Indistractable Book Summary

Book Summary

15 min

Audio available

Brief Summary

Many people want to blame technology for today’s distraction problem, but the real problem is caused by internal and external psychological triggers that drive people to seek out distractions. Learning to cope with boredom and discomfort can help reduce people’s internal desire to distract themselves, while removing external triggers like checking email throughout the day, holding lots of unproductive meetings, or keeping distracting apps on your phone, will also help make them indistractable. Empowering your children with these techniques will help them become indistractable and reduce their reliance on digital devices.

About the Author

Nir Eyal is an investor, speaker, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

His writing has appeared in Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, and The Atlantic, among others. Previously, he has taught at the Stanford University School of Engineering and worked for the Boston Consulting Group. Eyal holds a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University and a B.A. from Emory University.

Topics

Self Development Management & Leadership

Indistractable Book Summary Preview

What You’ll Learn

How to manage internal and external triggers to reduce distractions
Why distraction is often caused by a dysfunctional company culture
How to raise indistractable kids

Who Is This For

Individuals who find themselves constantly seeking out distractions instead of completing their tasks
Managers who want to create a company culture of indistractability
Parents who want to empower their children to be indistractable

Key Insights

The key reason behind today’s distraction problem is not technology, but unpleasant feelings like boredom or discomfort. Controlling internal triggers by learning to cope with these uncomfortable feelings and making tasks less unpleasant will reduce your desire to seek out distractions. To stay on track, utilize pre-commitments and make pacts with yourself or with friends to hold yourself accountable. Limiting external distractions, like email, chats, meetings, and distracting apps will also help make you indistractable. Distractions at work can also be caused by a dysfunctional work culture, which eats into employees’ free time and leaves them stressed and distracted. To create an indistractable company culture, employees must be able to voice their concerns to management. By teaching your children techniques to manage internal and external triggers, you can help them manage their time on digital devices and empower them to be indistractable too.

What Causes Distraction?

Technology often gets a bad rap when it comes to distraction, but it can’t take all of the blame. Distraction is a much deeper problem than a simple addiction to digital devices, and even without technology, humans have always found ways to distract themselves. Distraction is caused by triggers, both internal and external. External triggers are stimuli from the outside world that interrupt our thoughts, such as a pop-up on our screens. Internal triggers are the result of our internal moods and feelings, such as boredom or stress. Both types of triggers can be catalysts for traction, which move us forward and help us be productive, or distraction, which detracts from our ambitions and takes us away from accomplishing our goals.

Therefore, technology cannot be the only culprit. The problem has always been within ourselves. When we are uncomfortable or upset, we seek out distractions as a means of escaping our thoughts. Technology is merely an easy scapegoat to help us avoid looking at our deeper problems. However, while discomfort is - well, uncomfortable - it is also an evolutionary necessity. Our ancestors would not have been able to accomplish all that we have accomplished if they had not been discontent with where they were. Our brains are wired to feel discomfort because it is what prompts us to grow and change, but in modern times, it can make us prone to lingering on negative feelings, which drives us to seek out distractions.

Controlling Internal Triggers

All too often, people will seek out distractions, like going on social media or checking their email, at the first hint of boredom or discomfort. These actions are driven by internal triggers, but internal triggers can be changed by adjusting our thinking. One of the best ways to change...