Indistractable by Nir Eyal — Book Notes
This book in three sentences
All our actions are either aligned with our broader intention (traction) or misaligned (distraction).
The root of distraction is the avoidance of pain, moving away from the Resistance. Only awareness of avoidance can lead to long term focus.
Being Indistractable means we consistently do what we say we are going to do.
This book's Big Picture Ideas and Principles
We can overcome distraction by mastering an awareness of our internal triggers, making time for traction, hacking back external triggers, and committing to action with pacts.
Master our internal triggers
Develop an awareness for the Resistance, the pain avoidance that keeps us from acting
Align your consistent overcoming of distraction with your identity — identify yourself as Indistractable
Make time for traction
You can't call something a distraction unless you know what it is distracting you from.
Create an ideal calendar such that at any time, you can identify what you are working on and therefore know exactly WHAT this distraction is distracting you from
Control the inputs for your action— simply schedule time to begin a task, how long you will work on it, and consistently do the work.
Schedule time for your important relationships— otherwise they can get lost in the busy day to day.
Sync your calendar with your stakeholders— if your boss sees your ideal calendar and deems it appropriate, you know you are on the right track
Hack back external triggers
Ask yourself the critical question for any external action trigger — is this trigger serving me or am I serving it?
To hack back email, we need to send/receive fewer emails, spend less time checking email, and spend less time on each email
Hack back your notifications on your smart phone and desk stop asking the critical question
Hack back meetings by making it far more difficult to schedule a meeting via required itinerary and desired accomplishment documents
Hack back online articles by saving them to a read it later app, scheduling time to burn through them, or listening to them
Master distractions through precommitment
Create effort pacts — add a layer of friction to doing distracting things. Also, make choices higher upstream that eliminate future decisions.
Price pacts — make it expensive to be distracted
Identity pacts — we are what we commonly repeated actions are. Identify yourself as someone who is indistractable such that become distracted works against your ego.
Immediate actions to take
Note down three times you become distracted at work. During each episode, become aware of the distraction, note the task that we are being distracted from, and then sit with that emotion.
Create weekly ideal calendar template, ideal weekend calendar template.
Habits to instill over the long term
Create an identity / repeating to yourself "I am the type of person who does the work— I complete the tasks I commit to working on.
Develop an awareness of distraction as escaping the Resistance. Specifically, identify when things are fauxductive and not really moving the needle.
On a monthly basis, recreate your ideal calendar to better sync with any updated resposibilities.
Chapter 1: What’s Your Superpower?
The first step is to recognize that distraction starts from within. In part one, you’ll learn practical ways to identify and manage the psychological discomfort that leads us off track.
You’ll learn why you can’t call something a “distraction” unless you know what it is distracting you from.
REMEMBER THIS
• We need to learn how to avoid distraction. Living the lives we want not only requires doing the right things but also necessitates not doing the things we know we’ll regret. • The problem is deeper than tech. Being indistractable isn’t about being a Luddite. It’s about understanding the real reasons why we do things against our best interests. • Here’s what it takes: We can be indistractable by learning and adopting four key strategies.
Chapter 2: Being Indistractable
Tantalus’s punishment was to yearn for things he desired but could never grasp.
Distractions impede us from making progress toward the life we envision.
Whether prompted by internal or external triggers, the resulting action is either aligned with our broader intention (traction) or misaligned (distraction). Traction helps us accomplish goals; distraction leads us away from them.
In 1971 the psychologist Herbert A. Simon presciently wrote, “The wealth of information means a dearth of something else . . . a poverty of attention.”
Tantalus’s curse is also our curse. We are compelled to reach for things we supposedly need but really don’t. We don’t need to check our email right this second or need to see the latest trending news, no matter how much we feel we must.
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Being indistractable means striving to do what you say you will do.
REMEMBER THIS
Distraction stops you from achieving your goals. It is any action that moves you away from what you really want.
Traction leads you closer to your goals. It is any action that moves you toward what you really want.
Triggers prompt both traction and distraction. External triggers prompt you to action with cues in your environment. Internal triggers prompt you to action with cues within you.
Chapter 3: What Motivates Us, Really?
The reality, however, is that motivation has much less to do with pleasure than was once thought. Even when we think we’re seeking pleasure, we’re actually driven by the desire to free ourselves from the pain of wanting.
Simply put, the drive to relieve discomfort is the root cause of all our behavior, while everything else is a proximate cause.
The distractions in our lives are the result of the same forces—they are proximate causes that we think are to blame, while the root causes stay hidden.
Only by understanding our pain can we begin to control it and find better ways to deal with negative urges.
REMEMBER THIS
Understand the root cause of distraction. Distraction is about more than your devices. Separate proximate causes from the root cause. • All motivation is a desire to escape discomfort. If a behavior was previously effective at providing relief, we’re likely to continue using it as a tool to escape discomfort. • Anything that stops discomfort is potentially addictive, but that doesn’t make it irresistible. If you know the drivers of your behavior, you can take steps to manage them.
Chapter 4: Time Management Is Pain Management
If distraction costs us time, then time management is pain management.
“If satisfaction and pleasure were permanent, there might be little incentive to continue seeking further benefits or advances.”
Four psychological factors make satisfaction temporary.
Boredom, negativity bias, rumination, and hedonic adapatation
The third factor is rumination, our tendency to keep thinking about bad experiences.
This “passive comparison of one’s current situation with some unachieved standard” can manifest in self-critical thoughts such as, “Why can’t I handle things better?”
Hedonic adaptation, the tendency to quickly return to a baseline level of satisfaction, no matter what happens to us in life, is Mother Nature’s bait and switch.
“Every desirable experience—passionate love, a spiritual high, the pleasure of a new possession, the exhilaration of success—is transitory.”
It’s good to know that feeling bad isn’t actually bad; it’s exactly what survival of the fittest intended.
REMEMBER THIS •
Time management is pain management. Distractions cost us time, and like all actions, they are spurred by the desire to escape discomfort. • Evolution favored dissatisfaction over contentment. Our tendencies toward boredom, negativity bias, rumination, and hedonic adaptation conspire to make sure we’re never satisfied for long. • Dissatisfaction is responsible for our species’ advancements as much as its faults. It is an innate power that can be channeled to help us make things better. • If we want to master distraction, we must learn to deal with discomfort.
Chapter 5: Deal with Distraction from Within
At the heart of the therapy is learning to notice and accept one’s cravings and to handle them healthfully. Instead of suppressing urges, ACT prescribes a method for stepping back, noticing, observing, and finally letting the desire disappear naturally.
We can manage internal triggers by reminaing the trigger, reimagining the task, or reimagining our temperament
REMEMBER THIS
Without techniques for disarming temptation, mental abstinence can backfire. Resisting an urge can trigger rumination and make the desire grow stronger. • We can manage distractions that originate from within by changing how we think about them. We can reimagine the trigger, the task, and our temperament.
Chapter 6: Reimagine the Internal Trigger
We must develop awareness regarding the internal trigger that causes our distraction — this is the Resistance
Step 1— Look for the discomfort that precedes the distraction
Step 2— Write down the trigger
Step 3— Explore the negative sensation driving the desire
Step 4— Be extra cautious during liminal moments, or doing things for "just a second."
Some techniques
The "ten-minute-rule"— when you feel the urge to do something distracting or adverse, set a timer for 10 minutes. Allow yourself every time to act on it if its still there in 10 minutes, but not before
Describe your urge as if you were an observer— "there I go reaching for my phone again. There it is, that boredom and lack of interest in my task that is causing me to check Twitter."
REMEMBER THIS • By reimagining an uncomfortable internal trigger, we can disarm it. • Step 1. Look for the emotion preceding distraction. • Step 2. Write down the internal trigger. • Step 3. Explore the negative sensation with curiosity instead of contempt. • Step 4. Be extra cautious during liminal moments.
Chapter 7: Reimagine the Task
Fun and play don’t have to make us feel good per se; rather, they can be used as tools to keep us focused.
We can use the same neural hardwiring that keeps us hooked to media to keep us engaged in an otherwise unpleasant task.
Operating under constraints, Bogost says, is the key to creativity and fun.
“The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”
Fun is looking for the variability in something other people don’t notice. It’s breaking through the boredom and monotony to discover its hidden beauty.
REMEMBER THIS:
• We can master internal triggers by reimagining an otherwise dreary task. Fun and play can be used as tools to keep us focused. • Play doesn’t have to be pleasurable. It just has to hold our attention. • Deliberateness and novelty can be added to any task to make it fun.
Chapter 8: Reimagine Your Temperament
To manage the discomfort that tugs us toward distraction, we need to think of ourselves differently. The way we perceive our temperament, which is defined as “a person’s or animal’s nature, especially as it permanently affects their behavior."
People who did not see willpower as a finite resource did not show signs of ego depletion.
Reimagining the type of person you are, the person who leans into the Resistance, who does not get distracted easily, who accomplishes what they set out to do whether motivation is there or not— that core belief becomes self-fulfilling.
Addicts’ beliefs regarding their powerlessness were just as significant in determining whether they would relapse after treatment as their level of physical dependence.
REMEMBER THIS
Reimagining our temperament can help us manage our internal triggers. • We don’t run out of willpower. Believing we do makes us less likely to accomplish our goals by providing a rationale to quit when we could otherwise persist. • What we say to ourselves matters. Labeling yourself as having poor self-control is self-defeating. • Practice self-compassion. Talk to yourself the way you’d talk to a friend. People who are more self-compassionate are more resilient.
Part Two — Making Time for Traction
Chapter 9: Turn Your Values into Time
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe believed he could predict someone’s future based on one simple fact. “If I know how you spend your time,” he wrote, “then I know what might become of you.”
The Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca wrote, “People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time, they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy.”
Instead of starting with what we’re going to do, we should begin with why we’re going to do it. And to do that, we must begin with our values.
We never achieve our values any more than finishing a painting would let us achieve being creative. A value is like a guiding star; it’s the fixed point we use to help us navigate our life choices.
You can’t call something a distraction unless you know what it’s distracting you from.
The goal is to eliminate all white space on your calendar so you’re left with a template for how you intend to spend your time each day.
Next, book fifteen minutes on your schedule every week to reflect and refine your calendar by asking two questions:
Question 1 (Reflect): “When in my schedule did I do what I said I would do and when did I get distracted?”
Question 2 (Refine): “Are there changes I can make to my calendar that will give me the time I need to better live out my values?”
REMEMBER THIS:
• You can’t call something a distraction unless you know what it is distracting you from. Planning ahead is the only way to know the difference between traction and distraction. • Does your calendar reflect your values? To be the person you want to be, you have to make time to live your values. • Timebox your day. The three life domains of you, relationships, and work provide a framework for planning how to spend your time. • Reflect and refine. Revise your schedule regularly, but you must commit to it once it’s set.
Chapter 10: Control the Inputs, Not the Outcomes
The one thing we control is the time we put into a task.
REMEMBER THIS
Schedule time for yourself first. You are at the center of the three life domains. Without allocating time for yourself, the other two domains suffer. • Show up when you say you will. You can’t always control what you get out of the time you spend, but you can control how much time you put into a task. • Input is much more certain than THE outcome. When it comes to living the life you want, making sure you allocate time to living your values is the only thing you should focus on.
Chapter 11: Schedule Important Relationships
The people we love most should not be content getting whatever time is leftover. Everyone benefits when we hold time on our schedule to live up to our values and do our share.
Satisfying friendships need three things: “somebody to talk to, someone to depend on, and someone to enjoy.”
This is how friendships die—they starve to death.
REMEMBER THIS
The people you love deserve more than getting whatever time is leftover. If someone is important to you, make regular time for them on your calendar. • Go beyond scheduling date days with your significant other. Put domestic chores on your calendar to ensure an equitable split. • A lack of close friendships may be hazardous to your health. Ensure you maintain important relationships by scheduling time for regular get-togethers.
Chapter 12: Sync with Stakeholders at Work
Using a detailed, timeboxed schedule helps clarify the central trust pact between employers and employees.
REMEMBER THIS
Syncing your schedule with stakeholders at work is critical for making time for traction in your day. Without visibility into how you spend your time, colleagues and managers are more likely to distract you with superfluous tasks. • Sync as frequently as your schedule changes. If your schedule template changes from day to day, have a daily check-in. However, most people find a weekly alignment is sufficient.
Part Three — Hack Back External Triggers
Chapter 13: Ask the Critical Question
Is this trigger serving me, or am I serving it?
REMEMBER THIS
External triggers often lead to distraction. Cues in our environment like the pings, dings, and rings from devices, as well as interruptions from other people, frequently take us off track. • External triggers aren’t always harmful. If an external trigger leads us to traction, it serves us. • We must ask ourselves: Is this trigger serving me, or am I serving it? Then we can hack back the external triggers that don’t serve us.
Chapter 14: Hack Back Work Interruptions
Display a clear signal that you are currently indistractable
REMEMBER THIS
Interruptions lead to mistakes. You can’t do your best work if you’re frequently distracted. • Open-office floor plans increase distraction. • Defend your focus. Signal when you do not want to be interrupted. Use a screen sign or some other clear cue to let people know you are indistractable.
Chapter 15: Hack Back Email
The total time spent on email per day (T) is a function of the number of messages received (n) multiplied by the average time (t) spent on each message, so T = n × t. I like to remember “TNT” to remind me how email can blow up a well-planned day.
To receive fewer emails, we must send fewer emails.
REMEMBER THIS
Break down the problem. Time spent on email (T) is a function of the number of messages received (n) multiplied by the average time (t) spent per message: T = n × t. • Reduce the number of messages received. Schedule office hours, delay when messages are sent, and reduce time-wasting messages from reaching your inbox. • Spend less time on each message. Label emails by when each message needs a response. Reply to emails during a scheduled time on your calendar.
Chapter 16: Hack Back Group Chat
RULE 1: USE IT LIKE A SAUNA
RULE 2: SCHEDULE IT
RULE 3: BE PICKY
RULE 4: USE IT SELECTIVELY
Chapter 17: Hack Back Meetings
One of the easiest ways to prevent superfluous meetings is to require two things of anyone who calls one. First, meeting organizers must circulate an agenda of what problem will be discussed. No agenda, no meeting. Second, they must give their best shot at a solution in the form of a brief, written digest.
Remove all screens from the meeting room
First, every conference room should have a charging station for devices, but make sure it is just out of everyone’s reach. When attendees congregate before the meeting, they should be encouraged to silence their phone and plug in their devices so the meeting can proceed free of distractions.
Chapter 18: Hack Back Your Smartphone
STEP 1: REMOVE
STEP 2: REPLACE
STEP 3: REARRANGE
STEP 4: RECLAIM
The idea here is to find the best time and place to do the things you want to do. Just because your phone can seemingly do everything doesn’t mean it should.
Chapter 19: Hack Back Your Desktop
Follow the same process for cleaning up your iPhone notifications as you do your desktop
According to Sophie Leroy at the University of Minnesota, moving from one thing to another hurts our concentration by leaving what she calls an “attention residue” that makes it harder to get back on track once we have been distracted.
Removing unnecessary external triggers from our line of sight declutters our workspace and frees the mind to concentrate on what’s really important.
But my decluttering crusade didn’t stop there. I decided to disable all desktop notifications to ensure that various unhelpful external triggers could no longer interrupt me.
Chapter 20: Hack Back Online Articles
Never read articles in my web browser.
Listen to your articles in a read-it-later app
REMEMBER THIS:
Online articles are full of potentially distracting external triggers. Open tabs can pull us off course and tend to suck us down a time-wasting content vortex. • Make a rule. Promise yourself you’ll save interesting content for later by using an app like Pocket. • Surprise! You can multitask. Use multichannel multitasking like listening to articles while working out or taking walking meetings.
Part Four — Master Distraction through Precommitments
Chapter 22: The Power of Precommitments
In Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses resists the Sirens’ song by making a precommitment and successfully avoiding the distraction. A “Ulysses pact” is defined as “a freely made decision that is designed and intended to bind oneself in the future,” and is a type of precommitment we still use today.
The most effective time to introduce a precommitment is after we’ve addressed the first three aspects of the Indistractable Model.
REMEMBER THIS
Being indistractable does not only require keeping distractions out. It also necessitates reining ourselves in. • Precommitments can reduce the likelihood of distraction. They help us stick with the decisions we’ve made in advance. • Precommitments should only be used after the other three indistractable strategies have already been applied. Don’t skip the first three steps.
Chapter 23: Prevent Distraction with Effort Pacts
An effort pact prevents distraction by making unwanted behaviors more difficult to do.
REMEMBER THIS • An effort pact prevents distraction by making unwanted behaviors more difficult to do. • In the age of the personal computer, social pressure to stay on task has largely disappeared. No one can see what you’re working on, so it’s easier to slack off. Working next to a colleague or friend for a set period of time can be a highly effective effort pact. • You can use tech to stay off tech. Apps like SelfControl, Forest, and Focusmate can help you make effort pacts.
Chapter 24: Prevent Distraction with Price Pacts
Loss Aversion — “people are typically more motivated to avoid losses than to seek gains.”
I decided to make a price pact with myself. After making time in my timeboxed schedule, I taped a crisp hundred-dollar bill to the calendar on my wall, next to the date of my upcoming workout. Then I bought a ninety-nine-cent lighter and placed it nearby. Every day, I had a choice to make: I would either burn the calories by exercising or burn the hundred-dollar bill. Unless I was certifiably sick, those were the only two options I allowed myself.
PITFALL 1: PRICE PACTS AREN’T GOOD AT CHANGING BEHAVIORS WITH EXTERNAL TRIGGERS YOU CAN’T ESCAPE
PITFALL 2: PRICE PACTS SHOULD ONLY BE USED FOR SHORT TASKS
PITFALL 3: ENTERING A PRICE PACT IS SCARY
PITFALL 4: PRICE PACTS AREN’T FOR PEOPLE WHO BEAT THEMSELVES UP
REMEMBER THIS •
A price pact adds a cost to getting distracted. It has been shown to be a highly effective motivator. • Price pacts are most effective when you can remove the external triggers that lead to distraction. • Price pacts work best when the distraction is temporary. • Price pacts can be difficult to start. We fear making a price pact because we know we’ll have to actually do the thing we’re scared to do. • Learn self-compassion before making a price pact.
Chapter 25: Prevent Distraction with Identity Pacts
Our perception of who we are changes what we do.
It should now be clear why this book is titled Indistractable. Welcome to your new moniker! By thinking of yourself as indistractable, you empower yourself through your new identity.
Though conventional wisdom says our beliefs shape our behaviors, the opposite is also true
The more we stick to our plans, the more we reinforce our identity. We can also incorporate other rituals into our lives to help remind us of our identity.
REMEMBER THIS
• Identity greatly influences our behavior. People tend to align their actions with how they see themselves. • An identity pact is a precommitment to a self-image. You can prevent distraction by acting in line with your identity. • Become a noun. By assigning yourself a moniker, you increase the likelihood of following through with behaviors consistent with what you call yourself. Call yourself “indistractable.” • Share with others. Teaching others solidifies your commitment, even if you’re still struggling. A great way to be indistractable is to tell friends about what you learned in this book and the changes you’re making in your life. • Adopt rituals. Repeating mantras, keeping a timeboxed schedule, or performing other routines reinforces your identity and influences your future actions.