Metadata
- Author: Nir Eyal
Highlights
Planning ahead ensures you will follow through. — location: 194
Somehow, I kept getting distracted, even without the tech that I thought was the source of the problem. — location: 227
Removing online technology didn’t work. I’d just replaced one distraction with another. — location: 229
I discovered that living the life we want requires not only doing the right things; it also requires we stop doing the wrong things that take us off track. — location: 230
We understand that if we want to be more productive at work, we need to stop wasting time and actually do the work. We already know what to do. What we don’t know is how to stop getting distracted. — location: 233
Living the lives we want not only requires doing the right things but also necessitates not doing the things we know we’ll regret. — location: 269
Traction helps us accomplish goals; distraction leads us away from them. — location: 302
Distractions will always exist; managing them is our responsibility. — location: 329
Being indistractable means striving to do what you say you will do. — location: 330
‘We’ll give you triple the points if you just climb twenty stairs!’” Chance quickly realized she could complete the challenge in about a minute by walking down and up her basement staircase twice. After completing the challenge, she received another message, encouraging her to climb another forty steps for triple points. She thought, “Yes, of course! It’s a good deal!” and quickly walked an additional four flights. — location: 379
she received another message, encouraging her to climb another forty steps for triple points. She thought, “Yes, of course! It’s a good deal!” and quickly walked an additional four flights. — location: 381
“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure.” — location: 391
Even when we think we’re seeking pleasure, we’re actually driven by the desire to free ourselves from the pain of wanting. — location: 393
Epicurus, the ancient Greek philosopher, said it best: “By pleasure, we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul.” — location: 394
Simply put, the drive to relieve discomfort is the root cause of all our behavior, while everything else is a proximate cause. — location: 396
Without understanding and tackling root causes, we’re stuck being helpless victims in a tragedy of our own creation. — location: 407
The distractions in our lives are the result of the same forces—they are proximate causes that we think are to blame, while the root causes stay hidden. — location: 408
Most people don’t want to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth that distraction is always an unhealthy escape from reality — location: 428
For other people, the escape comes from checking social media, spending more time in the office, watching television, or, in some cases, drinking or taking hard drugs. — location: 431
Only by understanding our pain can we begin to control it and find better ways to deal with negative urges. — location: 435
After all, the time you plan to waste is not wasted time.” A play on a Marthe Troly-Curtin quote, “Time You Enjoy Wasting Is Not Wasted Time,” — location: 3399
Loneliness, according to researchers, is more dangerous than obesity — location: 316
We are compelled to reach for things we supposedly need but really don’t. — location: 325
The untutored mind does not like to be alone with itself.” — location: 480
Good things are nice, but bad things can kill you, which is why we pay attention to and remember the bad stuff first. — location: 490