Episode 16 - Nir Eyal
Episode 16 - Nir Eyal
Has this ever happened to you?
“A ping on your phone takes you out of a conversation with a friend. At the office, a colleague interrupts your work on a project. At home, screens intrude on time with your partner. Your goals don’t get done and it feels like someone (or something) is constantly pulling you away from what you really want to do. Why does it seem we’re no longer in control of our attention or our lives?”
I invite you to listen in to my conversation with Nir Eyal, the best-selling author of Hooked: How to Build Habit, Forming Products (found on desks all over Google and Apple), and Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life.
Indistractable was named one of the best business and leadership books of the year by Amazon, and one of the best personal development books of the year by Audible. Globe and Mail called it the best business book of 2019.
The book is a fascinating and purposeful walk through his journey to becoming aware of the causes of his distraction, and his discovery of the techniques, strategies, and technologies that helped him manage distraction in his own life to accomplish the things he really cares about.
Nir’s writings have also been featured in The New York Times, The Harvard Business Review, Time Magazine, and Psychology Today, and The M.I.T. Technology Review called him, “The Prophet of Habit-Forming Technology.”
After he successfully sold two companies Nir found himself asking the question,
“If money was no object, what would I do now?”
Which led him to his love of writing.
And yet, even as a professional writer, Nir admits he had a personal struggle with distraction. He shares the story of the precise moment during some daddy-daughter time when he realized just how distracted he really was.
Nir confesses that he really wrote this book for himself. “I didn't write the book because I knew the techniques…” He says, “I wrote the book because I was looking for the techniques.” That led him on a relentless journey to discover why, even when doing his most important work, he was so frequently distracted.
One of my favorite parts of the book, and we talk about this in the interview, is the role of identity in dealing with distraction.
And he shares that while Indistractable is obviously not a real word, he wanted it to sound similar to indestructable.
The book is a fascinating and purposeful walk through his journey to becoming aware of the causes of his distraction, and his discovery of the techniques, strategies, and technologies that helped him manage distraction in his own life to accomplish the things he really cares about.
The most obvious application of being Indistractable would be in our work lives, but being Indistractable will help us accomplish and achieve the things that matter most. He talks about how being Indistractible can profoundly help you in your personal relationships and in raising your own children.
Thanks for joining me for this VERY interesting conversation… Buckle up and pay attention!
Go buy the book! You can find Nir on his very popular blog NirAndFar.com where he has loads ofof free and valuable resources.
