Becoming Undistracted is About our Values, Not To-Do Lists, Says Nir Eyal

We all know far too well how easy it is to set our mind on doing a task or making a lifestyle change, only to find ourselves completely off track with our goals and occupied by distractions.

Nir Eyal is an Israeli-born American author, lecturer and investor, who teaches about the intersection of psychology, technology and business. He’s a Stanford graduate who has written two books, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and, one that might seem at odds with his first, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life.

On the UNDISTRACTED podcast, Nir told Hope 103.2 about the psychology of distraction, the human desire to accomplish something and why the key to overcoming distraction is to first understand the root of it and what it’s pulling us away from.

“Any way you want to spend your time is fine, as long as you do it according to your values and your schedule, not someone else’s,” Nir said.

“I don’t make any moral judgements on how people spend their time [as long] as you do it with intent.

“The opposite of distraction is not focus, the opposite of distraction is traction.

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“Traction by definition is any action that pulls you toward what you said you were going to do: things that you do with intent, things that move you closer to your values and help you become the kind of person you want to become.

“The opposite of distraction is not focus, the opposite of distraction is traction,” – Nir Eyal

“Dis-traction is any action that pulls you farther away from what you planned to do: farther away from your goals, farther away from becoming the kind of person you want to become.

“It’s absolutely critical that we understand the difference between [the two].”

Listen to the full episode of UNDISTRACTED with guest Nir Eyal in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.