# Indistractable by Nir Eyal  Author:: Shortform ## Highlights > There are four elements of the indistractablity model: > Control your internal triggers. > Build your schedule around your values. > Reduce external triggers. > Create precommitments. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/ba6a972e-8412-44c2-86b6-3d7cb9a6ab63)) > The root of distraction is inside you. Humans are motivated by freedom from discomfort—mental and physical discomfort triggers you to find escapes. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/d5c324a9-59e9-49c1-8a5c-d9f8a49f40d7)) > Identify the trigger. When you’re about to switch over to a distracting activity, ask yourself: “What discomfort or feeling triggered me to do this?” Usually, you’ll find that the source is a negative emotion like anxiety, boredom, or lack of control. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/7bf92cab-5677-4757-acf2-6b452e896982)) > Note the trigger. Keep a “distraction notebook” where you write down the details of your triggers—the time of day, where you were, your emotions, what you were doing when you felt distracted, and the distracting action you took. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/bf89947d-499e-4a63-b2d8-d36ea27ea27d)) > Look out for transitions. Distraction often happens when your brain is in the process of shifting from one activity to another. In these moments, tell yourself you’ll give in to the distraction in 10 minutes—usually, the urge passes by then. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/291cf0bb-a9e0-4ede-ba1a-87069c2fa5d9)) > Making your situation engaging decreases internal triggers such as boredom and frustration, which curbs your urge to escape into distracting behaviors. This process has two parts: > Dive deeper into the situation. Break the situation down into its smallest elements and examine them. This helps you find new perspectives and challenges. For example, if you’re bored at your job in a coffee shop, closely examine each element of making a perfect latté—espresso type, cream content, steaming temperature, and so on. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/3b3b2af1-e1ee-4ac4-986a-cd3e3b08cda7)) > Create play. Come up with different challenges. These should include limitations, which spark creativity and engagement. For example, if you have several essays to write, you might aim to write 3,000 words every day or set time limits to beat. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/c146b584-33e6-4f86-a71f-9dff302fe2ae)) > It’s important to think of your willpower as an emotion that comes and goes rather than a resource that runs out. > If you think of willpower as a resource, you might give up on an overwhelming project because you “need a break.” On the other hand, if you think of willpower as an emotion, you find a way to manage it in that moment, such as completing a small or easy part of the project to get a boost of motivation. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/126cef80-62e7-40aa-98a1-4aa8cc65fbdc)) > The natural solution to distraction-filled days is creating a schedule. > Build your schedule around the three responsibilities that take up all of your time—you, your relationships, and your work—and your values in each. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/73208e76-dfdf-41ea-9876-a0dd9f9ba59d)) > Any behavior that happens at a time it’s not scheduled is a distraction, even if it feels productive. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/9b453ac3-4a1e-4665-90e7-47590e7b573f)) > Schedule your basic needs such as sleeping, eating, and grooming. This helps you compare how you should care for yourself with how you actually care for yourself. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/668e1746-3602-40a0-8dc7-7c8aa22de103)) > Think about who you want to be and the qualities you want to have, and what value-aligned activities you can schedule. For example, for your value of “mindfulness,” you might schedule 15 minutes of gratitude reflection in the morning. For your value of “staying healthy,” you might schedule an hour-long walk every morning. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/8e616202-99dd-42f1-bc77-d1f09bc0ca58)) > Schedule regular indistractable time with your kids and partner. This time is a commitment, not something that can be pushed aside for another activity or interrupted by your email or social media. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/bfe17854-c93b-4185-a9fd-a80161904808)) > Timeboxing is a way of organizing your calendar by dedicating blocks of time to specific activities. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/607a3850-bdf5-4935-8aa4-fe8141ba48e4)) > 1) It helps you balance your responsibilities. Limiting the time you can spend on an activity stops you from working on it “until it’s done” as you might with tasks on a to-do list. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/3814c464-4b9f-4b62-9509-32956450453e)) > 2) It helps you stick to what you’re meant to be doing. You decide what you'll do and when you’ll do it. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/cd766158-7d7c-40e7-bfde-f8a499ec51db)) > No Blank Space > You must schedule everything you do, because it’s the only way to accurately gauge your indistractability—that is, how often you do what you planned. It doesn’t matter so much what your schedule looks like—it matters that you stick to it. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/46fd30f2-7a50-451d-be21-daec2f072228)) > each trigger an honest assessment by asking yourself: Does this trigger serve me? ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/5b57d74c-2768-4681-bad7-2bb3fcd1b094)) > Require preparation: The meeting organizer must send out a short agenda that details the problem and their best suggestion for a solution. Prior to the meeting, attendees should use this information to brainstorm solutions. These two steps ensure that everyone will hit the ground running at the meeting. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/195524bf-3d57-4281-8fad-55d3ec515826)) > You can make yourself accountable to others—for example, asking a friend who works from home to come work in your home office so you both stay focused. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/ec2e8e4d-8557-4fbd-9907-af8e608a6cbf)) > An effort pact is a precommitment that makes it more difficult to do something undesirable. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/8ed2b1f9-beb5-4d20-bd36-c7cf769876e7)) > Price pacts attach money to your precommitment as an incentive to stick with what you said you would do. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/0154b56c-a023-4e68-acf2-9529ad2cf7e4)) > Identity pacts are a precommitment to the identity you want to have. These pacts naturally align your behaviors with the desired identity. > For example, make being indistractable an integral part of your identity by making a pact to describe yourself as someone who is indistractable. For example, you’re not someone who can’t tolerate distracting notifications—you’re someone who doesn’t tolerate them. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/3460f0de-3ed0-4e0e-9e86-f2c073a30086)) > Every one of your actions is spurred by an internal trigger, such as boredom, or an external trigger, such as an Instagram notification. These actions either reflect traction or distraction. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/4650bfdd-4c35-4a72-b645-128c1e74ee77)) > Traction: Actions that push you in the direction of what you actually want and help you accomplish goals. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/cc3775dc-44e1-4f67-b487-408aca66e91b)) > Distraction: Actions that pull you away from what you want and don’t help you with your goals. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/436e18f4-4f47-4b28-a91e-d82b3a2cab6a)) > Being indistractable means that you understand your distractions and control them instead of letting them control you. When a trigger pushes you toward distraction, you’ll take a moment to examine your feelings and your behavior and figure out how to change your actions to better align with your values. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/74307f82-74f5-42e2-80ea-e08e4fcb820e)) > The indistractable model has four parts: > Control your internal triggers. > Build your schedule around your values. > Cut out your external triggers. > Create precommitments. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/667e8c0a-6f8c-49f7-b639-2230ad2c6dae)) > Contrary to popular belief, humans aren’t motivated by punishment and reward—we’re motivated by > freedom from discomfort. > When we feel physical or mental discomfort, we naturally search for ways to escape it. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/d991d106-2a6a-449e-9d4c-1a334221876a)) > Step 1: Identify the Trigger > When you find yourself about to switch over to a distracting activity, ask yourself: “What particular discomfort or feeling triggered me to do this?” Usually, you’ll find that the source is a negative emotion like anxiety, frustration, boredom, craving, incompetence, or lack of control. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/10e81cea-4b35-445e-bd62-1cffde536eb1)) > Step 2: Note the Trigger > Keep a “distraction tracker” where you write down the details of your internal triggers ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/ce693b1c-fea2-41c4-acbb-01c34c717f9b)) > Step 3: Examine the Feeling > When you experience internal discomfort, commit to fully exploring all of your mental and physical feelings. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/9fbe2a88-023d-48b6-9bef-22125f6b39b0)) > The important part of this step is sticking with your feelings for as long as possible. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/49a0b1c9-4162-4deb-948a-e1d2eace9af1)) > Step 4: Look Out for Transitions > Distraction often crops up during transitional moments, when your brain is already in the process of shifting gears from one activity to another. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/b9d57cfe-7fba-49e3-a8bc-8bc6b98712ec)) > Try adopting a 10-minute rule to avoid latching onto the wrong activity in a moment of transition. Whenever you’re in one of these moments and feel the urge to grab your phone, open a new website, or distract yourself, tell yourself, “Okay, I’ll do that in 10 minutes.” Often, when those 10 minutes are up, you’re already deep into another, more productive task and have forgotten your urge. > Psychologists call this “surfing the urge”—when the desire to distract comes up, you acknowledge it and commit to “surfing” on the feelings rather than diving into them or pushing them elsewhere. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/e559f949-70d6-4460-a07f-4c8fc0be1dad)) > Exercise 2: Reframe the Situation > The second way to harness your discomfort’s power is rethinking the situation you’re in and finding a way to make it fun. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/f27ba7f1-6c1f-4b9c-bb8e-c40475f0a591)) > Create play: Come up with different challenges—these should include different types of limitations because working within constraints sparks creativity and engagement. > For example, if you have several essays to write, you might aim to write 3,000 words every day or set time limits to beat. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/d792b990-f63d-47a6-b8d2-f63db5856d1e)) > Exercise 3: Rethink Who You Are > It’s commonly thought that people have a finite amount of willpower. Once it’s used up, you have to wait until your “tank” is full again. Many people use this idea to excuse unhealthy behaviors after class or work, such as vegging out on the couch in front of Netflix. However, scientists have recently found that willpower depletion isn’t real. Your willpower isn’t running out—rather your belief it’s running out fuels defeated behaviors. > Willpower isn’t a resource so much as an emotion—it comes and goes depending on internal and external circumstances, and can be managed and controlled with reflection and practice. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/ef63245a-c8ad-4ca8-a097-c6ac4a442555)) > Part 2: Build Your Schedule Around Your Values ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/5e386b73-a8a2-4087-bc68-db76ef570ce0)) > Scheduling Is Essential to Indistractablity ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/23fc1d50-13f6-4b2b-b0bd-96f1b4510c94)) > Although an unplanned day might make you feel that you have more freedom over how your day is spent, it actually creates less freedom—instead of controlling your day, your day controls you. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/b87554ef-5623-4276-aea4-188d34d781a0)) > Your values become easier to live—and balance—when you consciously track how your time is spent on each responsibility ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/d7790191-8007-47a5-8eae-f3df8ce5d518)) > Responsibility 1: You ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/a6c8a303-02b9-4628-8cc4-b5a042cf8961)) > Timeboxing serves two purposes: > 1) It helps you balance your responsibilities. Limiting the time you can spend on an activity stops you from working on it “until it’s done” as you might with tasks on a to-do list. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/33ec3779-2fa9-4436-9432-cd59aef510c0)) > 2) It helps you stick to what you’re meant to be doing. Timeboxing creates what psychologists call an “implementation intention”—you decide what you'll do and when you’ll do it, which can help you get tasks done instead of perpetually pushing them off. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/9e766d3f-725e-4918-b5cf-1f0196ecccc8)) > You must schedule everything you do, because it’s the only way to accurately gauge your indistractability—that is, how often you do what you planned. It doesn’t matter so much what your schedule looks like—it matters that you stick to it. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/cbad5a42-4e91-419d-9caf-ae35ab854fe8)) > Two mindsets will help you optimize your schedule without stressing about it. > Mindset 1: Your Schedule Is a Constant Experiment ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/e0142621-4b14-410f-8f46-7607c4211b1b)) > Each week, take 20 minutes to reflect on two questions: > 1) When did I do what I planned to do? When did I become distracted? ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/c3a99259-91d9-4455-b1fd-810e622e16d2)) > 2) What schedule changes might help me avoid distraction? ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/a1da241c-e9a4-4b21-b443-087f166cf47b)) > Mindset 2: You Can Control Input, Not Outcome > One thing that can be frustrating about making your schedule is that you sometimes don’t get the outcome you want, despite making the time for it. These setbacks can make you feel frustrated and stressed, throwing you off track. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/f10bf8e6-b094-4ab8-8f24-83a5437dbfac)) > Part 3.1: Cut Out External Triggers: Communication Without Boundaries ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/c1a6ec18-c8e2-4ef3-bb4c-98056a058ed5)) > Trigger #1: Other People ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/b332c5d9-0f29-40bf-bef9-2d968af1dee1)) > You can’t control everything that’s happening around you in your work environment, but you can control your messaging. Create an obvious visual cue that tells other people that you’re not available for interruption. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/90418a9d-d6db-48b4-a1e7-51393d46b93f)) > Trigger #2: Email ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/dd2c5b8d-25e3-4d09-9dc8-59c6be281007)) > Part 1: Spend Less Time Checking Your Inbox ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/ea6d726e-2c19-44b4-94df-5d9fd3ade67e)) > You may rationally know that checking your email constantly is a waste of your time and a serious interruption of your focus—but most of us just can’t stop. This is due to two elements of human psychology. > 1) Your inbox offers random rewards ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/cd18c9fd-f3e1-41a7-9832-cb29b3988ea0)) > Make your inbox as predictable as possible to make it less tempting. Unsubscribe from any emails that aren’t useful any longer, such as newsletters or retail promos ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/e38e1d6f-84d3-422c-978a-142cfe187453)) > 2) You’re inclined to reciprocate communication. Humans are social creatures that mirror the actions of others—when someone smiles at you, you’ll smile back ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/8d37592a-4a5f-499f-ae2e-35aba710dd7a)) > finding ways to send fewer emails, you can break the cycle of reciprocity and ensure that you’ll receive fewer emails. There are two ways to accomplish this. > Create office hours for non-urgent matters ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/6ef1144b-f5a9-4ef9-91b0-584e5118a025)) > Manually slow down reciprocity. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/54c0957d-e967-42ce-9440-8be97596153f)) > Part 2: Spend Less Time Responding to Emails ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/188326ac-0ac9-4790-b63e-81680369c2de)) > Trigger #3: Group Chat ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/25391341-3880-40b1-8116-a5d5de93ebc1)) > 1) Use Group Chat Sparingly ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/8a02c77c-ac9d-4599-8f0c-7facd01190f8)) > Timebox group chat sessions. Schedule time to scan for missed messages, send out replies, or scroll through different channels. Communicate your schedule to your colleagues so they understand when they can expect replies ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/4814c3f9-4bc4-4ee4-8bc9-a2adc3d68d9a)) > 2) Keep Groups Small ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/aec83505-49d6-4daf-8530-44411045c3fe)) > 3) Use Group Chat for the Right Topics ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/1917cc31-c4c7-4ecb-a4fb-926f3ff2cc66)) > Trigger #4: Meetings ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/0c0a20d9-8478-4ce8-bcc2-d730ffd9eb09)) > Pre-Meeting: Adequately Prepare and Brainstorm ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/a3ffd836-c001-44ed-a197-44413f5bc515)) > The meeting organizer should be required to send out a short agenda ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/3c1247d6-7441-4da6-a5de-60d92ce73769)) > Attendees: After reading the meeting agenda, attendees should brainstorm solutions and come to the meeting with prepared ideas. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/4ce1244d-99e0-4b1b-bc6c-2e396aa1bcc1)) > Meeting: Cut Out Unnecessary Devices ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/c55f36eb-79ba-4c60-a4ce-3ebbfba54f7e)) > Trigger #5: Smartphone ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/bff263f4-0829-40a2-971d-5bc1e68a0ce8)) > Trigger #6: Desktop ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/219fcb98-824e-4944-a4cc-548832f0ef2d)) > Trigger #7: Articles ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/859a683e-c9b6-4d4f-b72d-722c5674d868)) > reading articles on your web browser. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/6c89a1e6-c925-4d53-9983-b013d1e1fcf6)) > bundling—making an unappealing activity more interesting by combining it with something you want to do. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/e45835ce-a3a3-4854-9fcd-f484d3a199a5)) > Trigger #8: Social Media Feeds ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/9aebc4fb-077b-438f-8e12-20698d6fcaf6)) > Part 4: Create Precommitments ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/7157a735-dccc-42bb-89ef-ba8c43941bbb)) > precommitments—choices you make while in an undistracted state that will help guide your behaviors when you’re tempted by distraction in the future. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/05e4de03-e09d-4953-8e11-b8734b8034b3)) > Precommitment Type 1: Effort Pacts > An effort pact is a precommitment that makes it more difficult to do something undesirable. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/d4056e20-c311-4caf-aebd-57d68b45cd8f)) > Precommitment Type 2: Price Pacts ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/aac3a9f9-3b46-4a7e-857b-9ef0adf17ce6)) > pact makes distraction’s cost more tangible with money ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/22a224f6-81ed-4693-9f36-34e27316e615)) > 1) Price pacts don’t work if you can’t remove external triggers ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/8910168d-d778-4e45-905a-33aaab2380f6)) > 2) Price pacts are for short tasks ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/54380d68-3d41-4b8d-9c55-5db9f03c2f99)) > the pact is too long, it becomes a punishment rather than a motivation. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/6e639873-944f-44c7-8045-14687b06c136)) > 3) Starting your price pact won’t feel good. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/8368229b-78c3-4609-b09b-9573f7d2d5e0)) > 4) It’s crucial to be self-compassionate ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/dc4e9ce8-d797-4a59-a466-3e6ecee69e3e)) > Precommitment Type 3: Identity Pacts ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/2c95eeef-5161-4a39-b163-5aa2bfc6f8ec)) > Identity pacts are a precommitment to the identity that aligns with who you want to be and what you want to do. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/9617aac7-e22d-46a6-9434-6b0cf26e4aa2)) > safety—the understanding that no one will be mocked or punished when they bring up criticism, questions, or ideas ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/538967e6-4e12-44ed-8b90-1588de225de8)) > I talk to so many people who tell me, “The world is so distracting! Here’s why can’t focus or do this or that” and give every excuse in the book—distracted, underprivileged, their boss, their kids, their this, their that. But when you look at their calendar, you say, “What did you get distracted from, exactly? What was it that you intended to do that you didn’t do?” Their calendar is blank. > So you have to decide in advance how you want to spend your time. The difference between traction and distraction is intent, forethought ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/c58fef75-c25b-4f49-8b61-7ca3513a1b66)) --- Title: Indistractable by Nir Eyal Author: Shortform Tags: readwise, books date: 2024-01-30 --- # Indistractable by Nir Eyal  Author:: Shortform ## AI-Generated Summary None ## Highlights > There are four elements of the indistractablity model: > Control your internal triggers. > Build your schedule around your values. > Reduce external triggers. > Create precommitments. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/ba6a972e-8412-44c2-86b6-3d7cb9a6ab63)) > The root of distraction is inside you. Humans are motivated by freedom from discomfort—mental and physical discomfort triggers you to find escapes. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/d5c324a9-59e9-49c1-8a5c-d9f8a49f40d7)) > Identify the trigger. When you’re about to switch over to a distracting activity, ask yourself: “What discomfort or feeling triggered me to do this?” Usually, you’ll find that the source is a negative emotion like anxiety, boredom, or lack of control. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/7bf92cab-5677-4757-acf2-6b452e896982)) > Note the trigger. Keep a “distraction notebook” where you write down the details of your triggers—the time of day, where you were, your emotions, what you were doing when you felt distracted, and the distracting action you took. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/bf89947d-499e-4a63-b2d8-d36ea27ea27d)) > Look out for transitions. Distraction often happens when your brain is in the process of shifting from one activity to another. In these moments, tell yourself you’ll give in to the distraction in 10 minutes—usually, the urge passes by then. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/291cf0bb-a9e0-4ede-ba1a-87069c2fa5d9)) > Making your situation engaging decreases internal triggers such as boredom and frustration, which curbs your urge to escape into distracting behaviors. This process has two parts: > Dive deeper into the situation. Break the situation down into its smallest elements and examine them. This helps you find new perspectives and challenges. For example, if you’re bored at your job in a coffee shop, closely examine each element of making a perfect latté—espresso type, cream content, steaming temperature, and so on. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/3b3b2af1-e1ee-4ac4-986a-cd3e3b08cda7)) > Create play. Come up with different challenges. These should include limitations, which spark creativity and engagement. For example, if you have several essays to write, you might aim to write 3,000 words every day or set time limits to beat. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/c146b584-33e6-4f86-a71f-9dff302fe2ae)) > It’s important to think of your willpower as an emotion that comes and goes rather than a resource that runs out. > If you think of willpower as a resource, you might give up on an overwhelming project because you “need a break.” On the other hand, if you think of willpower as an emotion, you find a way to manage it in that moment, such as completing a small or easy part of the project to get a boost of motivation. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/126cef80-62e7-40aa-98a1-4aa8cc65fbdc)) > The natural solution to distraction-filled days is creating a schedule. > Build your schedule around the three responsibilities that take up all of your time—you, your relationships, and your work—and your values in each. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/73208e76-dfdf-41ea-9876-a0dd9f9ba59d)) > Any behavior that happens at a time it’s not scheduled is a distraction, even if it feels productive. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/9b453ac3-4a1e-4665-90e7-47590e7b573f)) > Schedule your basic needs such as sleeping, eating, and grooming. This helps you compare how you should care for yourself with how you actually care for yourself. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/668e1746-3602-40a0-8dc7-7c8aa22de103)) > Think about who you want to be and the qualities you want to have, and what value-aligned activities you can schedule. For example, for your value of “mindfulness,” you might schedule 15 minutes of gratitude reflection in the morning. For your value of “staying healthy,” you might schedule an hour-long walk every morning. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/8e616202-99dd-42f1-bc77-d1f09bc0ca58)) > Schedule regular indistractable time with your kids and partner. This time is a commitment, not something that can be pushed aside for another activity or interrupted by your email or social media. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/bfe17854-c93b-4185-a9fd-a80161904808)) > Timeboxing is a way of organizing your calendar by dedicating blocks of time to specific activities. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/607a3850-bdf5-4935-8aa4-fe8141ba48e4)) > 1) It helps you balance your responsibilities. Limiting the time you can spend on an activity stops you from working on it “until it’s done” as you might with tasks on a to-do list. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/3814c464-4b9f-4b62-9509-32956450453e)) > 2) It helps you stick to what you’re meant to be doing. You decide what you'll do and when you’ll do it. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/cd766158-7d7c-40e7-bfde-f8a499ec51db)) > No Blank Space > You must schedule everything you do, because it’s the only way to accurately gauge your indistractability—that is, how often you do what you planned. It doesn’t matter so much what your schedule looks like—it matters that you stick to it. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/46fd30f2-7a50-451d-be21-daec2f072228)) > each trigger an honest assessment by asking yourself: Does this trigger serve me? ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/5b57d74c-2768-4681-bad7-2bb3fcd1b094)) > Require preparation: The meeting organizer must send out a short agenda that details the problem and their best suggestion for a solution. Prior to the meeting, attendees should use this information to brainstorm solutions. These two steps ensure that everyone will hit the ground running at the meeting. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/195524bf-3d57-4281-8fad-55d3ec515826)) > You can make yourself accountable to others—for example, asking a friend who works from home to come work in your home office so you both stay focused. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/ec2e8e4d-8557-4fbd-9907-af8e608a6cbf)) > An effort pact is a precommitment that makes it more difficult to do something undesirable. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/8ed2b1f9-beb5-4d20-bd36-c7cf769876e7)) > Price pacts attach money to your precommitment as an incentive to stick with what you said you would do. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/0154b56c-a023-4e68-acf2-9529ad2cf7e4)) > Identity pacts are a precommitment to the identity you want to have. These pacts naturally align your behaviors with the desired identity. > For example, make being indistractable an integral part of your identity by making a pact to describe yourself as someone who is indistractable. For example, you’re not someone who can’t tolerate distracting notifications—you’re someone who doesn’t tolerate them. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/3460f0de-3ed0-4e0e-9e86-f2c073a30086)) > Every one of your actions is spurred by an internal trigger, such as boredom, or an external trigger, such as an Instagram notification. These actions either reflect traction or distraction. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/4650bfdd-4c35-4a72-b645-128c1e74ee77)) > Traction: Actions that push you in the direction of what you actually want and help you accomplish goals. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/cc3775dc-44e1-4f67-b487-408aca66e91b)) > Distraction: Actions that pull you away from what you want and don’t help you with your goals. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/436e18f4-4f47-4b28-a91e-d82b3a2cab6a)) > Being indistractable means that you understand your distractions and control them instead of letting them control you. When a trigger pushes you toward distraction, you’ll take a moment to examine your feelings and your behavior and figure out how to change your actions to better align with your values. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/74307f82-74f5-42e2-80ea-e08e4fcb820e)) > The indistractable model has four parts: > Control your internal triggers. > Build your schedule around your values. > Cut out your external triggers. > Create precommitments. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/667e8c0a-6f8c-49f7-b639-2230ad2c6dae)) > Contrary to popular belief, humans aren’t motivated by punishment and reward—we’re motivated by > freedom from discomfort. > When we feel physical or mental discomfort, we naturally search for ways to escape it. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/d991d106-2a6a-449e-9d4c-1a334221876a)) > Step 1: Identify the Trigger > When you find yourself about to switch over to a distracting activity, ask yourself: “What particular discomfort or feeling triggered me to do this?” Usually, you’ll find that the source is a negative emotion like anxiety, frustration, boredom, craving, incompetence, or lack of control. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/10e81cea-4b35-445e-bd62-1cffde536eb1)) > Step 2: Note the Trigger > Keep a “distraction tracker” where you write down the details of your internal triggers ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/ce693b1c-fea2-41c4-acbb-01c34c717f9b)) > Step 3: Examine the Feeling > When you experience internal discomfort, commit to fully exploring all of your mental and physical feelings. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/9fbe2a88-023d-48b6-9bef-22125f6b39b0)) > The important part of this step is sticking with your feelings for as long as possible. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/49a0b1c9-4162-4deb-948a-e1d2eace9af1)) > Step 4: Look Out for Transitions > Distraction often crops up during transitional moments, when your brain is already in the process of shifting gears from one activity to another. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/b9d57cfe-7fba-49e3-a8bc-8bc6b98712ec)) > Try adopting a 10-minute rule to avoid latching onto the wrong activity in a moment of transition. Whenever you’re in one of these moments and feel the urge to grab your phone, open a new website, or distract yourself, tell yourself, “Okay, I’ll do that in 10 minutes.” Often, when those 10 minutes are up, you’re already deep into another, more productive task and have forgotten your urge. > Psychologists call this “surfing the urge”—when the desire to distract comes up, you acknowledge it and commit to “surfing” on the feelings rather than diving into them or pushing them elsewhere. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/e559f949-70d6-4460-a07f-4c8fc0be1dad)) > Exercise 2: Reframe the Situation > The second way to harness your discomfort’s power is rethinking the situation you’re in and finding a way to make it fun. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/f27ba7f1-6c1f-4b9c-bb8e-c40475f0a591)) > Create play: Come up with different challenges—these should include different types of limitations because working within constraints sparks creativity and engagement. > For example, if you have several essays to write, you might aim to write 3,000 words every day or set time limits to beat. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/d792b990-f63d-47a6-b8d2-f63db5856d1e)) > Exercise 3: Rethink Who You Are > It’s commonly thought that people have a finite amount of willpower. Once it’s used up, you have to wait until your “tank” is full again. Many people use this idea to excuse unhealthy behaviors after class or work, such as vegging out on the couch in front of Netflix. However, scientists have recently found that willpower depletion isn’t real. Your willpower isn’t running out—rather your belief it’s running out fuels defeated behaviors. > Willpower isn’t a resource so much as an emotion—it comes and goes depending on internal and external circumstances, and can be managed and controlled with reflection and practice. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/ef63245a-c8ad-4ca8-a097-c6ac4a442555)) > Part 2: Build Your Schedule Around Your Values ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/5e386b73-a8a2-4087-bc68-db76ef570ce0)) > Scheduling Is Essential to Indistractablity ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/23fc1d50-13f6-4b2b-b0bd-96f1b4510c94)) > Although an unplanned day might make you feel that you have more freedom over how your day is spent, it actually creates less freedom—instead of controlling your day, your day controls you. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/b87554ef-5623-4276-aea4-188d34d781a0)) > Your values become easier to live—and balance—when you consciously track how your time is spent on each responsibility ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/d7790191-8007-47a5-8eae-f3df8ce5d518)) > Responsibility 1: You ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/a6c8a303-02b9-4628-8cc4-b5a042cf8961)) > Timeboxing serves two purposes: > 1) It helps you balance your responsibilities. Limiting the time you can spend on an activity stops you from working on it “until it’s done” as you might with tasks on a to-do list. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/33ec3779-2fa9-4436-9432-cd59aef510c0)) > 2) It helps you stick to what you’re meant to be doing. Timeboxing creates what psychologists call an “implementation intention”—you decide what you'll do and when you’ll do it, which can help you get tasks done instead of perpetually pushing them off. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/9e766d3f-725e-4918-b5cf-1f0196ecccc8)) > You must schedule everything you do, because it’s the only way to accurately gauge your indistractability—that is, how often you do what you planned. It doesn’t matter so much what your schedule looks like—it matters that you stick to it. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/cbad5a42-4e91-419d-9caf-ae35ab854fe8)) > Two mindsets will help you optimize your schedule without stressing about it. > Mindset 1: Your Schedule Is a Constant Experiment ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/e0142621-4b14-410f-8f46-7607c4211b1b)) > Each week, take 20 minutes to reflect on two questions: > 1) When did I do what I planned to do? When did I become distracted? ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/c3a99259-91d9-4455-b1fd-810e622e16d2)) > 2) What schedule changes might help me avoid distraction? ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/a1da241c-e9a4-4b21-b443-087f166cf47b)) > Mindset 2: You Can Control Input, Not Outcome > One thing that can be frustrating about making your schedule is that you sometimes don’t get the outcome you want, despite making the time for it. These setbacks can make you feel frustrated and stressed, throwing you off track. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/f10bf8e6-b094-4ab8-8f24-83a5437dbfac)) > Part 3.1: Cut Out External Triggers: Communication Without Boundaries ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/c1a6ec18-c8e2-4ef3-bb4c-98056a058ed5)) > Trigger #1: Other People ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/b332c5d9-0f29-40bf-bef9-2d968af1dee1)) > You can’t control everything that’s happening around you in your work environment, but you can control your messaging. Create an obvious visual cue that tells other people that you’re not available for interruption. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/90418a9d-d6db-48b4-a1e7-51393d46b93f)) > Trigger #2: Email ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/dd2c5b8d-25e3-4d09-9dc8-59c6be281007)) > Part 1: Spend Less Time Checking Your Inbox ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/ea6d726e-2c19-44b4-94df-5d9fd3ade67e)) > You may rationally know that checking your email constantly is a waste of your time and a serious interruption of your focus—but most of us just can’t stop. This is due to two elements of human psychology. > 1) Your inbox offers random rewards ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/cd18c9fd-f3e1-41a7-9832-cb29b3988ea0)) > Make your inbox as predictable as possible to make it less tempting. Unsubscribe from any emails that aren’t useful any longer, such as newsletters or retail promos ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/e38e1d6f-84d3-422c-978a-142cfe187453)) > 2) You’re inclined to reciprocate communication. Humans are social creatures that mirror the actions of others—when someone smiles at you, you’ll smile back ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/8d37592a-4a5f-499f-ae2e-35aba710dd7a)) > finding ways to send fewer emails, you can break the cycle of reciprocity and ensure that you’ll receive fewer emails. There are two ways to accomplish this. > Create office hours for non-urgent matters ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/6ef1144b-f5a9-4ef9-91b0-584e5118a025)) > Manually slow down reciprocity. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/54c0957d-e967-42ce-9440-8be97596153f)) > Part 2: Spend Less Time Responding to Emails ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/188326ac-0ac9-4790-b63e-81680369c2de)) > Trigger #3: Group Chat ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/25391341-3880-40b1-8116-a5d5de93ebc1)) > 1) Use Group Chat Sparingly ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/8a02c77c-ac9d-4599-8f0c-7facd01190f8)) > Timebox group chat sessions. Schedule time to scan for missed messages, send out replies, or scroll through different channels. Communicate your schedule to your colleagues so they understand when they can expect replies ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/4814c3f9-4bc4-4ee4-8bc9-a2adc3d68d9a)) > 2) Keep Groups Small ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/aec83505-49d6-4daf-8530-44411045c3fe)) > 3) Use Group Chat for the Right Topics ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/1917cc31-c4c7-4ecb-a4fb-926f3ff2cc66)) > Trigger #4: Meetings ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/0c0a20d9-8478-4ce8-bcc2-d730ffd9eb09)) > Pre-Meeting: Adequately Prepare and Brainstorm ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/a3ffd836-c001-44ed-a197-44413f5bc515)) > The meeting organizer should be required to send out a short agenda ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/3c1247d6-7441-4da6-a5de-60d92ce73769)) > Attendees: After reading the meeting agenda, attendees should brainstorm solutions and come to the meeting with prepared ideas. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/4ce1244d-99e0-4b1b-bc6c-2e396aa1bcc1)) > Meeting: Cut Out Unnecessary Devices ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/c55f36eb-79ba-4c60-a4ce-3ebbfba54f7e)) > Trigger #5: Smartphone ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/bff263f4-0829-40a2-971d-5bc1e68a0ce8)) > Trigger #6: Desktop ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/219fcb98-824e-4944-a4cc-548832f0ef2d)) > Trigger #7: Articles ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/859a683e-c9b6-4d4f-b72d-722c5674d868)) > reading articles on your web browser. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/6c89a1e6-c925-4d53-9983-b013d1e1fcf6)) > bundling—making an unappealing activity more interesting by combining it with something you want to do. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/e45835ce-a3a3-4854-9fcd-f484d3a199a5)) > Trigger #8: Social Media Feeds ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/9aebc4fb-077b-438f-8e12-20698d6fcaf6)) > Part 4: Create Precommitments ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/7157a735-dccc-42bb-89ef-ba8c43941bbb)) > precommitments—choices you make while in an undistracted state that will help guide your behaviors when you’re tempted by distraction in the future. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/05e4de03-e09d-4953-8e11-b8734b8034b3)) > Precommitment Type 1: Effort Pacts > An effort pact is a precommitment that makes it more difficult to do something undesirable. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/d4056e20-c311-4caf-aebd-57d68b45cd8f)) > Precommitment Type 2: Price Pacts ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/aac3a9f9-3b46-4a7e-857b-9ef0adf17ce6)) > pact makes distraction’s cost more tangible with money ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/22a224f6-81ed-4693-9f36-34e27316e615)) > 1) Price pacts don’t work if you can’t remove external triggers ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/8910168d-d778-4e45-905a-33aaab2380f6)) > 2) Price pacts are for short tasks ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/54380d68-3d41-4b8d-9c55-5db9f03c2f99)) > the pact is too long, it becomes a punishment rather than a motivation. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/6e639873-944f-44c7-8045-14687b06c136)) > 3) Starting your price pact won’t feel good. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/8368229b-78c3-4609-b09b-9573f7d2d5e0)) > 4) It’s crucial to be self-compassionate ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/dc4e9ce8-d797-4a59-a466-3e6ecee69e3e)) > Precommitment Type 3: Identity Pacts ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/2c95eeef-5161-4a39-b163-5aa2bfc6f8ec)) > Identity pacts are a precommitment to the identity that aligns with who you want to be and what you want to do. ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/9617aac7-e22d-46a6-9434-6b0cf26e4aa2)) > safety—the understanding that no one will be mocked or punished when they bring up criticism, questions, or ideas ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/538967e6-4e12-44ed-8b90-1588de225de8)) > I talk to so many people who tell me, “The world is so distracting! Here’s why can’t focus or do this or that” and give every excuse in the book—distracted, underprivileged, their boss, their kids, their this, their that. But when you look at their calendar, you say, “What did you get distracted from, exactly? What was it that you intended to do that you didn’t do?” Their calendar is blank. > So you have to decide in advance how you want to spend your time. The difference between traction and distraction is intent, forethought ([View Highlight](https://www.shortform.com/app/highlights/c58fef75-c25b-4f49-8b61-7ca3513a1b66))