10 ms·

How to Be Indistractable

142 points by nireyal 6y ago

nine_k 6y ago
«Distraction, in other words, is a symptom of a problem – not the problem itself. Those deeper and systemic reasons – such as an inability to cope with fear, anxiety or stress – deserve our concern, because it’s only when we start to address them that we can make real progress.» Good. Further down, pretty reasonable and actionable. Firefox's (or possibly Safari's) Reading Mode recommended.
keyle 6y ago
> Not Found > This article must not exist. I guess the website is distractible. And we'll never know the secret! Edit: only in Safari it's borked.
rwoerz 6y ago
Kind of irony to put that on HN
- avian 6y ago
  Also that the article has a pop up that distracts you from reading after the first few paragraphs.
- dorchadas 6y ago
  I think it's more ironic (maybe, I'm never really sure how about what use of ironic is the 'technical' one and which one is the Alanis Morissette one) that the author of the article literally wrote the book on how to build habit forming products and services that constantly attract your attention and distract you.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
p_og 6y ago
This is rich. Coming from the one who brought cognitive psychology tricks for attention grabbing to digital product design.
PureParadigm 6y ago
I had a similar experience as the author when trying to do a "digital detox." I removed apps from my phone, installed a launcher that forces you to type the app name you want to open, changed the screen to black and white, etc. Yet a new distraction always creeps in to fill the space. The most useful thing I did was put all my electronic devices in a separate room when going to bed. Before, I would often stay up on my phone until I was seconds away from falling asleep. The first day trying to fall asleep without any distractions was scarily difficult. Just being alone with your own thoughts, worries, stress, etc. can be really uncomfortable. But after getting used to it, not only do I get better sleep, but I think I also have better self-control to resist distractions during the day. So for anyone looking to reduce distractions, start by removing all distractions when going to sleep. The first few times trying to fall asleep without distractions will probably be harder than you think, but it gets easier and you'll be better for it in the end.
smabie 6y ago
What works for me is a barebones window manager. I use cwm on Xorg and don't have any window chrome or toolbars or start buttons or slack notifications or anything. When an app is full screened, you literally can't see anything else. Works pretty well. No clock is nice too. Unless I check my phone or run the date command, I have no idea what time it is.
- rawoke083600 6y ago
  Yup recently did it myself... I moved to i3 (WM) and try to get a fully keyboard-driven workflow. Just "setting up" workspaces (linux desktop) correctly helped a lot. For example 1=Terminal,2=Browser, 3=Comms,4=Code... This helps me to better organise my thoughts and all those browser windows !
vezycash 6y ago
Wonderful article. Made me realize that I had this TSR program running in my brain. "If it's important, serious, embarrassing, difficult or just uncomfortable, do it later."
- Arubis 6y ago
  Totally tangential, but I'm pleased to see TSR in the wild; haven't seen that acronym used in at least a decade.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
coldtea 6y ago
First step: stop reading random posts about "how to be indistractable".
- lordgrenville 6y ago
  Yeah, on this topic I never read the articles but like reading the comments for other people's noprocrast strategies, even if they're just "close this tab and get back to work".
  - noir_lord 6y ago
    On my desktop I just have 0.0.0.0 news.ycombinator.com (etc) in /etc/hosts That forces me to use either the media PC or my laptop if I want to access HN/twitter/reddit. It works because it puts a breaker in the "I'm a bit bored, I wonder who is wrong on the internet today" loop.
    - mhaberl 6y ago
      How does this help? Won't you just comment out the entry in hosts file if you want to visit HN?
      - coldtea 6y ago
        No, because of the extra guilt. It's not about what's technically impossible to break out of, it's about the psychology.
      - sbmthakur 6y ago
        The time taken to do that is often enough to remind one of their don't get distracted resolution.
        frank2 6y ago
        Especially if it says "don't get distracted" or "too much information too fast is toxic" in a comment right above the line blocking HN.
reportgunner 6y ago
Just turn off all notifications. You don't need them. If there is something important for you you will remember to check for it.
- phre4k 6y ago
  In addition to notifications from (social media) apps, turn off notifications for every messenger. I turned off everything but SMS and phone. If it's super important people will contact me there, all other messages can be read later.
- sbmthakur 6y ago
  Turning off WhatsApp notifications has been a big plus for me. I just check WhatsApp at the end of each promodoro cycle.
spectralflux 6y ago
I think its pretty damning for the guy who literally wrote the book on making tech products more addictive (Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products) is telling us the technology isn't the problem, we just need to solve our inability to cope with our feelings. Sounds like an attempt to absolve guilt.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- goodmachine 6y ago
  I had the same thought. Note the OP is also the author: so how do you respond, u/nireyal? I'm guessing you get this a lot.
  - lollmao 6y ago
    >>>reddit
  - nireyal 6y ago
    Yup I've heard it a thousand times from people who haven't actually read my books. Hooked is for building habit-forming products to help designers build healthy habits in peoples' lives. There's a section on "the morality of manipulation" in Hooked that discusses how to use these techniques ethically. I also discuss the difference between habits and addictions and why building addictions is unethical. I didn't write the book for Facebook and Twitter, they already know these techniques. I stole their secrets so anyone can use them to help people build better behaviors through the technology we use and the book has been used in all sorts of industries, from education to healthcare, to build better habits. Indistractable uses my expertise to provide an antidote to all sorts of distraction, not just tech related. It's an empowering look at the topic that is much more actionable than going on a "digital detox" or vilifying tech for being so engaging we want to use it. We can have our cake and eat it too by making sure we use tech in a way that serves us instead of us serving it.
- donor20 6y ago
  Huh? People have been working on making things addictive / attention getting forever. Sugar? Caffeine? Video games? Back in the day plenty of drugs, including those sold by pharmacists. Either you have agency or you don't. I for one very much like the idea of someone with some actual expertise in how addictive products are created talking about how to avoid the addiction. If you don't want to read his stuff - don't. And if you wanted to avoid these issues, even before this book lots of others. One easy one - no TV at home. I don't watch any TV shoes. I don't play any video games. Not sure if that's in the book, but getting outside, getting exercise, sleeping, spending time with partner, no phones at the dinner table (or breakfast or lunch) etc go a long way to just being a bit more distraction free. Agency means you can decide what you want to do with your day and your life. To much of anti-addiction / behavior self improvement stuff comes across as just pablum.
fouc 6y ago
I've been meaning to read his book but I keep getting distracted. Maybe reading his article will help, but I'm also feeling quite distractible.
autisticcurio 6y ago
Isnt being distracted just a form of procrastination?
melicerte 6y ago
> distraction is your brain ducking challenging feelings such as boredom, loneliness, insecurity, fatigue and uncertainty. This above and this: > Distraction, [...], is a symptom of a problem – not the problem itself. It sums it all. Once you understand that, there is a new path opening in front of you, leading to a better life. ... Now back to work :)
sideshowb 6y ago
If your problems with distraction are severe enough to affect your mental health it's worth considering the possibility you have undiagnosed ADHD. Just because you sometimes code for 12 hours straight doesn't mean you don't (common misconception). 5 minute ASRS screening test here (pdf, not some data harvesting online monstrosity): https://add.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/adhd-questionnaire-ASRS111.pdf https://add.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/adhd-questionnair...
- nicbou 6y ago
  Just getting diagnosed was worth it. I tried medication and it didn't work for me, but at least now I can explain patterns in my behaviour. Just knowing what you're dealing with is quite useful. It highlights the strengths and weaknesses you must contend with. I learned to harness my random bursts of energy, but also to control their scope. Some things that helped: progressively removing "noise" from my life, having a maximum number of "in progress" projects, committing to smaller deliverables.
  - Taylor_OD 6y ago
    Same. Just knowing and being able to do some things to mitigate it helps a lot.
- hackerman123469 6y ago
  I agree with you and people with ADHD has an ability called hyper-focus which let's us (I am diagnosed with ADHD) focus on stuff without ever letting go. ADHD has a kind of wrong name in that it has "Attention Deficit" when really paying attention is not the problem, regulating attention is the problem. We often struggle with either paying too little attention or too much attention.
  - darkarmani 6y ago
    It's really executive function disorder and maybe something related hyperbolic discounting in the reward/habit/focus system.
AlchemistCamp 6y ago
Cal Newport's Deep Work is a framework with similar purported goals, and it's been much more effective for me.
- Arubis 6y ago
  Agreed, with a caveat: _Deep Work_ is a great book that could've been a blog post, and the final summary wrap-up chapter _is that blog post_. If you're pressed for time you can just read the last chapter in the book.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
yarsanich 6y ago
Great article. About "Self-explore" part. I agree that the identification of internal distractions is important for somebody who wants to be less distracted. It was easy for me to get distracted to my smartphone, even without notification until I started tracking and thinking about every interaction with it. And I can confirm that when you know the root cause you can prevent it or handle it somehow. It may sound self-promotional but nevertheless. I created an app(https://acture.app https://acture.app) for tracking smartphone usage intentions for myself. And it really helped me to deal with smartphone overuse(I still overuse on my laptop but that's another history). Every time when I would like to use my phone I make a pause and think about the intention and validating it before using. I was writing this intention right into the app which popup with input form after every unlock(pop up is only on Android, on iOS user have to manually go to the app). I found several usage patterns in my usages and then I created plans for every pattern "How to deal with it". And I don't need to delete all apps from my phone to use my smartphone less, instead, it's a chance to investigate how do I use it and then adapt and get best from these apps. In other words, I created a habit to think and validate my every phone usage intention. E.G it's morning and I picked up my smartphone and I would like to check some tweets and then I got a pop-up window that reminded me to think about my intention and write intention and then I realized that it's morning better to prepare some coffee and go through my morning routine. Then I shared this app and looks like for some people it works. There is no magic app or one concrete approach on how to identify these triggers. I think it's more about self-monitoring and your desire to change it. Thanks for post
falcolas 6y ago
How to be truly indistractable? Step 1: Don't be on the "less control" side of the "control over attention" bell curve. Step 2: There is no step 2. Distractions are not simply, as the author puts it, "your brain ducking challenging feelings". Distraction is your concentration slipping your control. Some people have that control. Others don't. And most lie somewhere in the middle where reducing inputs can help, but your brain isn't solely distracted by external stimuli. Accept it, work around it, move on. Note that, on the "less control" extreme end of the "control of attention spectrum", working around it may require medication and psychiatric training - CBT - as it describes ADHD.
anonzzz 6y ago
An article about distraction on HN! How ironic! HN is often a place for me to be distracted! I often romanticize about living a distraction free life. I contemplate the idea to the point of being labeled a luddite by my friends. I dream of being a cool kid that uses a Light Phone (I really want one!). I want to be one of the people in their advertisements that is fully engaged in some activity. I think that if I just threw out all of the distractors and lived a more simple life I would be more present. I sincerely appreciate the authors attempts at scaling back technology in the hopes of living a more present life. I never thought to buy a wordprocessor that was not connected to the internet! This is a man that understands my inner itch at living this minimialist, distraction free, fully engaged presence. I, like the author, am discovering that I can't buy a Light Phone and then suddenly be fully engaged. I can't throw out all of the technology in the hopes that my enlightened self emerges. The distractors will simply change. The hard work begins when I begin examining the root behind my distraction. What am I running from? Why? Thank you to the author for reminding me to focus on the root causes of my distractions. Alas, the magical solution to distraction is nothing but an illusion. Maybe I will still buy a Light Phone though :-)
rkagerer 6y ago
smartphones didn’t invent distraction Very true, but their designers are accomplice to the crime. I'm generally a nice guy but I harbor uncharacteristically visceral malice toward the a-hole who deemed it appropriate for my Android to let apps or the OS interrupt me by default. If you're that guy and reading this right now I hope you feel ashamed. I don't need to know my peasants in your game are idle. I don't care that the Gmail account I set up for alerting is missing a backup email address. My bank does NOT need me to check that my contact info is the same as it was a year ago. Even the OS updates can keep for a few days; I'll check for and apply them on my terms. And that Samsung Experience one which keeps sprouting up like a hydra head every time you kill it can go to hell [0]. Yes, Google has improved tooling and made it easier to snipe out unwanted notifications with precision (and I truly commend them for that), but I'm deeply concerned by the culture of disrespectful interruption that has normalized in the mobile ecosystem. Out of the box on a fresh install there's still way too much superfluous chuff and it takes month being subjected to it and correcting the behavior before I finally have some level of confidence my phone has been housebroken. It's more painful than teaching a puppy not to crap on the carpet. And it's spreading to other "smart" devices. My Roomba work me up with a chime at 3am last night to tell me it's out of battery after it got stuck somewhere the previous afternoon. (Turns out she "fell off a cliff" in my single-story apartment). Vendors: You aren't as important as you think. You really aren't. I wish Google and Apple let me bill publishers for my attention - maybe a fraction of a cent for every notification that's dismissed without interaction. That might finally incentivize them toward more judicial and thoughtful use of the "poke and prod" finger the platforms granted them. [0] https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/201141/how-to-remove-persistent-samsung-account-notification-it-keeps-showing-up-reg https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/201141/how-to-re...
- anonzzz 6y ago
  >I wish Google and Apple let me bill publishers for my attention I always think that companies that try to persuade me into completing a survey, for their benefit, should compensate me in some way for my time. I never fill out surveys and internally feel a bit peeved when I am asked to complete one. If I called my cable provider and asked them to complete some random task I am pretty sure I know what their response would be.
phobosanomaly 6y ago
The reason I'm distracted is because what I'm doing sucks and doesn't actually matter, and deep down I know it's not worth the effort. But, in life you have to do lots and lots and lots of things you really don't want to do. That doesn't seem to go away. I know people who don't mind it, and that's fine they're just built that way or they're comfortable medicating to get what they want. I've personally never been distracted on a dirt bike riding through deep sand, or two pitches up on a trad climb, building something with my hands, dealing with a medical emergency, or diving through kelp fields. But, sitting at a desk job staring down 200 emails and dealing with whatever new bullshit upper management has decided we should be freaked out about that doesn't really have a solution, and, well, the brain tries to wander out the back door. Pretty sure that's a reasonable reaction for my brain. Would I really want the kind of brain that was perfectly happy doing my bullshit job? Naw, I have to drag it kicking and screaming and I wouldn't want it any other way. This doesn't count for real ADHD. I've had friends that had legit ADHD, and, uh, I wouldn't want to be 2 pitches up on a trad climb with them because they can manage to wander off mentally even in the face of death. It's pretty spectacular. Those people, however didn't select into desk jobs, they went into firefighting and emergency medicine, and special forces and stuff that holds their attention by necessity, and spent every ounce of their free time running, on a bicycle, doing pullups, in crossfit or something to burn off energy.
antimoniurate 6y ago
Anything important is deeply interesting after learning how so, so I'm distracted only when tired, then switch to a pending (or try a new) rested activity; so avoiding recursive digressions, I `work' almost all day every day.

142 points by nireyal 6y ago

«Distraction, in other words, is a symptom of a problem – not the problem itself. Those deeper and systemic reasons – such as an inability to cope with fear, anxiety or stress – deserve our concern, because it’s only when we start to address them that we can make real progress.» Good. Further down, pretty reasonable and actionable. Firefox's (or possibly Safari's) Reading Mode recommended.

keyle 6y ago

> Not Found > This article must not exist. I guess the website is distractible. And we'll never know the secret! Edit: only in Safari it's borked.

rwoerz 6y ago

Kind of irony to put that on HN

avian 6y ago
Also that the article has a pop up that distracts you from reading after the first few paragraphs.
dorchadas 6y ago
I think it's more ironic (maybe, I'm never really sure how about what use of ironic is the 'technical' one and which one is the Alanis Morissette one) that the author of the article literally wrote the book on how to build habit forming products and services that constantly attract your attention and distract you.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

p_og 6y ago

This is rich. Coming from the one who brought cognitive psychology tricks for attention grabbing to digital product design.

PureParadigm 6y ago

I had a similar experience as the author when trying to do a "digital detox." I removed apps from my phone, installed a launcher that forces you to type the app name you want to open, changed the screen to black and white, etc. Yet a new distraction always creeps in to fill the space. The most useful thing I did was put all my electronic devices in a separate room when going to bed. Before, I would often stay up on my phone until I was seconds away from falling asleep. The first day trying to fall asleep without any distractions was scarily difficult. Just being alone with your own thoughts, worries, stress, etc. can be really uncomfortable. But after getting used to it, not only do I get better sleep, but I think I also have better self-control to resist distractions during the day. So for anyone looking to reduce distractions, start by removing all distractions when going to sleep. The first few times trying to fall asleep without distractions will probably be harder than you think, but it gets easier and you'll be better for it in the end.

smabie 6y ago

What works for me is a barebones window manager. I use cwm on Xorg and don't have any window chrome or toolbars or start buttons or slack notifications or anything. When an app is full screened, you literally can't see anything else. Works pretty well. No clock is nice too. Unless I check my phone or run the date command, I have no idea what time it is.

rawoke083600 6y ago
Yup recently did it myself... I moved to i3 (WM) and try to get a fully keyboard-driven workflow. Just "setting up" workspaces (linux desktop) correctly helped a lot. For example 1=Terminal,2=Browser, 3=Comms,4=Code... This helps me to better organise my thoughts and all those browser windows !

vezycash 6y ago

Wonderful article. Made me realize that I had this TSR program running in my brain. "If it's important, serious, embarrassing, difficult or just uncomfortable, do it later."

Arubis 6y ago
Totally tangential, but I'm pleased to see TSR in the wild; haven't seen that acronym used in at least a decade.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

coldtea 6y ago

First step: stop reading random posts about "how to be indistractable".

lordgrenville 6y ago
Yeah, on this topic I never read the articles but like reading the comments for other people's noprocrast strategies, even if they're just "close this tab and get back to work".
- noir_lord 6y ago
  On my desktop I just have 0.0.0.0 news.ycombinator.com (etc) in /etc/hosts That forces me to use either the media PC or my laptop if I want to access HN/twitter/reddit. It works because it puts a breaker in the "I'm a bit bored, I wonder who is wrong on the internet today" loop.
  - mhaberl 6y ago
    How does this help? Won't you just comment out the entry in hosts file if you want to visit HN?
    - coldtea 6y ago
      No, because of the extra guilt. It's not about what's technically impossible to break out of, it's about the psychology.
    - sbmthakur 6y ago
      The time taken to do that is often enough to remind one of their don't get distracted resolution.
      - frank2 6y ago
        Especially if it says "don't get distracted" or "too much information too fast is toxic" in a comment right above the line blocking HN.

reportgunner 6y ago

Just turn off all notifications. You don't need them. If there is something important for you you will remember to check for it.

phre4k 6y ago
In addition to notifications from (social media) apps, turn off notifications for every messenger. I turned off everything but SMS and phone. If it's super important people will contact me there, all other messages can be read later.
sbmthakur 6y ago
Turning off WhatsApp notifications has been a big plus for me. I just check WhatsApp at the end of each promodoro cycle.

spectralflux 6y ago

I think its pretty damning for the guy who literally wrote the book on making tech products more addictive (Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products) is telling us the technology isn't the problem, we just need to solve our inability to cope with our feelings. Sounds like an attempt to absolve guilt.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
goodmachine 6y ago
I had the same thought. Note the OP is also the author: so how do you respond, u/nireyal? I'm guessing you get this a lot.
- lollmao 6y ago
  >>>reddit
- nireyal 6y ago
  Yup I've heard it a thousand times from people who haven't actually read my books. Hooked is for building habit-forming products to help designers build healthy habits in peoples' lives. There's a section on "the morality of manipulation" in Hooked that discusses how to use these techniques ethically. I also discuss the difference between habits and addictions and why building addictions is unethical. I didn't write the book for Facebook and Twitter, they already know these techniques. I stole their secrets so anyone can use them to help people build better behaviors through the technology we use and the book has been used in all sorts of industries, from education to healthcare, to build better habits. Indistractable uses my expertise to provide an antidote to all sorts of distraction, not just tech related. It's an empowering look at the topic that is much more actionable than going on a "digital detox" or vilifying tech for being so engaging we want to use it. We can have our cake and eat it too by making sure we use tech in a way that serves us instead of us serving it.
donor20 6y ago
Huh? People have been working on making things addictive / attention getting forever. Sugar? Caffeine? Video games? Back in the day plenty of drugs, including those sold by pharmacists. Either you have agency or you don't. I for one very much like the idea of someone with some actual expertise in how addictive products are created talking about how to avoid the addiction. If you don't want to read his stuff - don't. And if you wanted to avoid these issues, even before this book lots of others. One easy one - no TV at home. I don't watch any TV shoes. I don't play any video games. Not sure if that's in the book, but getting outside, getting exercise, sleeping, spending time with partner, no phones at the dinner table (or breakfast or lunch) etc go a long way to just being a bit more distraction free. Agency means you can decide what you want to do with your day and your life. To much of anti-addiction / behavior self improvement stuff comes across as just pablum.

fouc 6y ago

I've been meaning to read his book but I keep getting distracted. Maybe reading his article will help, but I'm also feeling quite distractible.

autisticcurio 6y ago

Isnt being distracted just a form of procrastination?

melicerte 6y ago

> distraction is your brain ducking challenging feelings such as boredom, loneliness, insecurity, fatigue and uncertainty. This above and this: > Distraction, [...], is a symptom of a problem – not the problem itself. It sums it all. Once you understand that, there is a new path opening in front of you, leading to a better life. ... Now back to work :)

sideshowb 6y ago

If your problems with distraction are severe enough to affect your mental health it's worth considering the possibility you have undiagnosed ADHD. Just because you sometimes code for 12 hours straight doesn't mean you don't (common misconception). 5 minute ASRS screening test here (pdf, not some data harvesting online monstrosity): https://add.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/adhd-questionnaire-ASRS111.pdf https://add.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/adhd-questionnair...

nicbou 6y ago
Just getting diagnosed was worth it. I tried medication and it didn't work for me, but at least now I can explain patterns in my behaviour. Just knowing what you're dealing with is quite useful. It highlights the strengths and weaknesses you must contend with. I learned to harness my random bursts of energy, but also to control their scope. Some things that helped: progressively removing "noise" from my life, having a maximum number of "in progress" projects, committing to smaller deliverables.
- Taylor_OD 6y ago
  Same. Just knowing and being able to do some things to mitigate it helps a lot.
hackerman123469 6y ago
I agree with you and people with ADHD has an ability called hyper-focus which let's us (I am diagnosed with ADHD) focus on stuff without ever letting go. ADHD has a kind of wrong name in that it has "Attention Deficit" when really paying attention is not the problem, regulating attention is the problem. We often struggle with either paying too little attention or too much attention.
- darkarmani 6y ago
  It's really executive function disorder and maybe something related hyperbolic discounting in the reward/habit/focus system.

AlchemistCamp 6y ago

Cal Newport's Deep Work is a framework with similar purported goals, and it's been much more effective for me.

Arubis 6y ago
Agreed, with a caveat: _Deep Work_ is a great book that could've been a blog post, and the final summary wrap-up chapter _is that blog post_. If you're pressed for time you can just read the last chapter in the book.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

yarsanich 6y ago

Great article. About "Self-explore" part. I agree that the identification of internal distractions is important for somebody who wants to be less distracted. It was easy for me to get distracted to my smartphone, even without notification until I started tracking and thinking about every interaction with it. And I can confirm that when you know the root cause you can prevent it or handle it somehow. It may sound self-promotional but nevertheless. I created an app(https://acture.app https://acture.app) for tracking smartphone usage intentions for myself. And it really helped me to deal with smartphone overuse(I still overuse on my laptop but that's another history). Every time when I would like to use my phone I make a pause and think about the intention and validating it before using. I was writing this intention right into the app which popup with input form after every unlock(pop up is only on Android, on iOS user have to manually go to the app). I found several usage patterns in my usages and then I created plans for every pattern "How to deal with it". And I don't need to delete all apps from my phone to use my smartphone less, instead, it's a chance to investigate how do I use it and then adapt and get best from these apps. In other words, I created a habit to think and validate my every phone usage intention. E.G it's morning and I picked up my smartphone and I would like to check some tweets and then I got a pop-up window that reminded me to think about my intention and write intention and then I realized that it's morning better to prepare some coffee and go through my morning routine. Then I shared this app and looks like for some people it works. There is no magic app or one concrete approach on how to identify these triggers. I think it's more about self-monitoring and your desire to change it. Thanks for post

falcolas 6y ago

How to be truly indistractable? Step 1: Don't be on the "less control" side of the "control over attention" bell curve. Step 2: There is no step 2. Distractions are not simply, as the author puts it, "your brain ducking challenging feelings". Distraction is your concentration slipping your control. Some people have that control. Others don't. And most lie somewhere in the middle where reducing inputs can help, but your brain isn't solely distracted by external stimuli. Accept it, work around it, move on. Note that, on the "less control" extreme end of the "control of attention spectrum", working around it may require medication and psychiatric training - CBT - as it describes ADHD.

anonzzz 6y ago

An article about distraction on HN! How ironic! HN is often a place for me to be distracted! I often romanticize about living a distraction free life. I contemplate the idea to the point of being labeled a luddite by my friends. I dream of being a cool kid that uses a Light Phone (I really want one!). I want to be one of the people in their advertisements that is fully engaged in some activity. I think that if I just threw out all of the distractors and lived a more simple life I would be more present. I sincerely appreciate the authors attempts at scaling back technology in the hopes of living a more present life. I never thought to buy a wordprocessor that was not connected to the internet! This is a man that understands my inner itch at living this minimialist, distraction free, fully engaged presence. I, like the author, am discovering that I can't buy a Light Phone and then suddenly be fully engaged. I can't throw out all of the technology in the hopes that my enlightened self emerges. The distractors will simply change. The hard work begins when I begin examining the root behind my distraction. What am I running from? Why? Thank you to the author for reminding me to focus on the root causes of my distractions. Alas, the magical solution to distraction is nothing but an illusion. Maybe I will still buy a Light Phone though :-)

rkagerer 6y ago

smartphones didn’t invent distraction Very true, but their designers are accomplice to the crime. I'm generally a nice guy but I harbor uncharacteristically visceral malice toward the a-hole who deemed it appropriate for my Android to let apps or the OS interrupt me by default. If you're that guy and reading this right now I hope you feel ashamed. I don't need to know my peasants in your game are idle. I don't care that the Gmail account I set up for alerting is missing a backup email address. My bank does NOT need me to check that my contact info is the same as it was a year ago. Even the OS updates can keep for a few days; I'll check for and apply them on my terms. And that Samsung Experience one which keeps sprouting up like a hydra head every time you kill it can go to hell [0]. Yes, Google has improved tooling and made it easier to snipe out unwanted notifications with precision (and I truly commend them for that), but I'm deeply concerned by the culture of disrespectful interruption that has normalized in the mobile ecosystem. Out of the box on a fresh install there's still way too much superfluous chuff and it takes month being subjected to it and correcting the behavior before I finally have some level of confidence my phone has been housebroken. It's more painful than teaching a puppy not to crap on the carpet. And it's spreading to other "smart" devices. My Roomba work me up with a chime at 3am last night to tell me it's out of battery after it got stuck somewhere the previous afternoon. (Turns out she "fell off a cliff" in my single-story apartment). Vendors: You aren't as important as you think. You really aren't. I wish Google and Apple let me bill publishers for my attention - maybe a fraction of a cent for every notification that's dismissed without interaction. That might finally incentivize them toward more judicial and thoughtful use of the "poke and prod" finger the platforms granted them. [0] https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/201141/how-to-remove-persistent-samsung-account-notification-it-keeps-showing-up-reg https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/201141/how-to-re...

anonzzz 6y ago
>I wish Google and Apple let me bill publishers for my attention I always think that companies that try to persuade me into completing a survey, for their benefit, should compensate me in some way for my time. I never fill out surveys and internally feel a bit peeved when I am asked to complete one. If I called my cable provider and asked them to complete some random task I am pretty sure I know what their response would be.

phobosanomaly 6y ago

The reason I'm distracted is because what I'm doing sucks and doesn't actually matter, and deep down I know it's not worth the effort. But, in life you have to do lots and lots and lots of things you really don't want to do. That doesn't seem to go away. I know people who don't mind it, and that's fine they're just built that way or they're comfortable medicating to get what they want. I've personally never been distracted on a dirt bike riding through deep sand, or two pitches up on a trad climb, building something with my hands, dealing with a medical emergency, or diving through kelp fields. But, sitting at a desk job staring down 200 emails and dealing with whatever new bullshit upper management has decided we should be freaked out about that doesn't really have a solution, and, well, the brain tries to wander out the back door. Pretty sure that's a reasonable reaction for my brain. Would I really want the kind of brain that was perfectly happy doing my bullshit job? Naw, I have to drag it kicking and screaming and I wouldn't want it any other way. This doesn't count for real ADHD. I've had friends that had legit ADHD, and, uh, I wouldn't want to be 2 pitches up on a trad climb with them because they can manage to wander off mentally even in the face of death. It's pretty spectacular. Those people, however didn't select into desk jobs, they went into firefighting and emergency medicine, and special forces and stuff that holds their attention by necessity, and spent every ounce of their free time running, on a bicycle, doing pullups, in crossfit or something to burn off energy.

antimoniurate 6y ago

Anything important is deeply interesting after learning how so, so I'm distracted only when tired, then switch to a pending (or try a new) rested activity; so avoiding recursive digressions, I `work' almost all day every day.