Continue reading with Headway app
Continue the summaryWhat’s inside
Discover how technology and the environment steal your attention and realize the need to regain your focus for a happy and fulfilled life.
Key points
1
Realize how your attention and focus suffer today
We live in an era of screens that reflect our reality. The Internet and devices take away live communication and make you less present. Because of this, you can't do your job effectively, enjoy time with family and friends, or even read a book. When you concentrate on an activity and are suddenly distracted by an email or a message, it takes you twenty-three minutes to return to the same level of focus. It's a little too much time for a world that's always moving, isn't it?
We're too overwhelmed with information to stay focused.
The solution lies on the surface: turn off your phone, remove all possible distractions, and get on with the essential things. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. The problem of attention loss is much deeper and requires more detailed solutions.
Johann Hari examines the loss of focus from different angles, involving specialists of various profiles: tech designers, scientists, researchers, activists, and others. He raises the crucial question of the environment's influence on a person's ability to keep focus and the effectiveness of individual struggle. Can information hygiene rules protect you from losing attention? Is it all about gadgets and the Internet, or are there deeper reasons for the global loss of focus? What are we risking as humanity if we don't start solving this problem?
You will find answers to all these questions here. This summary makes you think about where the influence of each person on their attention ends and the impact of the environment begins. It will be an exciting and educational ride that will make you look at your life differently. Try to focus so as not to miss anything important!
Johann Hari examines the loss of focus from different angles, involving specialists of various profiles: tech designers, scientists, researchers, activists, and others. He raises the crucial question of the environment's influence on a person's ability to keep focus and the effectiveness of individual struggle. Can information hygiene rules protect you from losing attention? Is it all about gadgets and the Internet, or are there deeper reasons for the global loss of focus? What are we risking as humanity if we don't start solving this problem?
You will find answers to all these questions here. This summary makes you think about where the influence of each person on their attention ends and the impact of the environment begins. It will be an exciting and educational ride that will make you look at your life differently. Try to focus so as not to miss anything important!
2
Slow your mind to get back into the flow
Your attention is much more than a set of mechanical reactions that external triggers can control. Undoubtedly, at least once in your life, you experienced a state when a specific action fascinated you so much that time and space were left somewhere behind. Perhaps you were climbing mountains, painting a picture, or reading a book. You were experiencing a feeling of flow that resembled a hypnotic trance. This state is one of the highest forms of attention when you are so engrossed in an activity that you seem to drop out of reality. Most people believe that relaxation is the way to a flow state, but it requires concentration. Three main components will allow you to feel the flow:
Other chapters are waiting for you in the app
3
The impressive harm of sleep deprivation
4
Learn how technologies manipulate you
5
Individual changes vs. environmental impact
6
Only a collective struggle will overcome the crisis of attention
7
We need to change now to protect our children’s futures
8
Conclusion
You’ll learn
The meaning of flow state
The effects of lack of sleep
How social media and websites steal your focus
Why the environment is crucial for regaining attention
