Indistractable

Fighting against distraction requires both strong will power and a methodical approach. Who has never felt a sense of wasted time while he/she had started the day full of resolution, determined to progress on an important project, only to finally realize in the evening that he/she had scattered between futile solicitations, procrastination and time lost on social networks?

The point is not however to make the reader feel guilty. Nir Eyal starts by explaining the cognitive mechanisms that prompt us to favor immediate gratification—like what we feel when answering an email—rather than remaining immersed in a demanding task. He then proposes some ways to counter this bias. The first consists in adopting a positive state of mind towards the task at hand. Indeed, we mobilize our attention all the better if we find interest and meaning in our mission—which is almost always possible provided that we consider it, if needed, from a different angle. Next come the organization techniques that the author presents in great detail. Planning in-depth work, allocating ourselves time slots to progress on important topics, as well as seeking out and suppressing the distractions in our daily lives, are some of the methods recommended by Nir Eyal.

The book dedicates a significant part to the management of technological tools. How to prevent them from affecting our concentration capacity too much? The author encourages us to question the added value of each tool uncompromisingly, and compare this to the distractions it generates.

A sound read for anyone who ever found him/herself surfing the net while he/she should have been progressing on an important project.