I’m currently fighting the urge to download Flappy Bird. For those who haven’t heard of the now-popular application, it is a game that was created by Dong Nguyen, who is based in Hanoi, Vietnam, in May of 2013. The game has recently taken off in popularity, climbing to the top of the Apple App Store Free chart.

Flappy Bird is incredibly simple: tap on the screen to keep the circular bird in the air while navigating your way through green pipes. Hit a pipe and you die. The objective is to pass as many pipes as possible to gain yourself a new high score.

While downloading the application is free from a monetary perspective, the costs of downloading this game can be heavy: frustration, wasted time and, according to some Twitter users, who have flocked to the social media site to complain bout the bird, sleepless nights.

I have only played the game in one period of time, on a friend’s phone, reaching a high score of three. From this one time, though, I understand why the game elicits so many feelings and is highly addictive. First of all, it is so easy that anyone can play it. Second, the game can’t be beaten, so the only competition is with friends and yourself, which is far more driving than achievements or the satisfaction of completing a game. Third, it is so frustrating that people can’t help but love it (weird, right?).

How does a game like this reach popularity, though? A week ago I had never heard of Flappy Bird. Now, I am writing about it.

It’s actually fairly simple. With the rise of technology, and mobile computing and the connectedness it has allowed specifically, people have embraced a “next big thing” attitude (thanks, Steve Jobs) towards, well, everything. In other words: we have short attention spans and we need constant stimulation.

Our “trending now” thought process, which has been pushed even further to the forefront by Twitter, which is in a minute-by-minute cycle of trends, has been affecting our phone gaming since the App Store opened. One minute we are playing Words With Friends, the next we are drawing something on Draw Something.

Of course, these trends aren’t only in the games we play. As mentioned above, our social media is driven by trends. Fashion is driven by trends (I would recommend a pair of chukkas if you are in the market for trendy shoes). Our lives are driven by trends.

Unfortunately, with all of this trendiness, we are losing out on something: being attached. Since we are always looking for stimulation and something new (think about why you refresh your Twitter feed 15 seconds after you already refreshed it), we get bored easily. This can, is and will cause some serious issues.

When you’re doing your homework, are you focusing 100 percent of your attention on the worksheet in front of you? Most likely not.

For me personally, I do my homework with my iPhone and iPad with music playing in the background. Does this translate to efficiency? Absolutely not. I do as much texting, tweeting and internet surfing as I do actual homework. For this reason, I find myself up late at night (it is 1 a.m. as I am writing this column) doing something I could have finished four hours before if I had just buckled down and focused on my homework. However, because I don’t want to miss anything, even if it isn’t important, I head to Twitter. Then, because of my desire to know what is going on at all times, I keep refreshing, and refreshing, etc.

Homework is a fairly simple affair, though. It is a small example of what could come in the future. Think college majors, jobs and relationships. Much more detrimental to get bored of, right?

Today, I am not going to download Flappy Bird, and I am going to fight my urge to hop on the latest trend. I am going to tell myself, “Nothing important is happening on Twitter.” I am going to save myself wasted time and try to battle with my short attention span. And while not downloading Flappy Bird might seem like a minor thing, it should be taken as a step towards personal betterment. Every minute you aren’t spending on Flappy Bird you are going to be spending doing anything else.