Conquer Digital Addiction

​​Technology is, obviously, awesome. We’ve been using “tech” tools for 2.5 million years since our protohuman ancestors first picked up a stone and used it as a tool. 1.8 million years ago, “we” figured out how to make an acheulean hand axe which was a pretty epic innovation at the time.
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​​So, with the advent of smartphones in what’s known as the “Input Age,” I’m not suggesting we should all become tech-smashing Luddites. But… (And this is a big but!), I also don’t think we should underestimate just how much we play the role of addicted users caught up in the mix of a $7 TRILLION attention economics (/mind-hacking!) industry.
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​​The solution: Become Optimizites—use technology wisely to become the BEST you rather than mindlessly let your 1 million-year-old prefrontal cortex get hacked all day every day.
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​​In the class, we walk through the costs of addiction, then talk about how to conquer it so we can sculpt our ideal lives.

Cal Newport joins us as a guest teacher for this class! He is one of my favorite thinkers. He got his Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT and is now a Professor at Georgetown. He’s also a bestselling author of a number of books. Given the fact that the fastest way to Optimize your life is to STOP doing things that are sub-optimal AND the fact that (for nearly all of us) our use of technology is the #1 thing that “Needs work!,” it’s SUPER important for us to figure out how to best use all the technology available to us WITHOUT becoming lost in a tsunami of inputs. Enter: Our new philosophy of technology use: Digital Minimalism.

Cal Newport is one of my favorite thinkers. He got his Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT and is now a Professor at Georgetown. He’s also a bestselling author of a number of books. Given the fact that the fastest way to Optimize your life is to STOP doing things that are sub-optimal AND the fact that (for nearly all of us) our use of technology is the #1 thing that “Needs work!,” it’s SUPER important for us to figure out how to best use all the technology available to us WITHOUT becoming lost in a tsunami of inputs. Enter: Our new philosophy of technology use: Digital Minimalism. Enter: My SUPER strong recommendation of the book and my ALL IN commitment to helping create a movement around the ideas in the book. As you know, I rarely say a book is a must read but this book is as close as it gets. Big Ideas we explore include the fact that your soul is engaged in a lopsided arms race, a definition + overview of digital minimalism, the importance of spending time alone (and the consequences of *not* spending adequate time alone), reclaiming leisure (get active!) and joining the Attention Resistance. Here's to Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World!

Irresistible. That’s the perfect word to describe the growing array of addictive technologies that are capturing so much of our attention these days. And, it’s the perfect name for the book. Adam Alter is an associate professor of marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business. This is a great book on, as the sub-title suggests, “The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked.” Big Ideas we explore include the fact Steve Jobs didn’t let his own kids use an iPad (why?), why addiction is about more than just personality (and what matters), how to add 11 years back to your life, what happens when your brain gets pickled and the simple question you can ask to Optimize.

Nir Eyal is a former lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. His first book was an international bestseller that’s influenced the product development of pretty much all of the leading tech companies on the planet. It was called Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. We have Nir to thank for helping make the technology we use better. And... As he says, “But there’s also a dark side. As philosopher Paul Virilio wrote, ‘When you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck.’ In the case of user-friendly products and services, what makes some products engaging and easy to use can also make them distracting.” After finding HIMSELF hooked to many of the products created by designers inspired by *his* work, Eyal got himself UNHOOKED and, ultimately INDISTRACTABLE. In this great book, he gives us a practical look at *why* we’re so vulnerable to getting hooked in the first place and, most importantly, how to make ourselves Indistractable so we can control our attention and choose our lives.

Wondering what the Internet is doing to our brains? Then I think you’ll love The Shallows. It’s a fascinating, well-researched, brilliant book. Big Ideas we explore include a quick look at the neuroscience of just how “massively plastic” our brains are, the hungry gremlins in your brain, how hyperlinks decrease retention, and young vs. old brains.

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is a professional futurist. (I think that is officially tied for first for the coolest job title ever. The co-winner? Professional Optimizer, of course. Hah. :) He has a PhD in the history of science and is a former Microsoft Research fellow and visiting scholar at Stanford and Oxford. I found the book fascinating and a great complement to our collection on how to conquer digital addiction. Big Ideas we explore include how to tame that monkey in your mind, email apnea (you breathing?!), the fact that "entanglement" tech is over 1 million years old ("Hi, stone tools!"), the big costs of task switching (and an easy way to feel its effects), the importance of experimenting (w/an experiment you can do today), the Latin wisdom solvitur ambulando ("it is solved by walking") and how to be an Optimizite rather than a Luddite. :)

Ever wonder how your brain works while you’re at work? And, even more importantly, how you can OPTIMIZE how your brain works while you work? If so, this is the book for you. Big Ideas we explore include the importance of prioritizing prioritizing (aka quit blowing your brain up), how to decrease your IQ by 15 points (hah—seriously—here’s how to be 3 times less effective than someone stoned! :0), why your basal ganglia is awesome, and how to rock the seesaw that is your limbic system + prefrontal cortex.

This is a quick-reading, smart, practical guide on how to, as the sub-title suggests, “Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done. My kind of book. I *highly* recommend it. Big Ideas we explore include rats + rewards (real vs. random), progress hacks to conquer the progress paradox, saying “YES!!!” en route to saying “No” plus the physics of emails and 21st century superpowers.

David Perlmutter is one of my favorite nutrition-physicians. We have Notes on a bunch of his books including Grain Brain, Brain Maker, and Power Up Your Brain. So, when I heard about the new book that he wrote with his son Austin (who is also an MD), I was excited to read it. It’s called Brain Wash. (It’s kinda like Digital Minimalism written by nutrition-neurologist-physicians. )
As David and Austin say, the book builds on a simple premise: “Our brain’s performance is being gravely manipulated, resulting in behaviors that leave us more lonely, anxious, depressed, distrustful, illness-prone, and overweight than ever before. At the same time, we feel disconnected from ourselves, from others and from the world at large.” Their solution? We need to overhaul our mind’s operating system. How? Via a “brain wash.” They walk us through the factors that lead to what they call “disconnection syndrome” and, of course, how to deal with it.

This is our fourth Note on one of Ryan Holiday’s books. Ryan is one of my absolute favorite writers. One of the testimonials in the front of the book perfectly captures my sentiment. Screenwriter and director Brian Koppelman (Rounders, Ocean’s Thirteen and Billions) puts it this way: “I don’t have many rules in life, but one I never break is: If Ryan Holiday writes a book, I read it as soon as I can get my hands on it.” (btw: Cal Newport’s the first testimonial. He says: “Some authors give advice. Ryan Holiday distills wisdom. This book is a must read.”) Penguin Random House sent me an advance copy of this book. As I knew it would be: It’s fantastic. Of course, the book’s packed with Big Ideas and I’m excited to share some of my favorites so let’s jump straight in!

Solitude. It’s the secret sauce to leadership. But... In their great book Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin tells us: “Solitude is a state of mind, a space where you can focus on your own thoughts without distraction, with a power to bring mind and soul together in clear-eyed conviction. Like a great wave that saturates everything in its path, however, handheld devices and other media now leave us awash with the thoughts of others. We are losing solitude without even realizing it.” Big Ideas we explore include the big 4 of solitude (clarity + creativity + emotional balance + moral courage), the threats from our "Input Age," how MLK and Eisenhower used solitude, FOMO (get over it!) and how to change the world (starting with YOU!).

Manoush Zomorodi is the host of WNYC’s (New York’s public radio station) popular podcast and show called Note to Self. She decided to do a little challenge with her listeners. 20,000 (!) people participated in her 7-day “Bored and Brilliant” challenge. This book is the result of all she (and her community) learned. Big Ideas we cover include how to drop into your default mode (aka imagination engine) via boredom, daydreaming (three ways to do it: the good, the bad and the ugly!), challenge #1: observe yourself! (plus the other six), doing deep work (the 4 rules), and essentialism 101 (the 3 steps).

Have you ever heard of “The iPhone Effect”?

Let’s revisit Cal Newport’s Deep Work for another genius idea.

Quick quiz today: Do you know how often the average American checks his or her smartphone?

Inspired by Cal Newport, I don’t read the news online. In fact, my only source of news these days is The Economist. Intelligent. Spacious. International perspective. In print. Weekly. Perfect.

Herbert Simon won the Nobel Prize in Economics. He was one of the early thought leaders in the field of “attention economics.”

In our last +1, we talked about single-mindedly focusing. Today we’ll talk about its opposite: “continuous partial attention.”

Manoush Zomorodi wrote a great little book called Bored and Brilliant.

In our last +1, we talked about the fact that 25 minutes every day = 2 YEARS of your life.

A couple +1s ago, while celebrating Yuval Noah Harari’s lack of a smartphone, I mentioned the fact that we don’t need to become smashing Luddites in response to the tsunami of technology that hammers us all day every day.

In our last +1, we talked about all the zeroes (12 of them!) in the Attention Economy.

Continuing our focus on how to conquer digital addiction, let’s talk about a super simple way to get a little more clarity on the trade-offs you might be making and create a little more motivation to rock it.

As we’ve discussed, Ryan Holiday is a modern Stoic.

In our last +1, we talked about Ryan Holiday’s pro tip on how to reclaim lost time, energy and pure brainpower. (Have you practiced your “I don’t know” or “I don’t care” yet? 🤓)

In our last couple +1s, we’ve talked about Optimizing your FOMO by unplugging from the incessant consumption of the inessential.

In our last +1, we talked about the importance of creating boundaries lest we slip into burnout and we hammered home the whole optimal work-to-rest ratio a little more. 🔨

Not too long ago, we talked about how to get rid of your Fear of Missing Out. The dreaded FOMO!!

The other day I was driving to my Trail a little before sunrise.

In our last several +1s, we’ve been talking about The Power of Agency.

In our last couple +1s, we’ve been having fun hanging out with Jake and JZ and their wisdom on how to Make Time.

In our last few +1s, we’ve been talking about how to Make Time.

Continuing our trip through Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky’s brilliant brains and equally brilliant book Make Time, Today we’re going to have fun with a little history lesson combined with a super-simple way to start chipping away at all those twitchy smartphone touches.

The other day Grandma and Grandpa visited to hang out with the E’s. We had a nice time. 😍

Nir Eyal wrote the playbook that pretty much all of the major tech companies use to create their super-compelling (addictive/Irresistible?) web sites, apps, etc. The book is called Hooked.

David Perlmutter is one of my favorite nutrition-physicians. We have Notes on a bunch of his books including Grain Brain, Brain Maker, and Power Up Your Brain.

In our last +1, we talked about some crazy stats re: smartphone usage from David and Austin Perlmutter’s new book called Brain Wash.

A few +1s ago we spent some time with Jim Kwik and his brilliant book Limitless.

Alexander Graham Bell once said: “Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”

As you probably noticed if you’ve been following along, I recently rebooted the PhilosophersNotes TV series.

In Life Visioning, Michael Beckwith tells us we need to turn off the Internet and plug into the Inner-net.

In our last +1, we took a quick trip through the purgatory of the idiot (lol) that is the crowded and busy world of incessant inputs straight to the school of genius which is found at 101 Solitude Lane.