{"id":42254,"date":"2021-07-28T10:03:59","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T14:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=42254"},"modified":"2021-07-30T13:47:53","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T17:47:53","slug":"traction-and-distraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/traction-and-distraction\/","title":{"rendered":"Traction and Distraction: The Psychology of Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What are traction and distraction in terms of being indistractable? Is it possible to control your distractions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the book <em>Indistractable, <\/em>Nir Eyal says that actions spurred by triggers are either traction or distraction. Your actions will either push you towards your goals or pull you away from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Continue reading to learn about traction and distraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Does It Mean to Be Indistractable?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In our overconnected world, there\u2019s always an app notification begging for your attention, an email pinging in the background, or a news feed to scroll through. Technology <em>can<\/em> be useful if you have control over how you use it, but that\u2019s often not the case. Many people are ruled by their devices\u2014unable to pull themselves away even when they <em>know <\/em>they should. <strong>This takes a toll on your physical and mental health, your ability to focus, and your relationships.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Understand Traction and <\/strong><strong><em>Dis<\/em><\/strong><strong>traction<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Every <\/em>one of your actions is spurred by an internal trigger, such as boredom, or an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/external-trigger-vs-internal-trigger\/\">external trigger<\/a>, such as an Instagram notification. These actions can reflect <em>traction<\/em> and <em>distraction<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Traction: <\/strong>Actions that push you in the direction of what you <em>actually<\/em> want and help you accomplish goals. For example, sitting down to do your homework after dinner.<\/li><li><strong>Distraction:<\/strong> Actions that pull you <em>away <\/em>from what you want and don\u2019t help you with your goals. For example, scrolling through Reddit while you\u2019re supposed to be doing homework.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Distractions have always existed, but today\u2019s world offers unprecedented amounts of information, apps attuned to human behavior, and ever-present technology. It\u2019s almost impossible to escape distraction, and it\u2019s always much more accessible and tempting than traction.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Indistractable Model&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Being indistractable means that you understand your distractions and control them instead of letting them control you. <\/strong>When a trigger pushes you toward distraction, you\u2019ll take a moment to examine your feelings and your behavior and figure out how to change your actions to better align with your values.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you can recognize and stop your distractions, you\u2019ll more consistently choose behaviors that help you gain traction in life\u2014helping you follow through on what you say you\u2019ll do, balance different areas of your life, and become more focused.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The indistractable model has four parts:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Control your internal triggers.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Build your schedule around your values.<\/li><li>Cut out your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/external-triggers\/\">external triggers<\/a>.<\/li><li>Create precommitments.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are traction and distraction in terms of being indistractable? Is it possible to control your distractions? In the book Indistractable, Nir Eyal says that actions spurred by triggers are either traction or distraction. Your actions will either push you towards your goals or pull you away from them. Continue reading to learn about traction and distraction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":34788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,43],"tags":[428],"class_list":["post-42254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motivation","category-self-improvement","tag-indistractable","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Traction and Distraction: The Psychology of Attention - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In Indistractable, Nir Eyal says that there are triggers that will either lead you to traction or distraction. 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