Stolen Focus

I recently got a book that caught my attention from the title alone! Stolen Focus by Johann Hari.

Johann starts off with his own journey about his attempt to disconnect from technology while writing a book. It was a romantic tale of him renting a house on the East Coast. He ditched his smart phone and removed modems to stop him in moments of weakness.

The author brings a lot of technical information into a digestible format, it’s more of a commentary on reasons for our lack of ability to focus rather than a “how to” book. It is filled with research and stories that highlight the challenges we face. Some touch on broader societal issues surrounding government and corporate responsibility.

It’s a subject that I have become more interested in as I work with individuals and organizations on talent development initiatives. A major part of such program results relies on participants’ ability to focus during training programs. I was recently listening to a podcast where they referenced a study by Daniel Gilbert out of Harvard where he states that 47% of waking hours are spent thinking about something other than what is going on!
It made me think about what that number would be for someone sitting in a training program! The design of a course is so important to make sure we can introduce new ideas and concepts while helping and making sure participants stay in the moment.

On an individual side, this book could be a good read for those who are curious about how the ability to focus has been on the decline for many years (pre-dating the internet) and what are the societal issues that have been a contributing factor. He touches on some very interesting topics ranging from government responsibility to medical factors like ADHD.

For those who struggle with being able to stay focused, the book does provide some solutions as well, however, I feel that most ideas have been tackled in other works and in a more accommodating format for individual development. One practical piece of advice that I picked up was going for walks without a phone. I know It’s not a revolutionary idea but the book gave me a reason to try it out. I have always been the one to have a podcast or audible book playing so the first few times I felt overloaded with all thoughts and ideas and yet the silence was too loud! Over time, it has gotten better! I am learning to harness my thoughts.

The big takeaway from the book was being aware of the forces that are at play when it comes to the battle for our attention. To quote the cartoon G.I. Joe “Now you know. And knowing is half the battle”.