The Stay Test
How long can you read before something pulls you away? Pick a story. The page notes every time you leave it.
How it works
- Choose a story and how to read it: as a normal page, or with the RSVP method.
- Read. Switching tabs, opening another app, or stopping for a long while each count as a break. With the camera on, so does looking away.
- Stop whenever you like. You get the time to your first break, your longest stretch, and how far you got.
You stayed 3:12 before your first break.
Let’s find your face.
Questions about attention span
How do I test my attention span for reading?
Read something long enough to be tempted away, and measure when you first leave. That is what this page does. It records the moment you switch tabs or apps, or stop interacting for two minutes, and reports how long you lasted.
Has scrolling ruined my attention span?
Attention responds to practice in both directions. Short, frequent switches train switching. Longer unbroken stretches train staying. The useful number is your own time to first break, and whether it grows when you practise. See the guide on rebuilding your attention span.
What counts as a break?
Leaving the tab or the browser, switching to another app on a phone, pausing in RSVP mode, or two minutes with no scrolling or touch on a normal page. With the camera switched on, looking away from the screen for more than about half a second also counts, and the result says whether you looked down or to the side. Camera frames are analysed on your device and discarded. Nothing is uploaded.