I have many things pulling on my attention and time, and that makes it hard for me to make time for the things that are important to me, like writing. When I heard “INDISTRACTABLE: Staying Focused in a World of Distractions” podcast from The Next Big Idea, I wanted more.
This podcast featured Nir Eyal, the author of the book Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose your Life. I subscribe to The Next Big Idea podcast, and it just turned up on my feed. I kept listening because he mentioned how parents were so concerned about screen time and the negative effect it is having on their kids. He offered not only a different way of thinking about it but also various solutions for the problem.
I just finished listening to the book on Audible (have I mentioned before how much I love Audible?), and I am so glad I took the time to look deeper into this topic.
First of all, the audiobook was well done. The author read it, and you could tell how important this topic is to him by the tone and animation in his voice. I also like the subtitle of the book – How to Control your Attention and Choose your Life. This year I am working on choosing the life I want to lead and recognize that I have to control my attention to do that. I also acknowledge the importance of teaching kids how to do this.
Nir did an outstanding job of presenting research that supported his ideas and also sharing his insights in engaging ways. My 13-year-old was in the car while I was listening to the part on teens, and I think he might have heard some of it! One of the things that Nir shared about young people and screens is that we may be missing the problem. It isn’t the screens. The screens are a symptom of the actual problems, one of which is the lack of autonomy given to kids. Especially once they get into middle school, they have very little freedom to make decisions. The escape into video games may be the only place where they have any control. He also pointed out the alarmist articles that we see in the media have cherry-picked their research to support their argument. In actuality, some screen time can be very beneficial.
Most of the book wasn’t about kids, though. I listened to the whole thing, but with a hard copy, I think I might have skipped a couple of chapters that didn’t apply to me. They had great information, but I don’t work in an office environment, so making my cubicle indistractable wasn’t needed information.
Most of the information I found very helpful, and I’m going to be implementing some of his suggestions. I’ve even purchased the book, so I can go back through and highlight the information I want to remember. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think!