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Insights From Indistractable by Nir Eyal: Surf The Urge
Insights From Indistractable by Nir Eyal: Surf The Urge
Insights From Indistractable by Nir Eyal: Surf The Urge
Discomfort breeds distraction.
Boredom creates the urge to check our phones.
Social anxiety makes us say “yes” to meeting requests we don’t want to attend.
Stress leads to overeating.
When you and I experience boredom, anxiety, or stress, our minds crave relief and seek distraction.
“The only way to handle distraction is by learning to handle discomfort.”‐ Nir Eyal
Surf the Urge
In 2010 a group of researchers asked flight attendants who smoked to rate their craving for a cigarette during
flights when they couldn’t smoke and between flights when they could. You might think the flight attendants
who didn't get their fix between flights would crave a cigarette more than the flight attendants who smoked.
But you’d be wrong.
All the flight attendant’s cravings dropped after the smoke break, regardless if they smoked or not!
Your urges will naturally fall if you act on them or not.
The next time you have an urge to check your phone, eat junk food, or indulge in any other type of distraction, imagine you’re a surfer
riding your internal wave of discomfort. Feel the wave rise, peak, and naturally subside, like a wave moving towards an ocean shore.
On a seven‐day study, smokers who practiced ‘surfing their urge’ reduced their cigarette cravings by 37% (if ‘surfing the urge’ works for
nicotine‐addicted smokers, it’s sure to work for most distracting urges).
Most waves of discomfort last less than 10 minutes. Therefore, Nir Eyal recommends using the 10‐minute rule: "If I find myself wanting to
check my phone as a pacification device when I can't think of anything better to do, I tell myself, ‘It's fine to give in, but not right now. I
have to wait just 10 minutes.’ This technique is effective at helping me deal with all sorts of potential distractions, like Googling
something rather than writing, eating something unhealthy when I'm bored or watching another episode on Netflix when I'm 'too tired
to go to bed.'"
Create Pacts
Watching your urges rise and fall is hard. Therefore, pacts are the incentive you need to stick to your ‘urge surfing habit.’
“The antidote to impulsiveness is forethought.” – Nir Eyal
Effort Pacts
Add effort between you and the thing you don’t want to do, so that surfing an urge is easier than giving into an urge.
Example: The ‘kSafe’ is a device that locks tempting treats like Oreo cookies and Reese's Pieces in a container with a
timer. Nir Eyal says, "You could smash the container with a hammer or run out and buy more cookies, but that extra
effort makes those choices less likely."
Price Pacts
Put a price on your distractions. For example, if you get distracted by junk food while on a diet, promise a friend you’ll
burn a hundred‐dollar bill taped to your bathroom mirror and send him/her a video of you burning the bill.
Download a smartphone usage tracking app and send a screenshot of your weekly usage to a friend each week. If you
pass a certain threshold, promise to burn a twenty‐dollar bill and send him/her video evidence.
Identity Pacts
Adopt an identity that does not align with the action you’re trying to avoid. If you’re resisting meat, declare to your
family and friends that you’re a vegetarian. If you want to stop answering emails before noon, write, "Sorry, I don't
answer emails before noon" in your email signature. Issuing “I don’t” statements is a great way to nullify distracting
urges.
“A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research tested the words people use when faced with temptation. During the
experiment, one group was instructed to use the words ‘I can’t’ when considering unhealthy food choices, while the other group used ‘I
don’t.’ At the end of the study, participants were offered either a chocolate bar or granola bar to thank them for their time. Nearly twice
as many people in the ‘I don’t’ group picked the healthier option on their way out the door.” – Nir Eyal
www.ProductivityGame.com