Ding – that’s an all too familiar sound, designed to instantly capture your attention.

The average adult receives at least 46 push notifications a day from their smartphone – roughly one every 20 minutes during waking hours.

These interruptions might seem like a small price to pay for staying connected. However, research shows these attention-grabbing features increase stress and reduce productivity. They can even have fatal consequences, with phone-related distraction claiming 29 lives on Australian roads each year.

In our modern world, it can feel impossible to focus on any one task. But science tells us there are ways you can reclaim your attention.

A network of areas in the human brain controls our selective attention, the process by which we focus on relevant information and ignore the rest. Where attention goes is a balance between what your goals are, and what’s happening in the world around you. This means sudden or urgent events can capture your attention, and pull it away from what you’re trying to do.

From an evolutionary perspective, this helps keep us safe. Imagine you are foraging for berries, for example, when you hear the rustling of leaves. This sound would capture your attention and shift your focus from foraging to the potential threat –........

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