
How to Be Indistractable - nireyal
https://psyche.co/guides/to-become-indistractable-recognise-that-it-starts-within-you
======
spectralflux
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.

~~~
donor20
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.

~~~
Teichopsia
The heroin dealer just opened up a rehab center.

~~~
dorchadas
That's exactly what the author did with his second book as well, not just this
article. It's literally called _Indistractable_!

------
PureParadigm
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.

------
sideshowb
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-
questionnair...](https://add.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/adhd-
questionnaire-ASRS111.pdf)

~~~
hackerman123469
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
It's really executive function disorder and maybe something related hyperbolic
discounting in the reward/habit/focus system.

~~~
hackerman123469
There are more to ADHD than just trouble with executive functions. There are
things like emotional dysregulation, rejection sensitivity, sensory processing
that are also common traits among people with ADHD. Trouble with executive
functions is just one aspect of the issues we, as people with ADHD face.

------
phobosanomaly
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.

------
melicerte
> 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 :)

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

~~~
lordgrenville
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
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
How does this help? Won't you just comment out the entry in hosts file if you
want to visit HN?

~~~
sbmthakur
The time taken to do that is often enough to remind one of their _don 't get
distracted_ resolution.

~~~
frank2
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.

------
anonzzz
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 :-)

------
nine_k
_«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.

------
AlchemistCamp
Cal Newport's _Deep Work_ is a framework with similar purported goals, and
it's been much more effective for me.

~~~
Arubis
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.

------
reportgunner
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
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.

------
vezycash
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
Totally tangential, but I'm pleased to see TSR in the wild; haven't seen that
acronym used in at least a decade.

------
yarsanich
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
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.

------
rkagerer
_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-
re...](https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/201141/how-to-remove-
persistent-samsung-account-notification-it-keeps-showing-up-reg)

~~~
dorchadas
> 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.

The guy you want to be mad at is actually the author of this article! He's the
one behind _Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products._ As another comment
said, I wonder how much of this is him trying to alleviate his conscience for
the world he helped create when he started spreading his addiction causing
message across business schools and companies.

------
rwoerz
Kind of irony to put that on HN

~~~
avian
Also that the article has a pop up that distracts you from reading after the
first few paragraphs.

------
smabie
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
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 !

------
keyle
> 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.

------
antimoniurate
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.

------
fouc
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.

