The Attention Crisis: Insights from Johann Hari

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Your attention has been hijacked by modern communications technology and corporate giants. But we're partially to blame too, as we enjoy being distracted. To help you refocus, we've gathered insights from top writers on the attention crisis. Journalist Johann Hari, author of 'Stolen Focus', explains that our attention has not collapsed, it has been stolen. This crisis is similar to the obesity or climate crisis. College students spend only 65 seconds on each task, office workers spend three minutes, and even Fortune 500 CEOs get just 28 minutes of uninterrupted focus a day. Instead of blaming ourselves, we need to understand the root cause of this crisis.

You may have noticed that the kind of focus we all need to get stuff done is harder and harder to come by. But fear not. To help you get back on track, we've called in some of the smartest writers we know to give us their take on the attention crisis and what we can do about it. All this week, we'll be hearing from them. First up is journalist Johann Hari. Johann is the author of three New York Times bestsellers, and he joins us today to share some key insights from his latest, "Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again."