Our Concentration Vanishing into Thin Air

After reading The Shallows, it opened up a question my thoughts that I never really thought deeply about. Do the internet and all this advanced technology really take an affect on our lack of concentration? Using myself as an example, I have become a procrastinator who can never seem to stay focused on one subject. While I'm trying to read and I hear my phone receive a text, my automatic response is to put down my book and snatch my phone. It's as if all the information that sunk into my head suddenly disappeared in mid-air. Due to the technological distractions, my attention span has decreased and my concentration seems to always hang by a thread.

This goes for other mediums as well, such as television, the internet, and other gadgets. I admit that I have a terrible habit of logging onto all my social networks as I am also attempting to research school work on the web. I would tell myself, "I'll be on facebook for only five minutes and then I'll get back to studying." One hour later I would find myself repeating the same sentence. These mediums and technologies have become so addicting that we are letting our concentration slip away. Is there any way to get my focus back on the target? As hard as I try, with the internet sitting only a few feet away from me, my concentration continues to drift.