“Even when we think we’re seeking pleasure, we’re actually driven by the desire to free ourselves from the pain of wanting.”

<ul><li>Remove apps you don’t need</li><li>Replace apps with desktop equivalents or other objects (watch, alarm clock, etc)</li><li>Rearrange apps to show tools and hide slot machines</li><li>Reclaim notifications - be very selective regarding which apps can push notifications</li><li>Reward walks or exercise with online articles (text to speech)</li></ul>

Hack Back Your Smartphone

<ul><li>Remove clutter from view</li><li>Use Instapaper or Pocket. Never read an article in the browser.</li><li>Use FB news feed eradicator, DF Tube, Open twitter notifications directly instead of starting with the main feed</li></ul>

Hack Back Your Desktop

<ul><li>Effort pact prevents distraction by making unwanted behaviors more difficult to do. Apps like SelfControl, Forest, and Focusmate can help you make effort pacts.</li><li>Price pact is a type of precommitment that involves putting money on the line to encourage us to do what we say we will. Stick to your intended behavior, and you keep the cash, but get distracted, and you forfeit the funds.</li><li>Identity pact is a precommitment to a self-image. You can prevent distraction by acting in line with your identity.</li></ul>

Step #4 — Pacts to prevent distractions.

Cues in our environment like rings from devices and interruptions from other people frequently take us off track. That’s why we should defend our focus.

Step #3 — Eliminate external triggers. 

The most effective way to make time for traction is through timeboxing: Deciding what you’re going to do, and when you’re going to do it. <ul><li>Focus on inputs - not outcomes</li><li>Schedule time for you</li><li>Schedule time for important relationships</li><li>Sync your schedule with stakeholders at work</li></ul>

Step #2 — Make more time for traction.

“WRITE DOWN THE TRIGGER”

The root cause of all of our behaviors is the desire to relieve discomfort. Distraction is an unhealthy escape from reality. If we want to master distraction, we must learn to deal with discomfort.

How to be Indistractable?

Step #1 — Expand your internal triggers.Step #2 — Make more time for traction.Step #3 — Eliminate external triggers. Step #4 — Pacts to prevent distractions.

The Keys to Controlling Your Attention

“Timeboxing enables us to think of each week as a mini-experiment. The goal is to figure out where your schedule didn’t work out in the prior week so you can make it easier to follow the next time around.”

“Distraction, it turns out, isn’t about the distraction itself; rather, it’s about how we respond to it.”― Nir Eyal, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life

Email:<ul><li>Reduce the number of messages received.</li><li>Schedule office hours, delay when messages are sent, and reduce time-wasting messages from reaching your inbox.</li><li>Spend less time on each message.</li><li>Label emails by when each message needs a response. Reply to emails during a scheduled time on your calendar.</li></ul> Chat:<ul><li>Use it like a sauna (in and out quickly)</li><li>Schedule it on your timeboxed calendar</li><li>Be picky with who is in the group chat (the fewer people the better)</li><li>Use it selectively (opt for in-person when mood, tone, and nonverbal signals add critical context)</li></ul>

Hack Back Email and Chat

Require two things of anyone who calls one.<ul><li>First, meeting organizers must circulate an agenda of what problem will be discussed. No agenda, no meeting.</li><li>Second, they must give their best shot at a solution in the form of a brief, written digest.</li></ul>

Hack Back Meetings

In the future, there will be two kinds of people in the world: those who let their attention and lives be controlled and coerced by others and those who proudly call themselves “indistractable.”

Key Takeaway

Four psychological factors make satisfaction temporary:<ul><li>Boredom</li><li>Negativity bias</li><li>Rumination</li><li>Hedonic adaptation</li></ul> The following four steps help handle intrusive thoughts:<ul><li>Look for the emotion preceding distraction;</li><li>Write down the internal trigger;</li><li>Explore the negative sensation with curiosity instead of contempt; and</li><li>Be cautious during liminal moments. </li></ul>

Step #1 — Expand your internal triggers.

"Indistractable provides a framework that will deliver the focus you need to get results." —James Clear, author of Atomic Habits "If you value your time, your focus, or your relationships, this book is essential reading. I'm putting these ideas into practice." —Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind National Bestseller Winner of the Outstanding Works of Literature (OWL) Award Included in the Top 5 Best Personal Development Books of the Year by Audible Included in the Top 20 Best Business and Leadership Books of the Year by Amazon Featured in The Amazon Book Review Newsletter, January 2020 Goodreads Best Science & Technology of 2019 Finalist You sit down at your desk to work on an important project, but a notification on your phone interrupts your morning. Later, as you're about to get back to work, a colleague taps you on the shoulder to chat. At home, screens get in the way of quality time with your family. Another day goes by, and once again, your most important personal and professional goals are put on hold. What would be possible if you followed through on your best intentions? What could you accomplish if you could stay focused? What if you had the power to become "indistractable?" International bestselling author, former Stanford lecturer, and behavioral design expert, Nir Eyal, wrote Silicon Valley's handbook for making technology habit-forming. Five years after publishing Hooked, Eyal reveals distraction's Achilles' heel in his groundbreaking new book. In Indistractable, Eyal reveals the hidden psychology driving us to distraction. He describes why solving the problem is not as simple as swearing off our devices: Abstinence is impractical and often makes us want more. Eyal lays bare the secret of finally doing what you say you will do with a four-step, research-backed model. Indistractable reveals the key to getting the best out of technology, without letting it get the best of us. Inside, Eyal overturns conventional wisdom and reveals: • Why distraction at work is a symptom of a dysfunctional company culture—and how to fix it • What really drives human behavior and why "time management is pain management" • Why your relationships (and your sex life) depend on you becoming indistractable • How to raise indistractable children in an increasingly distracting world Empowering and optimistic, Indistractable provides practical, novel techniques to control your time and attention—helping you live the life you really want.

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Productivity

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Personal Development

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Books

"Indistractable provides a framework that will deliver the focus you need to get results." —James Clear, author of Atomic Habits "If you value your time, your focus, or your relationships, this book is essential reading. I'm putting these ideas into practice." —Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind   National Bestseller Winner of the Outstanding Works of Literature (OWL) Award Included in the Top 5 Best Personal Development Books of the Year by Audible Included in the Top 20 Best Business and Leadership Books of the Year by Amazon Featured in The Amazon Book Review Newsletter, January 2020 Goodreads Best Science & Technology of 2019 Finalist   You sit down at your desk to work on an important project, but a notification on your phone interrupts your morning. Later, as you're about to get back to work, a colleague taps you on the shoulder to chat. At home, screens get in the way of quality time with your family. Another day goes by, and once again, your most important personal and professional goals are put on hold. What would be possible if you followed through on your best intentions? What could you accomplish if you could stay focused? What if you had the power to become "indistractable?" International bestselling author, former Stanford lecturer, and behavioral design expert, Nir Eyal, wrote Silicon Valley's handbook for making technology habit-forming. Five years after publishing Hooked, Eyal reveals distraction's Achilles' heel in his groundbreaking new book. In Indistractable, Eyal reveals the hidden psychology driving us to distraction. He describes why solving the problem is not as simple as swearing off our devices: Abstinence is impractical and often makes us want more. Eyal lays bare the secret of finally doing what you say you will do with a four-step, research-backed model. Indistractable reveals the key to getting the best out of technology, without letting it get the best of us. Inside, Eyal overturns conventional wisdom and reveals:    • Why distraction at work is a symptom of a dysfunctional company culture—and how to fix it    • What really drives human behavior and why "time management is pain management"    • Why your relationships (and your sex life) depend on you becoming indistractable    • How to raise indistractable children in an increasingly distracting world Empowering and optimistic, Indistractable provides practical, novel techniques to control your time and attention—helping you live the life you really want.

Nir Eyal is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Nir Eyal has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Nir Eyal's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

― NIR EYAL

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Take a step back

1. What Are You Doing?

Focus on What You Can Control