Some books open entirely new territory. You have to read them in short bursts because everything feels foreign and overwhelming at first. Then there are books that arrive like familiar friends — reminding you of things you’ve always known but keep pushing aside because nothing quite stuck.
“Indistractible” by Nir Eyal is one of those friends.
The core message hits cleanly: defend your attention, whatever comes. Eyal believes the future will have only two types of people — those who get distracted and those who are indistractible.
We don’t need to talk about the future though. It’s already here. Look around and you’ll struggle to find truly indistractible people. Constant interruptions from phones, colleagues who need something right now, and even when I commit to focused work, something supposedly urgent always surfaces. Like a coffee break.
The “always on” people in my professional world are already lost, I think. They wouldn’t read this book because they’ve forgotten what deep concentration feels like. Distraction has become their default state. Once you’re properly scattered, you can barely remember what focus was like.
But if you still know what it means to concentrate properly, to sit in one place for extended periods, this book matters. So how do you become indistractible?
Eyal provides strategies and tools. Almost everything comes down to relentless planning and time-boxing. For him, time management equals pain management. We love distraction because it numbs us — we don’t have to face our fears and anxieties. He mentions hedonic adaptation, our tendency to return to a baseline level of satisfaction regardless of what happens to us.
We need to counter self-doubt with positive self-talk. Keep coaching yourself: “You’re making progress.” This traction moves us forward. It seems crucial to schedule time for progress itself. Control only how much time you spend on a task, without constantly checking the outcome. This rebuilds self-trust.
Another significant point: schedule time for friendships. Actually put it in the calendar. He keeps returning to calendars — only precise calendar planning makes this work.
I found his take on group chats fascinating. Slack channels, he says, are like daily meetings with random participants and no agenda. Group chats are like saunas — don’t spend too much time in them.
In my work, I have multiple channels, especially Slack with its endless discussions where immediate responses are expected. We’ve moved past email — everything runs through various Slack channels. I organise my tasks in Asana. After reading Eyal’s book, I’ve stopped having conversations in Slack where possible. Instead, I comment on task cards and bring colleagues together so they have proper context for their questions and can respond in the right place.
What other tools does he recommend? Obviously, remove all unnecessary iPhone notifications. Everything that pops and pings can simply be turned off. He provides various examples for shielding yourself from distracting influences and working longer on deep, focused tasks.
I didn’t find much new in this book, but it gave me a powerful impulse to become indistractible. Maybe it’s simply that word — one I’d never heard before and which might not be widely known in German yet.
This book is for anyone who still believes in deep work and wants to create something lasting. I recommend it without reservation.
Originally auf Deutsch at reinergaertner.de, running since 1997. The translation had AI help. The typos are all mine.