Moment 149: Why You Are Easily Distracted & How To FIX it! Nir Eyal
Feb 16, 2024
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Behaviour and habit design expert, Nir Eyal, discusses beating procrastination and distraction by mastering internal triggers, understanding underlying feelings, and reframing them. He introduces 'The 10 Minute Rule' for scheduling time to be distracted. The podcast explores the concept of distractions, understanding triggers, scheduling worry time, and strategies for dealing with distractions in the workplace.
Understanding internal triggers is crucial for behavior change, as it helps identify underlying sensations driving unwanted behaviors.
Implementing techniques like the '10-minute rule' and scheduling specific worry time can help manage distractions and delay gratification effectively.
Deep dives
Understanding Internal Triggers and Behavior Change
One of the main lessons from this podcast is the importance of understanding internal triggers when it comes to behavior change. The speaker discusses how our brain often sends us cravings for things we know are bad for us, like sugar, and how distractions like spending time on social media can feel instinctively bad but still be difficult to avoid. To adopt behavior change, it is crucial to delve deeper and identify the underlying sensations driving these behaviors. For example, someone who overeats may not do so out of hunger but rather to soothe feelings of loneliness or boredom. Recognizing these sensations is the first step towards managing them and finding healthier ways to cope.
Making Time for Traction and Delaying Gratification
The podcast highlights the importance of making time for traction and delaying gratification. The speaker emphasizes the need to finish scheduled tasks, even if they initially feel boring or challenging. They suggest implementing techniques like the '10-minute rule,' which allows individuals to give in to distractions but only after a ten-minute delay. This approach helps establish control and proves that we can delay gratification. Moreover, the importance of scheduling specific worry time is mentioned, where individuals can acknowledge and process their worries or concerns later in the day. This technique helps compartmentalize distractions and reduces their impact on productivity.
Hacking Back External Triggers and Managing Distractions
The podcast explores effective strategies for handling external triggers and managing distractions. It acknowledges that while technology is often blamed, it is actually what technology is attached to, like work-related messages, social media notifications, or interruptions from colleagues, that can be major distractions. The speaker recommends using visual cues, such as a red sign that indicates the need for uninterrupted focus, to communicate to others in open-plan offices. Additionally, they discuss the importance of transparently managing expectations with managers, using a time box calendar to show priorities and engage in schedule syncing. By proactively involving managers in prioritizing tasks, individuals can avoid the pressure to say no and create alignment between their own schedules and organizational expectations.
In this moment, behaviour and habit design expert, Nir Eyal discusses how to beat procrastination and distraction. One of the first major steps is being able to master the internal triggers that are trying to pull your attention away. Nir believes that to do this you need to try and understand the underlying feelings behind these urge. As he says, time management is pain management, and all human behaviour is about trying to escape discomfort. Nir says that finding these underlying feelings can be achieved by writing down the sensations you feel just before distraction, this allows you identify them and then reframe them to your advantage. Because, if you don’t master these internal triggers, they become your master. Another major step to beat procrastination is by actually scheduling time to be distracted. Nir calls this ‘The 10 Minute Rule’, which allows you to give in to any distraction in your scheduled time, but only for 10 minutes!