Indistractable - by Nir Eyal
ISBN: 9781948836531Date read: 2019-10-22
How strongly I recommend it: 2/10
(See my list of 360+ books, for more.)
Go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
A specific guide for how to avoid distraction in your life. 95% of it was how-to stuff I didn't find useful because I'm already doing all of it. If you're not, this book is much more useful to you. It had two interesting points for me: about dissatisfaction driving motivation, and filling your daily calendar with a template of how you want to spend your day.
my notes
Even when we think we’re seeking pleasure, we’re actually driven by the desire to free ourselves from the pain of wanting.
The drive to relieve discomfort is the root cause of all our behavior.
Dissatisfaction propels us to do everything we do.
Even selfless acts are motivated by our need to escape feelings of guilt and injustice.
To master distraction, we must learn to deal with discomfort.
Instead of suppressing urges, step back, notice, observe, and let the desire disappear naturally.
Doing research is often just a diversion from difficult work.
In a smoking cessation study, the participants who had learned to acknowledge and explore their cravings managed to quit at double the rate of those in the American Lung Association’s best-performing cessation program.
Tell myself it’s fine to give in, but not right now. I have to wait just ten minutes.
When you gently pay attention to negative emotions, they tend to dissipate - but positive ones expand.
The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.
Labeling yourself as having poor self-control actually leads to less self-control.
Only by setting aside specific time in our schedules for traction (the actions that draw us toward what we want in life) can we turn our backs on distraction.
Eliminate all white space on your calendar so you’re left with a template for how you intend to spend your time each day.
Success is measured by whether you did what you planned to do.
Ulysses pact: a freely made decision that is designed and intended to bind oneself in the future. It's pre-commitment.