Have you ever caught yourself opening your phone to check one thing… and then, somehow, fifteen minutes later, you’re watching a random video about how penguins sleep?

Or maybe you sit down to finish a task at work, and before you know it, you’ve checked your email, scrolled through Instagram, and replied to three messages all without realizing how you got there.

It feels like your attention has a mind of its own. You didn’t plan to get distracted; it just happened. Over and over again.

That’s what scientists now call attentional junk food.