I heard about this book when Sara Tasker interviewed the author, Nir Eyal, for her podcast Hashtag Authentic. The podcast introduced the idea of timeboxing, which was an idea that I immediately wanted to try. So I decided to read the book as well, to see what else I could learn.
Indistractible is broken into seven parts:
- Mastering internal triggers – all about motivation and distraction
- Timeboxing
- How to get rid of external triggers – about external distractions
- All about pacts – types of pacts and the pitfalls that you should know about before you enter into one
- Making your workplace indistractible
- Raising indistractible children
- Having indistractible relationships
As you can tell, you probably don’t need to read all the chapters if you don’t have kids. The most important parts, in my opinion, are the first three where Eyal breaks down the reasons for why we get distracted so easily and how we can deal with internal and external distractions. The rest of the book is really just actionable steps that you can take in various settings.
What I really liked about Indistractible was that it combined theory with practical action. Not only did I learn about how distraction is more than our devices and that motivation is about discomfort, not pleasure, I also got some tips that I can immediately use. For example, timeboxing is great and I’m in a group where we do something similar now and then – at a predetermined time, everyone will come into a chat group, announce what they will be doing for the hour, and come back when the time is up to report what’s going on. It’s actually very effective and stops me from stopping work every five minutes to check news sites.
Another useful part of the book are the summaries at the end of each chapter. I like it because I can go back to the summaries and refresh my memory about what each chapter says without having to reread the whole book.
One last thing I liked was when Eyal goes into the pitfalls of pacts. He talks about the people for whom pacts will and will not work, and I appreciate that he didn’t try to recommend it as a one-size-fits-all situation.
Overall, I’d recommend Indistractible to people who want to learn how to use their time more efficiently. It’s got good advice that you can put into practice as soon as you finish the book, and I think being able to get that momentum will be very helpful if you’re chronically distracted like me.
If you liked this…
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport – If social media usage is one of your distractions, Digital Minimalism can help you find more ways to cut down on that.
Deep Work by Cal Newport – More on how to focus to do deep, creative work that requires the flow state.
Interviews with Nir Eyal – if you like to listen to your information, check out these two podcast episodes: Sara Tasker (for creatives), Joanna Penn (specifically for authors). Sara will be interviewing Nir Eyal again soon, so keep an eye on her podcast, Hashtag Authentic, for more!
How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price – Another book for those who need more help in managing their phone use. Personally, I liked Digital Minimalism just a bit better, but I like that How to Break Up With Your Phone has a four week programme that you can just follow. Plus there’s the concept of phone fasts here, which I love.
This is probably one of the biggest problems we face in life as technology becomes more involved in our everyday lives. Sometimes I find myself circulating through the same few apps over and over again, so this book might prove useful in my case! The additional resources and information you’ve shared at the end of the post are interesting as well, so thanks for sharing!
I hope you enjoy the book! I definitely found it useful (: