boring boring totally what else distraction yeah a lot of distraction I will kind of I'm going to give you guys as parents one assignment before we move on to kids but to stay on the
But it is saying that they didn't start from technology. Distraction isn't a new problem.It's a very, very old problem.
And they're like, yeah, I do, yeah. Distraction is really good.The direct stare is a really big deal.
There is no distraction out there. Distraction happens when I am not interested, and I'm forcing my mind to get into.This is when distraction comes.
surprise and likewise games aren't really the opposite of of work or a thing that we do for leisure or distraction they are they are the name for experiences that set aside the ordinary purposes of things rather thanuse the floor just for walking on uh my daughter used it for this little invented game and things like felt
hi guys thank you um so as it says I write books about how to make great creative work in the age of distraction and um I want to talk to you today about something that I feel like is draining a lot of energy andenthusiasm and creativity out of our daily work which is as Mark said
Express gratitude we're more likely to thank our Postman than we are to thank our co-workers which is sort of distraction and the way that we manage our inbox and the way that we manage our attention with email very much sort of
tried to meditate right the world would be full of a lot more Buddhas if it were easier in a situation of utter UND distraction to be totally mindful right in fact it's in a moment when you have no distraction that the Mind goes haywiright we do serially multitask that's what we do and it's odd at moments of great technological change and that
cafeteria uh you were actually building new buildings including that building while I was speaking so there was some distraction so so this is a nice intimate setting here and I look forwardto sharing ideas on specifically the exponential growth of information
final reason I was so productive in the 20-hour weeks is because once these distractions came up I dealt with them you know I I have a business degreeum and that that's what I got before I started the productivity project and as business people we like to we like our 2
by two grids like we see the world in a 2 by two grid so I thought you know why not make one as it relates to the distractions and the interruptions we face that's pretty pretty good hot chocolate you guys have you guys havesuch good food here man like we were uh we just got back from the cafeteria oh
it lets us recharge and become more creative and the key here is when you take a step back from distractions and these interruptions ahead of time because they're infinitely easier to it's infinitely easier to shut off email notifications ahead of time
Venture model yet so I I have a little bit of a different take on the The Venture model because I think that I think that there distractions and so introducing another experimental technology on top of that was going to cause you Ang so that stuff
about 20 minutes to return to the in original task but about 45% of the time our mind wanders not from external distractions but because the mind wanders right that's definitionally what the Minddoes I actually for me and again this is why I think we all need an inventory for me if I'm really concentrating on
Exactly. Hm. When you look through the last 20 years, you do you see fighting as a really productive distraction in some respects then? For me, yeah, for me 100%.
What most people think about are the external triggers, the pings, the dings, the rings, all these things in our outside environment that can lead us towards distraction . But would you believe studies find that these external triggers, these pings, dings, and rings, these things outside of us, studies find only account for 10% of our distractions , 10%.
if you're trying to lose weight. Any distraction , you can give into, but not right now-- in 10 minutes. So, for me, I'm a professional author and researcher, so I'm writing every day.
Yeah, I thought that was a very true reality where you said, we practice-- concentration is a skill we need to build a habit to do, and distraction is something that we've just grown up with because no one taught us how to concentrate. So we can all be masters of distraction .
So it's about clarity, and then leveraging that clarity to then reduce the things that are just clamoring for your attention, providing stress, or anxiety, or distraction , and really ultimately arriving at the perfect amount of stuff for you. So I've worked with people in 300 square foot studio apartments, and I've worked with people in 10,000 square foot mansions, and everything in between.
On the left-hand side are six drivers of short-termism, many of them very familiar. Digital distraction , political presentism, the boom-bust of speculative capitalism. There's some more surprising drivers of short-termism, like the tyranny of the clock.
So distraction techniques are OK when we need to just shift our focus.
But distraction is definitely a factor, and cell phones.
and distraction therapy for pain management and things like that.
The distraction effect-- the stress levels of teachers have increased 70% since 1985.
some distraction techniques, and you're good.
But distraction is the first round and then a clear "no," removing the object, changing the activity.
the credentials what if we tried it um you know I think breaking out of that is the biggest and most important method of of distraction and that's why I think multi distraction is our friend yes a question in the back well let's just say I write about
a distraction ? Is it really helping, or is it not helping?
The distractions . The patients haven't read the textbook and have 37 different things wrong with them, or don't have insurance and don't understand
or distractions actually seem to be in service of us engaging with each other on a better level.
Deliberate distractions can be very fun.
The distractions can be helpful in the writing a poem.
when distractions were cut off, guess what?
to distractions , impulse inhibition, goal focus, and learning readiness.
No distractions . No busyness.
But distractions still come up.
to excess and distraction .
So that's distraction . And then we talk about digital deduction, where, for the first time, this generation, upcoming generation, they have less rational ability,
You all are in this industry, and you hear people probably every day blaming our devices, blaming the internet, blaming YouTube, blaming whatever it is out there for our distraction . And, to be honest, that was my knee-jerk reaction as well. But what I discovered in my past 10 years of research is that this problem of distraction is actually much deeper than just whatever technologies we
So let me offer a new, fresh perspective on how we can all manage distraction and ultimately become indistractable, starting with truly understanding, what does this word distraction even mean? If you ask most people, what is the opposite of distraction , they will tell you the opposite of distraction is focus, right?
Wrong. It turns out if you look at the etymology of that word distraction , the opposite of distraction is not focus. The opposite of distraction is traction. Of course it is.
So now we have traction. We have distraction . Now let's talk about what triggers us to take these actions. What most people think about are the external triggers, the pings, the dings, the rings, all these things in our outside environment that can lead us
Time management is pain management. Procrastination and distraction is nothing more than an emotional control issue. And most of us, maybe all of us, we have not been taught how to deal with that emotional discomfort in a healthy way that leads us towards traction
That is the only way that we know the difference between what is traction, what is on our calendar, and everything else becomes a distraction . So you can take those otherwise distracting things that you think are pulling you off course, and by putting them on your calendar, you're essentially taking distraction and turning it into traction.
becomes a distraction . So you can take those otherwise distracting things that you think are pulling you off course, and by putting them on your calendar, you're essentially taking distraction and turning it into traction. By making time for traction, what you're doing is you're planning the input.
It's a distraction . It's a distraction .
And what is distraction ?
if it's distraction , doesn't matter to me.
The problem is the distraction .
And that distraction , that inability to focus their flashlight on you, has made this a less-than-optimal interaction