distractions, and when we force ourselves to not indulge, it makes us want to do it more.

Providing yourself with an identity of the kind of person you aspire to be, like a non-smoker, a non-distractible person or someone who is sober and calm, provides a narrative for you to focus on.

The more you tell yourself what kind of person you are, the more it turns out to be true.