From gamifying your to-do list to going for a regular morning walk, top tips for improving concentration from psychotherapists, health coaches and other experts Forty-seven seconds. That was the average length of time an adult could focus on a screen for in 2021, according to research by Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California. Twenty years ago, in 2004, that number stood at two-and-a-half minutes. Our attention spans – how long we’re able to concentrate without being distracted – are shrinking. Our focus – how intensely we can think about things – is suffering too. The causes: technology that’s designed to demand our attention; endless tools for procrastination at our fingertips; rising stress and anxiety disorders; and poor sleep quality. But there are solutions. From quick-fix hacks to major lifestyle changes, we asked experts for their tips on how to think harder for longer. Continue reading...

By focusing on its strengths and pooling information, the west can disrupt Russia’s war machine – but there’s no time to lose Russia is a “mafia state” trying to expand into a “mafia empire”, the foreign secretary, David Lammy, told the UN, nailing the dual nature of Vladimir Putin’s political model. On one hand Russia represents something very old – a world of bullying empires that invade smaller countries, grab their resources and indoctrinate their people into thinking they are inferior. But it is also something very new, weaponising corruption, criminal networks, assassinations and tech-driven psy-ops to subvert open societies. And if democracies don’t act to stop it, this malign model will be imitated across the globe. Ukraine is resisting the older, zombie imperialism every day on the battlefield, and democracies will have to arm Ukraine and ourselves to constrain Russia properly. But how should we fight the more contemporary tools of political warfare that Russia pioneers? These are becoming ever more prevalent. Globalisation was meant to make us all so integrated that it would diminish the risk of wars. Instead, the free flow of information, money and people across borders also made subversion easier than ever. At the Labour party conference, Lammy indicated that democracies need to work together to stop Russia: “Exposing their agents, building joint capability and working with the global south to take on Putin’s lies.” Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...

Co-founder of expert group says ‘unchecked power of these entities poses grave risk’ to news environment Social media owners, politicians and governments are the biggest threats to a trustworthy online news environment, according to an expert group studying misinformation whose work is modelled on the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) said owners of social media platforms topped a survey of concerns, followed by domestic and foreign governments and politicians. Continue reading...