Productivity

How can I fight distraction temptation and procrastination?

Andy Weeger

Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences

September 3, 2024

Prologue

Living the life we want not only requires doing the right things, but also neccessitates not doing the things we know we’ll regret. Nir Eyal, american author

Foundation

Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life

This unit is inspired by and based on the book Indistractable by Eyal (2019)

Nir understands distraction down to its DNA—its neurology, its psychology, its emotions—and the framework he lays out in Indistractable teaches the reader how to attack the problem of each of its levels and take control of the reins of their mind. Tim Urban, writer and illustrator

Introduction

Indistractable

Procrastination
= be honest with yourself

Being indistractable means striving to do what you say you will do. Indistractable people are as honest with themselves as they are with others. Eyal (2019, 15)

Problem statement

The world is more distracting than ever

Things we reach for
!= important things

Traction and distraction

Traction and distraction (Eyal 2019, 13)

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Exercise

Take 7 minutes to reflect yesterday and write down …

  • one thing you did that moved you closer to what you really wanted
    and the benefit you received from that action; and
  • one thing you did that moved you away from what you really wanted
    and the foregone benefit of taking that action.

Share your findings with your neighbor.

The indistractable model

The Indistractable Model (Eyal 2019, 17)

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Internal triggers

Problem

the pain of wanting

Even when we think we’re seeking pleasure, we’re actually driven by the desire to free ourselves from the pain of wanting. Eyal (2019, 15)

What motivates us

We are motivated by pleasure.

But what is pleasure? Pleasure means not profligate pleasures, but absence of bodily pain and mental tarachai or troubles1 (Greek philosopher Epicurus according to Annas 1987, 3)

All motivation is a desire to escape discomfort. If a behavior was previously effective at providing relief, we’re likely to continue using it as a tool to escape discomfort.

What prevents discomfort can be addictive, but that doesn’t make it irresistible. If you know the drivers of your behavior, you can take steps to manage them.

Exercise

Take 7 minutes to identify four things you tend to get distracted while doing.
Describe what you did to distract yourself.

Write down root causes of discomfort you may be trying to escape by doing the unwanted behavior.

Discuss your findings with your neighbor.

Satisfaction

I can’t get no satisfaction
’Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try Rolling stones

Why can’t we escape discomfort?

Boredom, negativity bias, rumination & hedonic adaptation.

Pain management

Gearing towards traction is pain management. Distractions cost us time, and like all actions, they are spurred by the desire to escape discomfort.

Four psychological factors make satisfaction temporary. Our tendencies toward boredom, negativity bias, rumination, and hedonic aadaptations conspire to make sure we’re never satisfied for long.

Feeling bad isn’t actually bad; it’s exactly what survival of the fittest intended. It is an innate power that can be channeled to help us make things better.

If we want to master distraction,
we must learn to deal with discomfort. Eyal (2019, 33)

Dealing with internal triggers

Don’t ignore the trigger, because mental abstinence can backfire.

Resisting an urge can lead to rumination and increase cravings, ultimately leading to undesirable behaviors.

Reimagine the trigger

Notice the urge and ride it like a surfer riding a wave, instead of giving in.

Reimagine the task

Use fun and play in dreary task to keep you focused.

Discussion

Describe one frequent task you have to do that you see as boring.

What can you do to reimagine the task to make it feel more like play?

What small challenges, constraints, or novelty can you add to make it fun?

Reimagine your temperament

I run out of willpower. You can do it if you really want (and tell yourself).

Traction

Time planning

If you don’t plan our time, someone else will help to waste it. Ziglar (2021, 52)

Parkinson’s law is the observation that the duration of public administration, bureaucracy and officialdom expands to fill its allotted time span, regardless of the amount of work to be done (Parkinson 1959).

Turn values into time

Be aware of your values, i.e., know why you do what you do.

Exercise

Values are not end goals; they are guidelines for our actions.

Take 5 minutes to think about the following questions:

  • What three to five values are most important to you?
  • What activities reflect these values?
  • How much time would you set aside each week for these activities?

Schedule relationships

You and the people you love deserve more than getting the time you have left.

Sync at work

Without visibility into how you spend your time, colleagues and managers are more likely to distract you with superfluous tasks. Eyal (2019, 87)

Defining how you spend your time and syncing your plans with the stakeholders in your life is critical for making time for traction in your day. Also at work.

External triggers

Problem

Today much of our struggle with distraction is a struggle with external triggers. Eyal (2019, 94)

Effects

Tech devices often gain unauthorized access to our brains by exploiting a vulnerability.

Uncomfortable feeling
+ easy action to perform
+ trigger
= waste of time

Review the trigger

Is the trigger serving me, or am I serving it?

Use the former, hack back the latter.

Exercise

External triggers are ubiquitous.

Take 5 minutes to think about the following questions:

  • What external triggers have you noticed during the last 30 minutes?
  • Have they changed your behavior? Why (not)?
  • Has the trigger served you living up to your values?

Interruptions

Interruptions lead to errors—so eliminate them and don’t let your brain drain.

Hack back strategies

Some strategies to hack back common work-related distractions

Email
To get fewer emails, send fewer emails (e.g., respond not immediately but at a scheduled time).
Group chat
Use it like a sauna and get in and out at scheduled time, only involve who is necessary.
Meetings
Make it harder to call a meeting, no agenda, no meeting. Use the meeting for consensus not for problem-solving, be fully present and leave devices outside except for one laptop.
Apps
Use distracting apps on your desktop rather than on your phone, organize apps and manage notifications.
Browsing
Save articles, read or listen at a scheduled time and use apps to makes consumption less distracting.

Distraction

Self-control

Being indistractable not only requires keeping distraction out, it also necessitates reining ourselves in. Eyal (2019, 159)

Precommitments

Removing a future choice in order to overcome our impulsiveness

Effort and price pacts

Make unwanted behavior more difficult to perform or add a cost to getting distracted.

Identity pacts

An identity pact is a precommitment to a self-image.

Become a noun,
share it with others
& adopt rituals

Challenges

You want to learn how to control your attention and chose your life, in short to became indistractable? Here are three challenges that might help you along the way.

  • Level 1: Observe yourself over the next few weeks, note when you have been distracted, analyze the cause, and consider how you might become less distracted. You might use the distraction tracker.
  • Level 2: Take three weeks and consequently timebox your day in all life domains (e.g., you, relationships, work). Reflect an refine your schedule regularly, but commit to it, once it’s set.
  • Level 3: Engage with the people in your work context(s) (university, job), share the findings and strategies outlined here, discuss how you could apply the strategies to positively influence company culture and create an indistractable workplace, apply what you have agreed on and reflect the outcomes.

Reading list

For digging deeper, I recommend starting with following articles:

  • Fogg behavior model: Fogg (2009)
  • Implementation intention: Gollwitzer (1999)
  • Negativity bias: Vaish, Grossmann, and Woodward (2008)
  • Precommitments: Kurth-Nelson and Redish (2012)
  • Rituals: Tian et al. (2018)
  • Rumination: Treynor, Gonzalez, and Nolen-Hoeksema (2003)
  • Urge surfing Ostafin and Marlatt (2008)
  • Self-determination theory: Deci, Olafsen, and Ryan (2017)
  • Willpower: Job et al. (2015)

Q&A

Literature

Annas, Julia. 1987. “Epicurus on Pleasure and Happiness.” Philosophical Topics 15 (2): 5–21.
Baumeister, Roy F, and John Tierney. 2012. Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. Penguin.
Broom, MA, AL Capek, P Carachi, MA Akeroyd, and G Hilditch. 2011. “Critical Phase Distractions in Anaesthesia and the Sterile Cockpit Concept.” Anaesthesia 66 (3): 175–79.
Bryan, Christopher J, Gregory M Walton, Todd Rogers, and Carol S Dweck. 2011. “Motivating Voter Turnout by Invoking the Self.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108 (31): 12653–56.
Chai, Jing, Weina Qu, Xianghong Sun, Kan Zhang, and Yan Ge. 2016. “Negativity Bias in Dangerous Drivers.” PloS One 11 (1): e0147083.
Deci, Edward L, Anja H Olafsen, and Richard M Ryan. 2017. “Self-Determination Theory in Work Organizations: The State of a Science.” Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior 4: 19–43.
Eyal, N. 2019. Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Fogg, Brian J. 2009. “A Behavior Model for Persuasive Design.” In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Persuasive Technology, 1–7.
Gollwitzer, Peter M. 1999. “Implementation Intentions: Strong Effects of Simple Plans.” American Psychologist 54 (7): 493.
Job, Veronika, Gregory M Walton, Katharina Bernecker, and Carol S Dweck. 2013. “Beliefs about Willpower Determine the Impact of Glucose on Self-Control.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110 (37): 14837–42.
———. 2015. “Implicit Theories about Willpower Predict Self-Regulation and Grades in Everyday Life.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 108 (4): 637.
Kurth-Nelson, Zeb, and A David Redish. 2012. “Don’t Let Me Do That!–Models of Precommitment.” Frontiers in Neuroscience 6: 138.
McGonigal, Kelly. 2013. The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It. Penguin.
Ostafin, Brian D, and G Alan Marlatt. 2008. “Surfing the Urge: Experiential Acceptance Moderates the Relation Between Automatic Alcohol Motivation and Hazardous Drinking.” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 27 (4): 404–18.
Parkinson, Cyril Northcote. 1959. Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuit of Progress. Readers Union [in association with] John Murray.
Tian, Allen Ding, Juliana Schroeder, Gerald Häubl, Jane L Risen, Michael I Norton, and Francesca Gino. 2018. “Enacting Rituals to Improve Self-Control.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 114 (6): 851.
Treynor, Wendy, Richard Gonzalez, and Susan Nolen-Hoeksema. 2003. “Rumination Reconsidered: A Psychometric Analysis.” Cognitive Therapy and Research 27 (3): 247–59.
Vaish, Amrisha, Tobias Grossmann, and Amanda Woodward. 2008. “Not All Emotions Are Created Equal: The Negativity Bias in Social-Emotional Development.” Psychological Bulletin 134 (3): 383.
Ward, Adrian F, Kristen Duke, Ayelet Gneezy, and Maarten W Bos. 2017. “Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity.” Journal of the Association for Consumer Research 2 (2): 140–54.
Wilson, Timothy D, David A Reinhard, Erin C Westgate, Daniel T Gilbert, Nicole Ellerbeck, Cheryl Hahn, Casey L Brown, and Adi Shaked. 2014. “Just Think: The Challenges of the Disengaged Mind.” Science 345 (6192): 75–77.
Ziglar, Z. 2021. Born to Win. PRABHAT PRAKASHAN PVT Limited.

Footnotes

  1. In Epicurean philosophy, pleasure is the highest good, but not in the sense of indulgence. Instead, Epicurus distinguished between two types of pleasure: dynamic pleasures, which are the pleasures we feel when we satisfy a desire, such as eating when hungry, and static pleasures, which are the pleasures of being free from desire and pain, such as the contentment we feel when we are not hungry or thirsty. Epicurus argued that the most profound form of pleasure comes from achieving a state where we no longer have unfulfilled desires, thus freeing ourselves from the pain of wanting. This state of tranquility and freedom from disturbance is what he considered true happiness.

  2. Liminal moments are distraction traps that transition us from one thing to another, like picking up our phone while waiting for a traffic light to change.

  3. There are several tutorials available on how to use a calendaring tool for timeboxing, see e.g., (How to Block Time on Google Calendar)[https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/block-time-google-calendar/].