How to write for distracted readers

Are you easily distracted?

Studies show the answer is probably: hell yes!

They show that phones aren’t the biggest culprit anymore when it comes to us getting distracted.

We’ve now learned to distract ourselves.

So even if our phones aren’t within reach, we’ll hop on over to a news or social media site on our computers to give ourselves a little dopamine hit.

It’s just something we do without thinking.

And we do it on average every 47 seconds.

Shocking right?

I’m so guilty.

‘Just a quick look’ at LinkedIn takes me to a TED Talk and then another YouTube video and then 40 minutes later I’m reading about J-Lo’s favourite smoothie recipe, feeling a deep sense of self-loathing for wasting so much time.

But the problem when we communicate is that we think our reader is somehow different from us.

We assume they’re highly focused, highly engaged and super motivated to read our stuff.

When in reality they’ve got one eye on a video of people falling down manholes.

Your reader is just like you. Distracted. Fallible. Overwhelmed.

So write accordingly. Short chunks. Fewer words. More visual stimulation.