If you feel like your attention span has reduced in recent years, you're not alone.
Cognitive psychologist and professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, Dr Gloria Mark has been studying human to computer interaction since the mid-1990s, and the field of distraction since 2004.
She's found that we spend an average of just 47 seconds on any screen before shifting our attention, that it takes 25 minutes to bring our attention back to a task after an interruption and that we interrupt ourselves more than we're interrupted by others.
But Dr Mark is optimistic about our chances of taking back control of our devices and our attention.
She speaks to Kathryn about how our brains function in the digital world and has tips for how we can find focus and fight distraction, from her new book Attention Span: Finding Focus for a Fulfilling Life.
Photo: Supplied