Johann Hari on Stolen Focus and Reclaiming Attention
A New Way of Being
Simon Mundie
4.8 • 523 Ratings
🗓️ 17 December 2024
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After watching the Channel 4 documentary Swiped: The School That Banned Smartphones and noticing the profound impact of using a dumbphone, I’m revisiting one of my most powerful conversations—my interview with Johann Hari, author of Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention.
Johann reveals the deeper reasons so many of us struggle with focus and attention, explaining why this isn’t a personal failing but the result of broader societal forces. From our relationship with digital devices to surveillance capitalism and the loss of childhood freedom, Johann’s insights are eye-opening and essential for anyone seeking to reclaim their focus.
I’ve also created a FREE online course to help you beat burnout and find flow, drawing on research and techniques that have profoundly impacted my own life. Available for a limited time - link below.
🔗 Free course on beating burnout and finding flow: https://www.simonmundie.com/beat-burnout-mini-course
📖 Featured guest: Johann Hari, author of Stolen Focus.
⚠️ This episode contains swearing and adult themes.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I watched the Channel 4 documentary Swiped, the school that banned smartphones over the weekend. |
| 0:11.0 | If you haven't seen it, is shocking and well worth watching. |
| 0:14.4 | The focus is on school children and the massive impacts these devices are having on them. |
| 0:19.0 | But it is abundantly clear parents, teachers and |
| 0:22.1 | adults more broadly are massively impacted by smartphones too. And let's not forget, the technology |
| 0:28.2 | is literally designed to be addictive. So last week, I got a dumb phone for my birthday and the |
| 0:34.7 | impact has been enormous. To be clear, I still have a smartphone, |
| 0:38.5 | but I'm using it like a work computer, so during select hours in the working day, |
| 0:43.1 | and then I'm turning it off and putting it away at evenings and weekends. And this weekend |
| 0:47.9 | just gone, I really noticed that not having a smartphone in my pocket came as a huge relief. |
| 0:55.7 | My wife and eldest daughter were away, |
| 1:01.1 | so it was just me and my 19 month old, and I had absolutely nothing on me that could distract me even slightly. And so I was completely present for her, and it was joyous. And I realized that |
| 1:08.1 | just having a smartphone in the pocket does have an impact, even if I'm not using it, |
| 1:13.2 | because it's like my brain knows it's there. So there is this background alertness and even really |
| 1:19.5 | subtle unease. With the possibility of any dopamine snacks completely removed, I could actually |
| 1:25.5 | feel my brain gently settling like a snow globe quicker and more |
| 1:30.2 | deeply. And it reminded me of a quote from Paul Dolan, author of Happiness by Design, who said on |
| 1:35.8 | my podcast, your willpower is weak, but your design power is strong. So that's what I'm doing. I'm designing |
| 1:42.5 | my life in such a way as to have my smartphone be |
| 1:46.2 | a bit part player in my life rather than a main character. So with all that in mind, I'm |
| 1:51.7 | re-releasing this episode with Johann Harri, author of Stolen Focus, which he wrote about this very |
| 1:57.4 | phenomenon. Now, as you may know, I've also created a free online course about |
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