Stolen Focus is a book about reclaiming our ability to pay attention. After all, isn’t life the sum of what we give our attention to? While it seems to be a small statement, I believe it’s profound. The author Johann Hari breaks down our ability to focus into many causes, some of which I highlight here. All in all, I recommend checking out his book.
1. Distractions Lower IQ and Cost a Tremendous Amount of Time
In Johann’s book, he cites many thought-provoking studies. For example, Hewlett Packard (HP) studied distractions’ effects on workers – think of loud noises, interruptions from colleagues, a ping from your cell phone, or email notifications. When HP tested people in the study, consistent distractions led to an IQ drop of 10 points. This is double the IQ drop that happens from smoking Marijuana.
In addition, the University of Oregon found if you get into a flow state and then get interrupted, it will take ~23 minutes to return to that same state of focus. And according to a UC Irvine study, the average office worker focuses on any task for a mere 3 minutes. Ouch.
A lower IQ and tiny attention spans reveal an unfortunate reality in the working world. Think about repeatedly taking ~23 minutes to get back into a flow state many times over the day, and it quickly adds up to several hours lost in re-focusing.
2. Most Modern Workplaces Inhibit Focus & Productivity
Johann also speaks on work environments and current work culture, much of which I resonated with. Most modern office environments are ironically counter-productive. Working from home is a whole other subject, and that environment varies widely person-to-person. But exposed open offices, made famous by companies like Facebook, don’t encourage getting into a flow state. The irony here is tremendous. Companies want innovative and creative thinkers, but the work environment fosters visual and auditory distractions. As stated in point #1 above, it results in time lost re-focusing, lower attention spans, and a lower IQ.
Instead, let’s make space for people to think and focus in distraction-free environments. Why not have dedicated rooms for this? The returns on that would be huge. Imagine having a team that focuses on one thing at a time and prioritizes appropriately—no more scatterbrains. Clear and calm minds are essential to success. That’s real progress. Then, when it’s time for team members to discuss and exchange ideas, do it where it’s supposed to happen: conference rooms and open spaces.
3. Find Ways to Shackle The Smartphone
Social media companies deliberately induce distraction and addiction in the name of profit. Yes, these apps have a positive side – enhanced connection and communication with others, but I believe their business model overshadows the benefits.
Simply put, your attention converts into their monetary income. Advertisers are the real CUSTOMERS of social media companies. And to satisfy these real CUSTOMERS, social media aims to show you as many ads as possible. More time spent scrolling means the more ads you will see. The more ads you see, the more their real customers (the advertisers) benefit. That’s all there is to it.
Johann interviewed Tristan Harris, a social media dissident who worked at Google. Tristan articulates this dilemma very well regarding manipulative smartphone apps: “You can try having self-control, but there are a thousand engineers on the other side of the screen working against you.”
Hordes of people are doing their best to keep you from putting down your phone, and their tactics work. To say it’s simply an issue of self-control isn’t accurate.
We are being psychologically hacked, and it produces the illusion of self-control. A helpful analogy is this: people addicted to gambling have the illusion of being in control, but they aren’t. Casinos and slot machines are manipulating them. All the manipulative cell phone apps are slot machines in your pocket, available 24/7.
4. Frequent Task Switching Sucks
In the book, the detriments of frequent task switching are emphasized. Frequent task switching is a hallmark of smartphones. The driver of switching is the hit of dopamine we experience from seeing a notification – all those little red dots next to an app symbol. So we switch between Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, email, and text messages, on the never-ending hunt for red dots.
This is a funny but sad reality humans face in the 2020s. Think of all the time wasted on cell phone apps and what that time could’ve been used for: exercise to create the body you want, learning an instrument, meeting up with people in real life, or exploring new places.
Too much of this task-switching is detrimental to our attention span and focus. As stated in point number 1, the data doesn’t lie. If our cell phone interrupts us and we go down a rabbit hole on Facebook or YouTube, it will take ~23 minutes to return to our previous state of focus. Find ways to put down the phone (or put it in another room completely), stop browsing addictive websites, and get into the zone for a more fulfilling life.