Afterpage · week card
Indistractable
Nir Eyal
Key ideas
- Traction versus distraction.
- Master internal triggers.
- Make time for traction.
- Hack back external triggers.
- Prevent distraction with pacts.
The week
| Day 1 | Read the summary. Five key ideas and where the book overreaches. |
| Day 2 | Log your internal triggers. Each time you get distracted today, write down the time, what you were doing, and what you felt just before. Bad day: Next time you reach for your phone, write the feeling you had just before. |
| Day 3 | Wait ten minutes. Next time you feel the urge to check something during work, wait ten minutes before you do. Bad day: Delay one urge to check your phone by two minutes. |
| Day 4 | Time-box tomorrow. Plan tomorrow in time boxes, giving each block a specific task, including time for yourself and other people. Bad day: Time-box the first two hours of tomorrow. |
| Day 5 | Cut external triggers. Go through your phone and computer notifications and turn off every one that doesn't serve your goals. Bad day: Turn off notifications for your two most distracting apps. |
| Day 6 | Make an effort pact. Set up one barrier that makes it harder to get distracted during your most important work block. Bad day: Put your phone in another room for your next work block. |
| Day 7 | Make an identity pact. Write a short statement about the kind of person you are when it comes to attention, and review your week against it. Bad day: Write: “I am someone who...” about your attention. |
Free week by email at getafterpage.com/books/indistractable