Nir Eyal, a behavioral design expert and author of 'Indistractable,' challenges the common belief that technology is the main source of distraction. He emphasizes that understanding our internal triggers is key to regaining focus. Nir shares effective strategies for managing distractions, such as time management techniques and the importance of making pre-commitments. He passionately argues that becoming indistractable involves reshaping our identity and aligning our goals with how we spend our time, ultimately turning the struggle with distraction into a personal growth journey.
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Nir's Distraction
Nir Eyal, despite his expertise in habit-forming products, found himself distracted by his phone.
This was highlighted by a moment when he missed his daughter's answer about superpowers because he was checking his phone.
insights INSIGHT
Root Cause of Distraction
Blocking distracting websites is ineffective because people simply find new distractions.
The root cause of distraction is not technology but something deeper.
insights INSIGHT
Traction vs. Distraction
Distraction's opposite is traction, actions pulling you towards what you intend.
Traction and distraction are based on your planned use of time, both stemming from the Latin 'trahare' meaning 'to pull'.
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How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life
Nir Eyal
In 'Indistractable', Nir Eyal delves into the root causes of distraction, arguing that it starts from within and is driven by the desire to escape discomfort. The book offers a four-step, research-backed model to help readers master internal triggers, manage time effectively, hack back external triggers, and prevent distractions with pacts. Eyal also discusses how distraction affects various aspects of life, including work, relationships, and parenting, and provides novel techniques to overcome these challenges and live a more focused life.
Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
Nir Eyal
In 'Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products,' Nir Eyal explains how the most successful products create habits in their users. The book introduces the 4-step Hook Model: Trigger, Action, Variable Reward, and Investment. Eyal discusses how these steps work together to form habits, making products an integral part of users' daily routines. He also addresses the ethical considerations of creating habit-forming products and provides frameworks like the Manipulation Matrix to ensure that these products improve users' lives. The book is invaluable for entrepreneurs, product designers, and anyone interested in understanding how to build products that users return to repeatedly[2][3][4].
If you struggle with feeling distracted, you likely think that modern technology is to blame, and that if your phone wasn't so infuriatingly desirable to check, you'd be a lot more focused and productive.
But my guest today argues that the problem of distraction doesn't lie with technology, but with you. His name is Nir Eyal, and he's a behavioral design expert and the author of Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. Today on the show we first discuss Nir's work in helping companies create apps that hook people into using them, and why he thinks these methods of attraction can be positive as long as you put tech in its place. We then dig into how to do that, beginning with the idea that you can't complain about being distracted, if you don't know what you're distracted from, how the first step in getting control of your attention is understanding what you'd like to be doing with it by planning out your time, and why the opposite of distraction isn't focus. We discuss why time management is pain management, and why we need to get comfortable with the uncomfortable internal triggers that prompt us to use our devices for emotional pacification. Nir then walks us through how to deal with the external triggers of distraction, including managing your email inbox, making pre-commitments, and turning indistractability into part of your identity.
The Art of Manliness 
