Indistractable

Milkman’s technique is called ‘temptation bundling’ and can be used whenever we want to use the rewards from one behaviour to incentivise another. In my case, the articles I save to Pocket are my rewards for exercising.

The trouble is, we don’t make time for our values. We unintentionally spend too much time in one area of our life at the expense of others

‘Being indistractable means striving to do what you say you will do.’ To strive means ‘to struggle or fight vigorously’,4 it does not mean being perfect or never failing.

Since habits rely on a cue to trigger a behaviour, action is often sparked by the things around us.

one lesson to take away from this section, and perhaps from this entire book, it’s that distraction is a problem like any other. Whether in a large corporation or in a small family, when we discuss our problems openly and in an environment where we feel safe and supported, we can resolve them together.

unstructured play is arguably their most important extracurricular activity

Research studies overwhelmingly support the importance of unstructured playtime for kids’ ability to focus and to develop capacity for social interactions.

their schedules (like ours) should be assessed and adjusted weekly to ensure that their time is spent living out their values

Make [the conversation] about how you’re treating and interacting with the people around you’, she advises, as opposed to blaming the tool.1

Ryan’s research leads him to believe that ‘overuse [of technology] is a symptom, one indicative of some emptiness in other areas of life, like school and home’. When these three needs are met, people are more motivated, perform better, persist longer and exhibit greater creativity.