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A review by leej11
Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Julie Li, Nir Eyal
5.0
In his latest book, Nir Eyal attempts to provide a framework to free ourselves from distraction, and focus on what truly matters to each of us as individuals.
Nir initially sets out his theory for why we get distracted (which I am still unsure about, but I can see what he means), and then proceeds to advise how we can battle this force of distraction and regain traction. He splits the latter up nicely between handling internal triggers (the mind) and external triggers (work, children, relationships).
What I found great was that he routinely drew upon studies, often behavioural economics and psychology, to support the combative methods he proposed. This was particularly poignant when he spoke about the power of precommitting to things in the future, drawing upon both the allegory of Ulysses tying himself to his ship to avoid the Siren song and linking it to various psychological studies related to effort pacts, price pacts and identity pacts.
My main takeaway from the book is that sorting your schedule out, by use of timeboxing, can have a dramatic impact on handling distraction. In his own words:
Not only that, but if you don't schedule it for yourself first, people end up deciding what to do for you. Whether that is explicitly requesting your time to do something, or more implicitly through nudges and notifications on your phone and devices. I really liked the quote he borrowed from Seneca
By using timeboxing, we set our own priorities, and we also in turn protect our time. It gives us reason for why we don't have time to do x, y, z, because you've set out what matters and is going to add value, it's there, in your calendar!
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It offers many nuggets of advice to hacking back focus in your day to life and I'm already seeing benefit in my own life. I think it also makes a good contrasting approach to my read earlier this year [b:Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World|40672036|Digital Minimalism Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World|Cal Newport|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549433350l/40672036._SY75_.jpg|63988240] which sets out a process for getting one's focus back in perhaps a more extreme way. There are definitely different lessons and approaches to be learnt from each author, so I recommend picking both up and reaping the benefits!
Nir initially sets out his theory for why we get distracted (which I am still unsure about, but I can see what he means), and then proceeds to advise how we can battle this force of distraction and regain traction. He splits the latter up nicely between handling internal triggers (the mind) and external triggers (work, children, relationships).
What I found great was that he routinely drew upon studies, often behavioural economics and psychology, to support the combative methods he proposed. This was particularly poignant when he spoke about the power of precommitting to things in the future, drawing upon both the allegory of Ulysses tying himself to his ship to avoid the Siren song and linking it to various psychological studies related to effort pacts, price pacts and identity pacts.
My main takeaway from the book is that sorting your schedule out, by use of timeboxing, can have a dramatic impact on handling distraction. In his own words:
Schedule time for yourself first. You are at the centre of the three life domains. By not allocating time for yourself, the other two domains suffer.
Not only that, but if you don't schedule it for yourself first, people end up deciding what to do for you. Whether that is explicitly requesting your time to do something, or more implicitly through nudges and notifications on your phone and devices. I really liked the quote he borrowed from Seneca
People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time, they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy.
By using timeboxing, we set our own priorities, and we also in turn protect our time. It gives us reason for why we don't have time to do x, y, z, because you've set out what matters and is going to add value, it's there, in your calendar!
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It offers many nuggets of advice to hacking back focus in your day to life and I'm already seeing benefit in my own life. I think it also makes a good contrasting approach to my read earlier this year [b:Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World|40672036|Digital Minimalism Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World|Cal Newport|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549433350l/40672036._SY75_.jpg|63988240] which sets out a process for getting one's focus back in perhaps a more extreme way. There are definitely different lessons and approaches to be learnt from each author, so I recommend picking both up and reaping the benefits!