Nir Eyal is the author of two best-selling books, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. He writes, consults, and teaches at the intersection of psychology, technology, and business. His books have sold over 1 million copies in more than 30 languages; he has taught at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and its Design School; and he has started and sold two startups since 2003. In our conversation, we discuss:• Strategies for becoming less distractible and improving focus• The difference between distraction and “traction”• Reactive work vs. reflexive work and why you should book time in your calendar• The 10-minute rule to overcome internal triggers and stay focused• The problem with to-do lists, and what to do instead• The value of creating a timebox schedule that aligns with personal values and priorities• The use of pacts as a last line of defense against distraction• How to develop a high-agency mindset• Advice for leaders on helping employees improve focus in the workplace—Brought to you by Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | Teal—Your personal career growth platform—Find the transcript for this episode and all past episodes at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/episodes/. Today’s transcript will be live by 8 a.m. PT.—Where to find Nir Eyal:• X: https://twitter.com/nireyal• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nireyal/• Website: https://www.nirandfar.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Nir’s background(04:20) How to become less distractible(07:43) Understanding distraction and traction(12:52) The four steps to becoming indistractable(13:53) Mastering internal triggers(18:49) Surfing the urge with a 10-minute timer(23:20) Making time for traction with a timebox schedule(25:02) How to turn your values into time(28:36) Booking deep work time(29:22) Making pacts to prevent distraction(31:00) The problem with to-do lists(34:31) The drawback of deadlines(36:08) Distraction is an emotion regulation problem(39:54) Hacking back external triggers(45:03) Preventing distraction with pacts(48:18) Specific tools to hold you accountable(53:42) Managing emotions and discomfort(56:37) Taking responsibility and being high-agency(01:00:09) Becoming indistractable at work(01:05:04) Schedule syncing to align with managers(01:09:36) We are not as hooked on technology as people think(01:16:00) Life purpose and personal responsibility(01:17:38) Lightning round—Referenced:• Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life: https://www.amazon.com/Indistractable-Control-Your-Attention-Choose/dp/194883653X• Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products: https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788• Dorothy Parker’s quote: https://twitter.com/nireyal/status/1472280598723108866• “Writing is bleeding” quote: https://www.hemingwaysociety.org/quotation-controversy-writing-and-bleeding• The Pomodoro Technique Explained: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryancollinseurope/2020/03/03/the-pomodoro-technique/• Timeboxing: Why It Works and How to Get Started in 2024: https://www.nirandfar.com/timeboxing/• Using your working time well - Issue 22: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/time-management-issue-22• All-In podcast: https://www.allinpodcast.co/• Nir’s post about “the planning fallacy”: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nireyal_why-do-tasks-always-seem-to-take-longer-than-activity-7137440438939959297-XIUB/• How the Ancient Greeks Beat Distraction: https://www.nirandfar.com/tantalizing-distractions/• Jeremy Bentham: https://iep.utm.edu/jeremy-bentham• An overview of Sigmund Freud’s pleasure principle: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/pleasure