Indistractable

the only way to handle distraction is by learning to handle discomfort.

Aeons of evolution gave you a brain in a near-constant

‘If satisfaction and pleasure were permanent, there might be little incentive to continue seeking further benefits or advances.’

We don’t need to check our email right this second; we don’t need to give in to some other distraction, no matter how much we feel we must.

Our ancestors worked harder and strove further because they evolved to be perpetually perturbed, and so we remain today.

Dissatisfaction and discomfort dominate our brain’s default state, but we can use them to motivate us instead of defeat us.

Herbert A. Simon wrote presciently, ‘the wealth of information means a dearth of something else … a poverty of attention’.

If you know the drivers of your behaviour, you can take steps to manage them.

‘Letter to Menoeceus’, contained in Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book X.