There’s nothing quite like reading a book about the dangers of technology while glued to the glowing screen of my iPad. Johann Hari’s Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again had me hooked immediately, mostly because it felt like he was calling me out personally.
One line in particular stuck with me:
“I thought about the difference between the glowing blue light I had spent so much of my life staring at, which keeps you always alert, and the natural light that has faded all around me, which seemed to say: the day is over; rest now.”
As someone with an interior design background, I know just how important natural light is to our circadian rhythms. Natural light is supposed to guide our bodies into rest, yet I constantly fight against it… scrolling TikTok at 1 a.m. like my body’s clock doesn’t matter. And then I wonder why I wake up exhausted.
That exhaustion feeds into something else Hari talks about: our crumbling attention spans. I used to be sharp, able to recall facts and details without a second thought. Lately, though, I struggle to even remember what I did yesterday. I told myself it was just age creeping in, but reading this book made me realize it’s more about overload. We’re bombarded with so much content every day that nothing really sticks. We consume, but we don’t retain.
What makes it worse is how easily distraction snowballs. A single text notification can drag me down the rabbit hole. I’ll answer, then casually open Instagram, then somehow wind up on TikTok… and suddenly thirty minutes are gone. By the time I force myself back to work, I’m not just half an hour behind, I’m a full hour behind because I have to refocus. That’s why I’ve started putting my phone on Do Not Disturb when I need to get things done. It feels drastic, but otherwise, my brain just can’t stay on track.
Hari also dive into the “screw-up effect” – the way our brains stumble when we constantly switch tasks. Every time I jump between work, my phone, and back again, I notice more mistakes. Reading over late-night work the next morning, I’ll find errors so ridiculous I literally ask myself, how did I even do that? Multitasking feels productive, but really it’s a trap.
What struck me, though, is that Hari doesn’t just dwell on the problem, he points to solutions. He highlights how “deliberately slow practices” like yoga, meditation, or tai chi can rebuild our focus. That resonated with me because I’ve seen it in my own life. Even taking five minutes to stretch, breathe, and slow down makes me feel clearer and more present. It’s a very different kind of “escape” than scrolling, one that actually restores me instead of draining me.
The more I sat with these first chapters, the more it felt like Hari was holding up a mirror. I see myself in the late-night scrolling, the constant distractions, the errors caused by switching between tasks. But I also see a way forward. Focus isn’t permanently lost, it’s something we have to protect. Whether it’s respecting natural light, guarding my time from notifications, or slowing down with yoga, I’m starting to realize that reclaiming focus isn’t just possible. It’s necessary.
References
Hari, Johann. Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again. Crown, 2022.
One response
I must say this article is extremely well written, insightful, and packed with valuable knowledge that shows the author’s deep expertise on the subject, and I truly appreciate the time and effort that has gone into creating such high-quality content because it is not only helpful but also inspiring for readers like me who are always looking for trustworthy resources online. Keep up the good work and write more. i am a follower.