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How To Focus And Be Indistractable With Nir Eyal
Do you want to focus and get more writing done this year? Do you want to step away from the many distractions online and achieve your creative goals? In today's show, I discuss how to be indistractible with Nir Eyal.
In the introduction, I talk about some of the challenges in writing for audio, and I also mention my interview on the QWERTY Writing Life Podcast where I talk about the power of affirmations for helping stay focused on what's really important.
Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, where you can get free ebook formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Get your free Author Marketing Guide at www.draft2digital.com/penn
Nir Eyal writes, consults, and teaches about the interception of psychology, technology, and business. He's an entrepreneur, investor, and author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, and now, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life.
You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.
Show Notes
* Is it our fault that we’re so distractable?
* Why technology isn’t the problem causing distraction
* Creating indistractable time for writing
* Why the opposite of distraction is not focus
* The two types of triggers for distraction
* Why do we do things that are against our better interests?
* Why time management is pain management
* The difference between a strategy and a tactic when it comes to being indistractable
* Thoughts on the future of social media
You can find Nir Eyal at nirandfar.com and on Twitter @nireyal
Transcript of Interview with Nir Eyal
Joanna: Nir Eyal writes, consults, and teaches about the interception of psychology, technology, and business. He's an entrepreneur, investor, and author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, and now, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. Welcome to the show, Nir.
Nir: Thank you so much. Great to be here.
Joanna: It's great to have you on the show.
Tell me more about you and how you got to this area of behavioral psychology because it's super interesting.
Nir: My experience comes out of the industry. I helped found two tech companies, the latest of which was at the intersection of gaming and advertising, and we founded that back in 2007. And it was there that I had this front-row seat to this rise in persuasive technology, as it's called, the rise of Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and WhatsApp and Slack, all these tools that do such a good job of changing our behavior.
I counted many of these companies as my clients, many of the people who work there were my friends and colleagues. And so I became fascinated by how they built these products to be so engaging.
Later on, after my last company was acquired,