Lessons From "Indistractable" - Nir Eyal

1. The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.

2. Most people don’t want to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth that distraction is always an unhealthy escape from reality.

3. Dissatisfaction and discomfort dominate our brain’s default state, but we can use them to motivate us instead of defeat us.

4. We can cope with uncomfortable internal triggers by reflecting on, rather than reacting to, our discomfort. We can reimagine the task we’re trying to accomplish by looking for the fun in it and focusing on it more intensely.

5. Only by understanding our pain can we begin to control it and find better ways to deal with negative urges.

6. Ten-minute rule:

"If I find myself wanting to check my phone as a pacification device when I can’t think of anything better to do, I tell myself it’s fine to give in, but not right now. I have to wait just ten minutes."

7.At the heart of the therapy is learning to notice and accept one’s cravings and to handle them healthfully. Instead of suppressing urges, ACT prescribes a method for stepping back, noticing, observing, and finally letting the desire disappear naturally.

8. Empowering children with the autonomy to control their own time is a tremendous gift. Even if they fail from time to time, failure is part of the learning process.

9. The better we are at noticing the behavior, the better we’ll be at managing it over time.

10. Being indistractable means striving to do what you say you will do. Indistractable people are as honest with themselves as they are with others. If you care about your work, your family, and your physical and mental well-being, you must learn how to become indistractable.