101. Dialing In Right Effort: Breaking Free from Distractions with Nir Eyal

Overview

Part of the Sustainable Ambition pillar of Right Effort is about how we can best use our energy so that we can go after our ambitions sustainably. There is benefit in learning how to work smarter, not harder.

That’s why the topic of focus is important. Most of us know what it’s like to struggle to stay focused and get work done. At the same time, many of us are plagued by feeling too busy. It’s hard to find time to do all we want or need to do. Yet, based on today’s episode, I started wondering—is our busyness problem actually a distraction problem? We aren’t able to be efficient with our time because we’re constantly distracted.

That’s why I was excited to talk with Nir Eyal, author of Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life, and hear his thoughts on why we get distracted, why we should be shooting for traction not just focus, and why we should take responsibility and set intentions around how we use our time.

Let’s hear what Nir Eyal can teach us about becoming indistractable.

More About Our Guest

Nir Eyal writes, consults, and teaches about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business. Nir previously taught as a Lecturer in Marketing at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford.

Nir co-founded and sold two tech companies since 2003. He is the author of two bestselling books, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life.

In addition to blogging at NirAndFar.com, Nir’s writing has been featured in The New York Times, The Harvard Business Review, Time Magazine, and Psychology Today.

Nir attended The Stanford Graduate School of Business and Emory University.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

  • Why Nir says that distraction is a human problem, not a technology problem, and how the psychology of distraction can help us use technology to our benefit

  • Getting to the root of the definition of distraction, and why focus isn’t its opposite

  • How intention draws the line between distraction and traction and why moralizing “wasting time” doesn’t help anyone

  • The internal triggers that account for 90% of distraction

  • Why Nir says that all human behavior is fundamentally pain management

  • Four steps towards making yourself indistractable

  • Nir coaches me through two of my own trouble spots when it comes to distraction

  • Why to-do lists backfire and what to do instead

  • What to do when it feels like you have no control of your calendar at work

Learn more about Nir Eyal:

Resources Mentioned

Thanks for Listening!

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2023Kathy OnetoRight Ambition, Right Time, Right Effort