From Distracted To Focused: Nir Eyal’s Secrets On How To Be Indistractable - a podcast by Kurt Nelson, PhD and Tim Houlihan

Utilizing the power of identity by proudly declaring yourself as indistractable can be a persuasive step in becoming the kind of person we want to be. By changing the language we use to describe ourselves, we can actually influence our own behavior. 

 

This is just one of the techniques that our popular guest, Nir Eyal describes in his new book, “Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life”. Nir is the international bestselling author of “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products”, a behavioral design expert, and host of the wonderful podcast “Nir and Far”. 

 

In a world full of demands on our attention, we may think that getting distracted is a recent phenomenon and blame our technology use. But in this episode, Nir describes how getting distracted is simply part of our human nature, something we’ve been plagued with for centuries. Listen to our fascinating interview with Nir to learn how to be intentional with our tasks, what planning our time should look like and why leaving time for reflection can lead to more creative achievements. 

 

If you enjoy this interview with Nir Eyal on Behavioral Grooves, please consider donating to our work through our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/behavioralgrooves. We use all the donations to fund the production of the podcast. Thanks!

 

Topics

(3:42) Welcome and speed round questions.

(7:22) Why to-do lists are the worst way to increase productivity.

(12:41) Internal triggers and external triggers.

(16:13) Why is it easier to look outside ourselves than inside ourselves?

(17:57) Nir’s personal journey into behavioral design.

(23:37) The morality of manipulation: behavioral design and ethics.

(27:06) The regret test: how you test ethical design at the corporate level.

(37:02) Practicing self compassion has surprising results on reaching your goals.

(42:23) How the language we use affects our behavior.

(49:28) Nir's very unusual answer to the desert island music question.

(52:29) Grooving session with Kurt and Tim on being indistractable. 

© 2022 Behavioral Grooves

Links

Nir Eyal’s book: “Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life”: http://geni.us/Indistractable

Indistractable bonus content: http://nirandfar.com/indistractable

Nir and Far Podcast: https://www.nirandfar.com/podcast/ 

Habits vs routines: https://www.nirandfar.com/habits/

Why schedules are better than to-do lists: https://www.nirandfar.com/todo-vs-schedule-builder/

Time boxing: https://www.nirandfar.com/timeboxing

Kurt Lewin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Lewin  

Dan Pink, Episode 277: No Regrets? Really? Why Regrets Actually Bring Us Hope: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/why-regrets-bring-us-hope/ 

Roy Baumeister, Episode 171: Self Control, Belonging, and Why Your Most Dedicated Employees Are the Ones To Watch Out For: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/self-control-belonging-and-why-your-most-dedicated-employees-are-the-ones-to-watch-out-for-with-roy-baumeister/ 

Bernecker Katharina, Job Veronika (2015) “Beliefs about willpower moderate the effect of previous day demands on next day’s expectations and effective goal striving”: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01496/full 

Behavioral Grooves Patreon : https://www.patreon.com/behavioralgrooves

 

Musical Links

The Beatles “Don’t Let Me Down”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCtzkaL2t_Y 

Kanye West “Stronger”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsO6ZnUZI0g&ab_channel=KanyeWestVEVO

Further episodes of Behavioral Grooves Podcast

Further podcasts by Kurt Nelson, PhD and Tim Houlihan

Website of Kurt Nelson, PhD and Tim Houlihan