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kdrhoton's review against another edition
4.0
Extremely enlightening which made it incredibly jarring to read.
birdinflight1's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book. Hari takes big heavy topics and talks to a million experts and distills his learnings into a very easy-to-understand format.
A lot of this information was familiar to me because I've read books or watched documentaries on flow, the importance of sleep, the evils of social media and surveillance capitalism, nutrition, free range parenting, and ADHD, but his writing helped me deepen my understanding of all these topics and tie them all together in a way that explains our collective loss of focus.
I live a lot of these realities through my experience as a teacher--when kids are stressed, have low blood sugar, poor nutrition, lack of playtime, and lack of choice, they cannot and do not pay attention.
I appreciated learning that letting your mind wander is beneficial. I have been figuring this out intuitively. I love to go for walks with friends, my dog, and alone, but increasingly, I would listen to audiobooks instead of letting my thoughts wander when walking alone. At some point, I realized I was having a hard time paying attention to audiobooks, and I realized I just didn't want any more "inputs" on my walks. When I was a young, new teacher, I'd go for long walks after school in Sugarhouse, and those walks really improved my practice--without trying, solutions and insights to the problems I was having arose in my mind, and then, with the problems solved, I would feel at peace. The next day, I would go back to school and implement those solutions. With the rise of audiobooks, a dog to train and exercise, and so many friends to invite for a walk, I've lost that mind-wandering time, and thus the problems aren't solved, and the stresses of the day are carried home, possibly manifesting in irritability, lack of focus, and problems sleeping. I'm going to try to add more long mind-wandering walks into my workdays to see if that helps with stress and focus.
I also enjoyed the part about reading, and how it increases empathy and is a big way many people find flow, which in turn leads to calmness and relaxation.
James Williams has some good insight into different types of focus, spotlight, starlight, and daylight. Starlight has to do with focus on long term goals and daylight has to with knowing what your goals are in the first place--all of this takes lots of periods of reflection and mind-wandering. When people are totally connected all the time, I worry that they will have a hard time finding their goals, dreams, and purpose.
Lastly,I appreciate his call to action! All the big problems of the day can only be solved with creativity and focus and angry people working together!
A lot of this information was familiar to me because I've read books or watched documentaries on flow, the importance of sleep, the evils of social media and surveillance capitalism, nutrition, free range parenting, and ADHD, but his writing helped me deepen my understanding of all these topics and tie them all together in a way that explains our collective loss of focus.
I live a lot of these realities through my experience as a teacher--when kids are stressed, have low blood sugar, poor nutrition, lack of playtime, and lack of choice, they cannot and do not pay attention.
I appreciated learning that letting your mind wander is beneficial. I have been figuring this out intuitively. I love to go for walks with friends, my dog, and alone, but increasingly, I would listen to audiobooks instead of letting my thoughts wander when walking alone. At some point, I realized I was having a hard time paying attention to audiobooks, and I realized I just didn't want any more "inputs" on my walks. When I was a young, new teacher, I'd go for long walks after school in Sugarhouse, and those walks really improved my practice--without trying, solutions and insights to the problems I was having arose in my mind, and then, with the problems solved, I would feel at peace. The next day, I would go back to school and implement those solutions. With the rise of audiobooks, a dog to train and exercise, and so many friends to invite for a walk, I've lost that mind-wandering time, and thus the problems aren't solved, and the stresses of the day are carried home, possibly manifesting in irritability, lack of focus, and problems sleeping. I'm going to try to add more long mind-wandering walks into my workdays to see if that helps with stress and focus.
I also enjoyed the part about reading, and how it increases empathy and is a big way many people find flow, which in turn leads to calmness and relaxation.
James Williams has some good insight into different types of focus, spotlight, starlight, and daylight. Starlight has to do with focus on long term goals and daylight has to with knowing what your goals are in the first place--all of this takes lots of periods of reflection and mind-wandering. When people are totally connected all the time, I worry that they will have a hard time finding their goals, dreams, and purpose.
Lastly,I appreciate his call to action! All the big problems of the day can only be solved with creativity and focus and angry people working together!
wanderlustcrew's review against another edition
4.0
Really eye opening! And some actionable items toward the end.
awest93's review against another edition
3.5
Could do without the fatphobia, and I'm not entirely convinced by the chapter about ADHD because he doesn't seem to have spoken to actual psychologists or people with ADHD, but I thought that he otherwise covered the different aspects of attention and how to recover them pretty well.
ashction's review against another edition
5.0
man, this book was really something. Hari delves into a well-researched examination of the several (really, an entire multitude!) ways that our attention has been affected by companies, social media, and sociological, ecological, and economic crises. his voice was compelling and honest, and i really feel like i NEEDED to hear so much of this right now. i'm getting more and more sick of how i feel drawn to things that feel bad and are bad, and this book highlights the many ways we are trained to feel it is our fault we indulge. it's not - it's the result of dozens of things, like greedy corporations and governments that all benefit from the distraction they compel. it's the result of shifting environments, and the food we eat, and the places we live, and even at the hands of education systems that are results-oriented and healthcare that seek to solve issues with drugs alone.
it's a bleak book to read at times, but it’s necessary. if you're not thinking about the way your attention is distracted and pulled in a thousand directions already, you should start now. because as Hari points out through escalating research and examination over the last few years (pre-COVID) - we are barreling towards a future where it only gets worse.
it's a bleak book to read at times, but it’s necessary. if you're not thinking about the way your attention is distracted and pulled in a thousand directions already, you should start now. because as Hari points out through escalating research and examination over the last few years (pre-COVID) - we are barreling towards a future where it only gets worse.
chudleycannons's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
It has some interesting anecdotes about where our focus has gone, but approaches it in such an idealistic way that was somewhat off putting.
jocelynk's review against another edition
3.0
I liked most of the book, or the message it’s trying to highlight. There’s a lot of things mentioned in this one book - and the mixing of facts, observations and opinions in this tone of voice makes it slightly sensationalist. I don’t doubt the issues - just the way it feels a bit unbalanced.
There’s a lot of personal bias in the writing that would make any objective reader raise eyebrows. The part on ADHD is dismissive and selective - this is a disservice to people who actually live with it (versus the author’s attention and focus problems that isn’t life wrecking).
I didn’t really like the author’s style, but it has made me think about the topic a lot deeper, and start to question what I’ve always been accepting as status quo.
There’s a lot of personal bias in the writing that would make any objective reader raise eyebrows. The part on ADHD is dismissive and selective - this is a disservice to people who actually live with it (versus the author’s attention and focus problems that isn’t life wrecking).
I didn’t really like the author’s style, but it has made me think about the topic a lot deeper, and start to question what I’ve always been accepting as status quo.
notspacemanlee's review against another edition
5.0
My focus was not stolen while reading this terrific book by Johann Hari.
I would rate this closer to 4.5 Stars because by the end he sort of shifts "focus" himself in
his conclusions and solutions. While well-intentioned, his "focus" at the end on climate change really
was not germane to the rest of the text.
I would rate this closer to 4.5 Stars because by the end he sort of shifts "focus" himself in
his conclusions and solutions. While well-intentioned, his "focus" at the end on climate change really
was not germane to the rest of the text.