The War on Focus: Why You Can’t Stop Scrolling & How to Reclaim Your Mind

✨ At a Glance

Today’s newsletter exposes the invisible war being waged on your attention — and why even high achievers with powerful minds are losing.
You’ll learn:

• Why infinite scroll is engineered to hijack your brain
• What 98,000+ data points reveal about short-form video and cognitive decline
• The alarming rise in attention problems among young adults
• How your Reticular Activating System (RAS) filters your entire reality
• The “Less is More” principle that clears mental clutter and restores your focus

🧠 The Elite Idea: Your Focus Is Being Stolen — Not Lost

If you’ve recently felt unable to concentrate, constantly distracted, or strangely anxious after scrolling… it’s not a personal flaw.

It’s by design.

Platforms removed stopping cues — the natural pauses your brain relies on to reset. Books have chapters. TV shows have credits. Social feeds have… nothing. No end. No pause. No “are you done?”

For a Busy Mind, this is devastating.
Your brain seeks relief from internal noise, and short-form platforms exploit that need with endless dopamine loops.

And the consequences are now appearing in the data.

🔍 Inside My Mind: What I’ve Been Seeing, Feeling & Studying

1. The Infinite Scroll Trap

Every major platform — TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn — uses infinite scroll to bypass your brain’s decision-making system. You’re not choosing to continue; you’re being carried forward.

It’s like swimming in a river that has no bank.
You don’t get out because the current doesn’t let you.

This is why you click “just to check the time”… and look up 20 minutes later.

2. The Science You Should Not Ignore

A massive systematic review titled “Feeds, Feelings, and Focus” analyzed 98,000+ participants across 71 studies.
Here's what they found:

• Short-form video use = poorer cognitive performance
• The biggest damage hits:
  ​• Attention​
  ​• Inhibitory Control (your ability to resist impulses)

When inhibitory control weakens, everything becomes harder:

• Saying no to distractions
• Staying on task
• Making decisions
• Pausing before reacting

The same review also showed strong links to anxiety and increased stress.

So if you feel more distracted and more anxious — you’re not imagining it.
You’re experiencing neurological conditioning.

3. The Rise of Cognitive Disability

The CDC tracks “self-reported cognitive disability,” defined as serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions.

Across 4.5 million survey responses collected over 10 years, the increase is clear — and alarming.

For adults aged 18–39, cognitive disability nearly doubled:
​from 5.1% → 9.7%

This is the future workforce.
The future parents.
The future leaders.

A generation losing its ability to think clearly.

4. The RAS: Your Brain’s Gatekeeper

Of the 10,000–70,000 thoughts your brain generates each day, you consciously register only about 5%.

The gatekeeper deciding what gets in?

Your Reticular Activating System (RAS).

Think of it as your brain’s elite bouncer.
What you focus on, it prioritizes.
What you ignore, it filters out.

If you don't deliberately program it with clear goals and intentional focus…
the world will program it for you.

Usually with:

• notifications
• trending topics
• ads
• other people’s priorities

A distracted RAS = a distracted life.

5. My Personal Shift: Less Is More

This week, I noticed how overstimulation leaks into every corner of life — even my wardrobe.

Too many options meant:

• too many micro-decisions
• too much visual noise
• too much cognitive friction

So I cleaned it. Not to add new clothes… but to create empty space.

And that empty space created something rare: mental silence.

Small changes in your external environment can profoundly impact how much cognitive capacity you reclaim.

🧬 Integrate It: The Elite Practice for the Week

This week’s challenge is incredibly simple — but deeply powerful.

✨ Apply the “Less Is More” Rule to ONE Area

Choose one:

• Your phone — delete 5 apps you never use
​• Your wardrobe — clear space so your brain doesn’t process clutter
​• Your schedule — cancel one meeting that drains you
​• Your digital life — turn off 10 unnecessary notifications
​• Your workspace — remove anything that creates visual noise

Then — when you feel the urge to fill the space with scrolling, pause.
Let your mind wander.
This is where problem-solving, memory consolidation, and creativity come online.

Boredom is not dangerous.
Boredom is recovery.

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✨ I help business leaders and entrepreneurs design success that feels as good as it looks.

Through my 5-Pillars ELITE Mind Framework, you’ll master the neuroscience of success — learning to reprogram the thought–emotion–action patterns that shape your results, so your mind works for you, not against you. You’ll:

– Master calm focus under pressure.

– Set and protect boundaries that preserve your energy.

– Build unshakable confidence and courage.

– Work smarter — creating more impact with less effort.

The result: a career that fuels your dream life — not one you need to retire from to finally enjoy.

Interested in taking a first step?

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Not ready for a call? I get it.... Take my Elite Mind Assessment to uncover what’s holding you back from elite-level clarity and performance (and get tips on how to overcome your blockers). ​CLICK HERE TO START ASSESSMENT​ (it takes ~5 minutes).

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Thank you for reading!

Dorota 🖤

Follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram or visit my website!