The brain needs rest

You end the day feeling like you did a lot but finished very little. You interrupt a report to answer a message, use a few seconds in the coffee line to check social media and, before bed, spend another half hour scrolling through your feed "to relax." Without realizing it, your brain spent the day switching among dozens (sometimes hundreds) of different stimuli. The exhaustion that sets in at the end of the day doesn't always come from physical effort. Often, it's a consequence of the way our attention is now being fought over.

This phenomenon has a name: the attention economy. In a digital environment where information is abundant, sometimes even excessive, human attention has become a valuable resource. Platforms, apps and social networks are designed to capture our gaze, prolong engagement and encourage constant interaction. The result is a daily life marked by frequent interruptions, task switching and a permanent sense of urgency that is beginning to reshape the way we think, learn and relate to the world.

A brain trained never to stop

The market quickly understood that certain stimuli can engage people more efficiently. Content that stands out from the norm, that appears abruptly, that sparks curiosity, awe, surprise or other high-intensity emotions, such as outrage or anger, naturally stands out, grabs attention and generates an engagement response, notes neuroscientist Ana Carolina Souza, who holds a PhD from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and specializes in behavioral neuroscience.

She adds, pointing to a problem that stems from this: “When we are in contact with thousands of pieces of content and stimuli practically nonstop, we activate patterns in our brain that use more energy, associated with filtering and processing information and with decision-making.”

In practice, the brain spends less time on deep thinking and more time responding to small stimuli. Although many people believe they can do several tasks at once, neuroscience shows that when two activities require conscious attention, the brain doesn't multitask: it rapidly shifts focus between them. This process, known as task switching, carries a significant cognitive cost: each interruption requires a few moments for attention to be regained, making reasoning more superficial and increasing mental effort.

The feeling of being busy all the time

According to psychologist Anna Lucia Spear King, who holds a PhD in mental health and coordinates Latin America's first graduate program in digital dependence, the digital environment encourages precisely this fragmented behavior, which can alter and reduce the ability to concentrate over time.

The human brain is highly adaptable. If the mind is trained to spend hours focused on deep reading, it becomes efficient at that. On the other hand, if it gets used to seeking a new reward every two or three minutes, it becomes trained to be distracted. In the long run, neural circuits associated with sustained attention weaken, while pathways linked to seeking immediate novelty and to impulsivity are strengthened, she explains.

The consequences show up in daily routines. Even when your phone sits silent on the desk, its mere presence can already consume part of your cognitive resources. The brain maintains an unconscious effort to resist the temptation to check notifications, reducing the working memory available for the main task. Add to this the design of digital platforms, based on unpredictable rewards (a mechanism similar to the one used in games), which keeps expectations high for a new message, like or relevant piece of information.

Why do we get tired without leaving our chair?

If the body stays practically still, how can the feeling of exhaustion be so intense? The answer lies in how the brain itself works. Responsible for consuming about 20% of the body's energy, it uses even more resources when it has to filter information, make decisions, shift focus and inhibit distractions. In a single day, thousands of micro-decisions are made almost automatically. Reply now or later? Open this notification? Keep reading or check the message that just came in?

"The bad habit of 'resting by scrolling the feed' ends up creating a paradox. People believe they are taking a break to recharge, but they are actually overloading the brain even more, just changing the category of stimulus, with no time for recovery,” says Ana Carolina Souza. That's precisely why activities such as walking outdoors, reading a book, cooking, tending plants or practicing meditation tend to provide a more genuine sense of rest. They reduce the intensity of stimulation and support the restoration of cognitive resources.

Are we more anxious or more stimulated?

The spread of digital technologies has also fueled a common perception: that we are all more anxious. Although the two phenomena are related, experts warn that overstimulation and anxiety are not synonymous. The first is the brain's response to an environment saturated with stimuli; the second is an emotional condition that can persist even when those stimuli disappear.

"If there is quick relief when a person steps away from screens and reduces the volume of messages or multitasking, it means the condition is related to overstimulation. Anxiety, on the other hand, tends to persist regardless of immediate external stimuli, because it is related to negative thoughts, rumination, fear of making mistakes, of being judged, of something bad happening," explains Anna Lucia Spear King. Noticing whether there is improvement after periods of disconnection can help tell one condition from the other, although persistent symptoms should always be evaluated by a health professional.

Recent studies help explain why this distinction matters. A review published in 2024 concluded that frequent notifications, constant task switching and compulsive smartphone use are associated with worse sustained attention, increased mental fatigue and perceived stress, even in people without a diagnosed psychiatric disorder. Another systematic review found that problematic smartphone use shows a consistent association with symptoms of anxiety, depression and poorer sleep quality, although individual, social and emotional factors also influence this relationship. These findings reinforce that the digital environment can amplify psychological distress, but it does not explain every case on its own.

Regaining attention also takes training

The good news is that the same brain plasticity that fosters distraction habits also makes it possible to rebuild the ability to concentrate. Turning off unnecessary notifications, setting aside dedicated periods for deep work, setting limits on social media use and creating deliberate moments of disconnection are strategies supported by the scientific literature. Likewise, activities that require continuous dedication, such as reading, gardening, painting, strategy games, cooking or regular physical exercise, help strengthen circuits related to sustained focus and self-control.

The biggest challenge of the digital age is no longer reducing screen time, but regaining the ability to consciously choose where we direct our attention. In a world that competes for every second of our focus, preserving moments of deep concentration is no longer just a productivity skill; it has become a way to protect brain health.

Scientific studies cited or used for supplementary information:

- “Smartphones and Cognition: A Review of Research Exploring the Links between Mobile Technology Habits and Cognitive Functioning.” Available at
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5403814/ 

- “Cell phone addiction and psychological and physiological health in adolescents.” Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6449671/ 

- “Let’s FOCUS: Mitigating Mobile Phone Use in College Classrooms.” Available at https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3130928 

- “Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One's Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity.” Available at https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/691462