The Distraction Addiction

May 27, 2013
In this practical guide to better, more “contemplative computing,” Pang, a historian of technology, teaches readers a valuable set of skills to better enable them to deal with an increasing reliance on ever-more intrusive and distracting forms of mobile technology. Along the way, the author provides an elegant tour through current neuroscience and an examination of the nature of attention to find better ways to handle our contemporary digital mediascape. In seven extended chapters, Pang assesses attention-focusing tools (e.g., aesthetically minimal word-processing software like WriteRoom and Internet blockers like Freedom), as well as strategies like meditation and scheduled “Sabbaths” away from stimulation like e-mail, push notifications, and other calls for attention. Pang’s methods will be familiar to readers of other time-management manifestos, but he successfully renders them concrete, practical, and contemporary. His history of technology is also fascinating, drawing from sources far removed from the digital sphere. Pang’s tome is a valuable resource for anyone seeking to take control of his or her digital life, and it’s a great primer on the interplay between mind and tech. Agent: Zoë Pagnamenta, Pagnamenta Agency.