EP. 33: LIVING LIVES WE WANT: NIR EYAL ON ATTENTION AND BEING INDISTRACTABLE

Bounce! Conversations with Larry Weeks

M.I.T. Technology Review dubbed Nir Eyal, “The Prophet of Habit-Forming Technology” as he is the author of the bestselling book on building habit forming products (Hooked). So who better to help us understand the neuroscience of distraction. Nir's new book, "Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life" is the topic of this podcast.

"In the future, there will be two kinds of people in the world: those who let their attention and lives be controlled and coerced by others and those who proudly call themselves 'indistractable." - Nir Eyal

Saying this show is about distraction doesn't do it justice. This is probably just me, but distraction is so universal I think we minimize its impact in our lives. I think we hear about it all the time of late due to the onset of the smartphone. And if we don't have that problem, well, we think we have no problem.

This is about your time and attention, why you lose control of it and how to get it back. It's about valuing your attention and we only have so much time left and we're not guaranteed whatever amount we think we have left.

This episode is very quick listen in a sense that Nir gets right into it, I had to be very fast with my note taking.

Some of the topics we cover include ...

• Technology and addiction
• On habit forming products
• Differences between addiction and distraction
• The psychology of distraction, causes etc.
• The psychology of email
• A 4-step framework for becoming indistractable
• The problem with to-do lists
• Time boxing and values
• On hyperbolic discounting

There is a lot under these topic umbrellas and much of the episode is tactical. I took a ton of notes and have already seen the benefits of applying much of it. Fit this in, you should hear it.

Nir's resources, show notes and more at larryweeks.com