How to Stop Being Distracted and Do What Matters: Interview with Nir Eyal

The Portfolio Life with Jeff Goins

Distraction is no friend to a writer. But we all have had our dance with her before, haven't we? She is everywhere, all around us, from the devices we use to the websites we visit, to how we consume our news and media. If we are going to truly do work that matters, however, we can't just fight distraction. We have to understand it.

In this episode, you'll hear:

How most distraction starts from within and why all behavior stems from the relief of discomfort.

• Why time management is pain management. If you don’t understand the discomfort you are trying to escape, then you’ll never master distraction.
• Why you can’t separate what makes something engaging from what makes something potentially addictive.
• The danger behind the word “addictive”.
• How to make yourself indistractable.
• The three nutrients kids are missing and why kids are drawn to technology, plus how to help them become indistractable.

Nir is the author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and Indistractable. You can find him at nirandfar.com.