HIBT Lab! Stolen Focus: Johann Hari

Hello and welcome to how I built this lab. I'm Guy Raz. This is the place where we break format and experiment with ideas and stories that you might not hear on our Monday episode. So have you ever sat in front of a book for 10 or 20 minutes only to discover that you haven't paid attention to the meaning of the words, that you've just read them but not really paid attention? And when that happens, do you, like me, feel really bad? Like You failed, that you've allowed yourself to get distracted by thoughts.

Well, you are not alone, and according to my guest today, Johan Harry. Our species is in the middle of an attention crisis. And it has everything to do with powerful forces all around us. Your attention is a commodity. And everyone and everything around you is vying for it.

But if you're building a business or trying to change something inside of your company, that requires focus. And so for many of us, that's become really, really hard to maintain. Johan Hari is a longtime journalist and best selling author. His two previous books tackled depression and addiction. This new one is called Stolen Focus, Why You Can't Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again. Johan, it's great to have you on. Welcome to the show.

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