In some cases, constantly checking e-mails, postings, tweets, and text messages can lead to a sort of addiction in which distraction itself becomes a habit. In his book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, Nicholas Carr documents research that indicates self-distraction has become a permanent, unconscious habit for many people. All of those electronic devices have gotten us used to having our concentration and focus interrupted. This culture of distraction doesn’t benefit intimate relationships, which require the opposite: the habit of being aware and paying attention.
