Indistractable by Nir Eyal:
• Explores the science behind technology addiction and provides strategies to overcome it by helping readers to be more aware, mindful and in control of their time and focus.
• Uses real-world tips, tricks and techniques from psychology, biology, and neuroscience to help individuals regain control of their attention and manaage their lives more effectively.
• Covers topics such as forming good habits, minimizing distractions, and establishing environments that enable productive work.
• Outlines how to stay motivated and make better decisions when it comes to technology.
As a UX Designer, reading this book could provide insights into how people interact with technology, helping inform your designs. It may also help you create better systems that enable users to make conscious decisions to stay focused and stay productive. Other related books to explore could be Work Smarter, Not Harder by Jocelyn K. Glei or Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.
🎀 Highlights
remain focused is a key to professional and personal success.
our attention is often redirected away from what we really want.
Nir Eyal, the bestselling author of Hooked,
Nir Eyal, the bestselling author of Hooked, a study of habit-forming products like Facebook and Twitter, has found the antidote to distraction.
explore how you can master this “skill of the century,” learn to tune out distraction and focus your
explore how you can master this “skill of the century,” learn to tune out distraction and focus your attention on the things that really matter.
wasting time on digital devices is a symptom
how to recognize and overcome both internal and external sources of distraction.
External triggers come from the outside world – think pop-up notifications on your laptop. Internal triggers, like feeling bored or stressed, come from within.
distraction always has internal sources
Tech is only a proximate cause. We blame it for our inability to get things done and fail to look at the underlying problem.
makes us vulnerable to distraction.
scene. You are sitting at your desk when you suddenly feel that familiar twinge of boredom. Before you know it, you’re ten minutes into another Instagram binge or email purge. It happens to most of us every day. Don’t worry – there are ways to beat these internal triggers. Start by changing the way
You are sitting at your desk when you suddenly feel that familiar twinge of boredom. Before you know it, you’re ten minutes into another Instagram binge or email purge. It happens to most of us every day. Don’t worry – there are ways to beat these internal triggers. Start by changing the way
You are sitting at your desk when you suddenly feel that familiar twinge of boredom. Before you know it, you’re ten minutes into another Instagram binge or email purge. It happens to most of us every day. Don’t worry – there are ways to beat these internal triggers.
they’re designed to be engaging.
incredibly effective system of rewards and challenges.
Why not try, say, setting the challenge of doing a task in record time or serving customers in a new way?
you’ll remind yourself that you really do have the power to overcome distraction!
timeboxing,
creating time slots for your work isn’t the best place to
you will want to kick things off by setting aside enough time for sit-down meals, a good night’s sleep and your hobbies.
give them a chance to support you on your journey toward indistractablity!
incredibly habit-forming because they provide something called variable rewards or, in everyday language, surprises.
motivated to keep checking it.
to incessant group chats on Slack
news feeds are just as distracting as meetings
Todobook, which replaces your Facebook feed with a news feed featuring your to-do list.
decided he’d burn a $100 bill every time he missed a gym session.
Imagine a one-time meat-eater who has decided to transition to a plant-based diet.
the way work increasingly eats into employees’ “free time.”
If they feel like they will be punished for expressing their opinions, chances are they will keep
If they feel like they will be punished for expressing their opinions, chances are they will keep quiet.
atmosphere of learning and a culture in which people take risks because they are not scared of failing.
“#beef-tweets” which lets workers vent some steam at management.
There’s even a channel called “#beef-tweets” which lets workers vent some steam at management.
managers respond to feedback, using the eyes emoji to signal that they’ve seen a complaint
glued to a screen rather than enjoying the great outdoors with their friends
psychological undernourishment.
autonomy, the ability to make uncoerced decisions; competence, the ability to learn and improve; and relatedness, the ability to relate meaningfully to others.
and risk being labeled failures
risk being labeled failures
giving them the psychological nutrients
unstructured playtime.
find like-minded parents and schedule regular get-togethers with their kids.
talking to them about technology
how much time they think they should be spending on their phones.
manage their own external triggers.
learned to use a kitchen-timer to monitor the time she spent watching Netflix shows when she was just five.
whatever the critics say, it isn’t hijacking our brains and turning us into zombies.
understand the psychology of distraction.
Nir Eyal explains the psychology behind the world's most habit-forming technologies and provides practical advice for increasing user engagement to create products that build healthy-habits in people’s lives.
important that children have input into how they spend their time. Like you, they are more than capable of learning to use the indistractability tools
make your tasks more fun. The
make your tasks more fun.
reassess your potential.
If you tell yourself that you’re powerless in the face of distraction because you don’t have any self-control, for example, there’s a good chance that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Now, this doesn’t always guarantee that you will actually hit your targets – some things, after all, are beyond your control.
remain focused is a key to professional and personal success.
our attention is often redirected away from what we really want.
Nir Eyal, the bestselling author of Hooked,
Nir Eyal, the bestselling author of Hooked, a study of habit-forming products like Facebook and Twitter, has found the antidote to distraction.
explore how you can master this “skill of the century,” learn to tune out distraction and focus your
explore how you can master this “skill of the century,” learn to tune out distraction and focus your attention on the things that really matter.
wasting time on digital devices is a symptom
how to recognize and overcome both internal and external sources of distraction.
External triggers come from the outside world – think pop-up notifications on your laptop. Internal triggers, like feeling bored or stressed, come from within.
distraction always has internal sources
Tech is only a proximate cause. We blame it for our inability to get things done and fail to look at the underlying problem.
makes us vulnerable to distraction.
scene. You are sitting at your desk when you suddenly feel that familiar twinge of boredom. Before you know it, you’re ten minutes into another Instagram binge or email purge. It happens to most of us every day. Don’t worry – there are ways to beat these internal triggers. Start by changing the way
You are sitting at your desk when you suddenly feel that familiar twinge of boredom. Before you know it, you’re ten minutes into another Instagram binge or email purge. It happens to most of us every day. Don’t worry – there are ways to beat these internal triggers. Start by changing the way
You are sitting at your desk when you suddenly feel that familiar twinge of boredom. Before you know it, you’re ten minutes into another Instagram binge or email purge. It happens to most of us every day. Don’t worry – there are ways to beat these internal triggers.
they’re designed to be engaging.
incredibly effective system of rewards and challenges.
Why not try, say, setting the challenge of doing a task in record time or serving customers in a new way?
you’ll remind yourself that you really do have the power to overcome distraction!
timeboxing,
creating time slots for your work isn’t the best place to
you will want to kick things off by setting aside enough time for sit-down meals, a good night’s sleep and your hobbies.
give them a chance to support you on your journey toward indistractablity!
incredibly habit-forming because they provide something called variable rewards or, in everyday language, surprises.
motivated to keep checking it.
to incessant group chats on Slack
news feeds are just as distracting as meetings
Todobook, which replaces your Facebook feed with a news feed featuring your to-do list.
decided he’d burn a $100 bill every time he missed a gym session.
Imagine a one-time meat-eater who has decided to transition to a plant-based diet.
the way work increasingly eats into employees’ “free time.”
If they feel like they will be punished for expressing their opinions, chances are they will keep
If they feel like they will be punished for expressing their opinions, chances are they will keep quiet.
atmosphere of learning and a culture in which people take risks because they are not scared of failing.
“#beef-tweets” which lets workers vent some steam at management.
There’s even a channel called “#beef-tweets” which lets workers vent some steam at management.
managers respond to feedback, using the eyes emoji to signal that they’ve seen a complaint
glued to a screen rather than enjoying the great outdoors with their friends
psychological undernourishment.
autonomy, the ability to make uncoerced decisions; competence, the ability to learn and improve; and relatedness, the ability to relate meaningfully to others.
and risk being labeled failures
risk being labeled failures
giving them the psychological nutrients
unstructured playtime.
find like-minded parents and schedule regular get-togethers with their kids.
talking to them about technology
how much time they think they should be spending on their phones.
manage their own external triggers.
learned to use a kitchen-timer to monitor the time she spent watching Netflix shows when she was just five.
whatever the critics say, it isn’t hijacking our brains and turning us into zombies.
understand the psychology of distraction.
Nir Eyal explains the psychology behind the world's most habit-forming technologies and provides practical advice for increasing user engagement to create products that build healthy-habits in people’s lives.
important that children have input into how they spend their time. Like you, they are more than capable of learning to use the indistractability tools
make your tasks more fun. The
make your tasks more fun.
reassess your potential.
If you tell yourself that you’re powerless in the face of distraction because you don’t have any self-control, for example, there’s a good chance that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Now, this doesn’t always guarantee that you will actually hit your targets – some things, after all, are beyond your control.
remain focused is a key to professional and personal success.
our attention is often redirected away from what we really want.
Nir Eyal, the bestselling author of Hooked,
Nir Eyal, the bestselling author of Hooked, a study of habit-forming products like Facebook and Twitter, has found the antidote to distraction.
explore how you can master this “skill of the century,” learn to tune out distraction and focus your
explore how you can master this “skill of the century,” learn to tune out distraction and focus your attention on the things that really matter.
wasting time on digital devices is a symptom
how to recognize and overcome both internal and external sources of distraction.
External triggers come from the outside world – think pop-up notifications on your laptop. Internal triggers, like feeling bored or stressed, come from within.
distraction always has internal sources
Tech is only a proximate cause. We blame it for our inability to get things done and fail to look at the underlying problem.
makes us vulnerable to distraction.
scene. You are sitting at your desk when you suddenly feel that familiar twinge of boredom. Before you know it, you’re ten minutes into another Instagram binge or email purge. It happens to most of us every day. Don’t worry – there are ways to beat these internal triggers. Start by changing the way
You are sitting at your desk when you suddenly feel that familiar twinge of boredom. Before you know it, you’re ten minutes into another Instagram binge or email purge. It happens to most of us every day. Don’t worry – there are ways to beat these internal triggers. Start by changing the way
You are sitting at your desk when you suddenly feel that familiar twinge of boredom. Before you know it, you’re ten minutes into another Instagram binge or email purge. It happens to most of us every day. Don’t worry – there are ways to beat these internal triggers.
they’re designed to be engaging.
incredibly effective system of rewards and challenges.
Why not try, say, setting the challenge of doing a task in record time or serving customers in a new way?
you’ll remind yourself that you really do have the power to overcome distraction!
timeboxing,
creating time slots for your work isn’t the best place to
you will want to kick things off by setting aside enough time for sit-down meals, a good night’s sleep and your hobbies.
give them a chance to support you on your journey toward indistractablity!
incredibly habit-forming because they provide something called variable rewards or, in everyday language, surprises.
motivated to keep checking it.
to incessant group chats on Slack
news feeds are just as distracting as meetings
Todobook, which replaces your Facebook feed with a news feed featuring your to-do list.
decided he’d burn a $100 bill every time he missed a gym session.
Imagine a one-time meat-eater who has decided to transition to a plant-based diet.
the way work increasingly eats into employees’ “free time.”
If they feel like they will be punished for expressing their opinions, chances are they will keep
If they feel like they will be punished for expressing their opinions, chances are they will keep quiet.
atmosphere of learning and a culture in which people take risks because they are not scared of failing.
“#beef-tweets” which lets workers vent some steam at management.
There’s even a channel called “#beef-tweets” which lets workers vent some steam at management.
managers respond to feedback, using the eyes emoji to signal that they’ve seen a complaint
glued to a screen rather than enjoying the great outdoors with their friends
psychological undernourishment.
autonomy, the ability to make uncoerced decisions; competence, the ability to learn and improve; and relatedness, the ability to relate meaningfully to others.
and risk being labeled failures
risk being labeled failures
giving them the psychological nutrients
unstructured playtime.
find like-minded parents and schedule regular get-togethers with their kids.
talking to them about technology
how much time they think they should be spending on their phones.
manage their own external triggers.
learned to use a kitchen-timer to monitor the time she spent watching Netflix shows when she was just five.
whatever the critics say, it isn’t hijacking our brains and turning us into zombies.
understand the psychology of distraction.
Nir Eyal explains the psychology behind the world's most habit-forming technologies and provides practical advice for increasing user engagement to create products that build healthy-habits in people’s lives.
important that children have input into how they spend their time. Like you, they are more than capable of learning to use the indistractability tools
make your tasks more fun. The
make your tasks more fun.
reassess your potential.
If you tell yourself that you’re powerless in the face of distraction because you don’t have any self-control, for example, there’s a good chance that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Now, this doesn’t always guarantee that you will actually hit your targets – some things, after all, are beyond your control.
