Summary of Johann Hari's Stolen Focus

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#1

I was planning on going offline for three months. I was going to use my friend’s old, broken laptop to write the novel I had been planning for years. I needed a phone that could not access the internet of any kind.

#2

The most effective way to beat any destructive habit is through precommitment. You bind the future version of you so that you don’t have to commit to the temptation of your current state.

#3

I had been working nonstop since I was twentyone. I had taken almost no holidays. I had felt tired for so long that all I knew was how to outrun it. As people began to disembark, I heard the ping of an incoming text message.

#4

I wrote my first email in 1993, when I was 19 years old. I didn’t feel any excitement or joy when I sent it, and I didn’t understand why there was such a big deal about this new email thing. I wanted a place that would not stimulate my journalistic curiosity.