The Science-Backed Trick That Improves Concentration In 24 Hours

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Whether you're headed back to school or looking to perform better at work, here's an idea: Turn off the notifications on your phone. According to a new study conducted out of Carnegie Mellon, turning off the notifications on your phone for 24 hours leads to improved concentration and decreased overall stress levels.

Back in 2015, researchers asked for volunteers who would turn off the notifications on their phones for a full week. They couldn't find anyone who was willing to do this, so they settled on 24 hours and found 30 participants. After putting their phones on "do not disturb" for a full day, the participants found it easier to concentrate and reported feeling less stressed out overall.

On the negative end of the spectrum, the volunteers did report feeling anxious about missing messages—but that didn't seem to affect their overall stress levels. Two years later, the researchers were able to get in touch with 22 of the participants to see how their overall views on their phones had changed. Many of the participants said the study made them want to change their behavior surrounding their phones, and researchers concluded that this study points to smartphone notifications leading to an increase in stress and a decrease in concentration.

Yep, it looks like we could all use a technology detox from time to time.