Smart phones, social media and laptops were all designed to be our servants, to make our lives easier. Often though, it can feel like they are in fact our masters. The ease with which we can access them sometimes creates more work rather than less. We are always just a call away from families, friends and colleagues. At work, meal times and in bed there is a relentless temptation to check lest something  vital is happening in our absence.
All this is having a profound impact on the way in which we interact with one another. Is always having emails in the background eroding our ability to concentrate on a single task? Are virtual relationships damaging real ones? Is society at large suffering?
Frances Booth, a freelance journalist, thinks so. In her book, The Distraction Trap: How to focus in a digital world (published at the end of March), she addresses these worrying and important trends and provides advice on how to control our digital activity and make technology work for us, not the other way round.
I asked her a few questions about the book.
What prompted you to write The Distraction Trap?
I noticed everyone was staring down at their screens. After spotting this again and again and again I decided to write the book.
Are you the first person seriously to research and explore this phenomenon?
No. A lot of research has been done in America. Much of this centres around MIT. One excellent and influential book in America is Alone Together by Sherry Turkle, looking particularly at the impact on young people. Some research and writing has been done in the UK – one key book is The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, looking particularly at changes to the brain. There is room for much more discussion of the topic in the UK. The Distraction Trap takes a new slant in that it provides a practical step-by-step guide on how to focus, as well as looking at the latest research. In the book, I include psychological studies, statistics, and examples drawn from business and life.
How do people generally respond when you tell them about your book?Â
They always want to talk about it! Everyone has something to say, which is brilliant. I have heard so many stories about what people feel about digital distraction, how they have noticed things changing, and how they are trying to cope with it. While I was writing the book these discussions sparked so many ideas. Now, I hope the discussions will go beyond people talking to me. I hope that once people read the book they will start discussing it with other people they know.
Is The Distraction Trap is having a significant, negative impact on society? Are people struggling to concentrate and interact authentically?
Yes, I think being digitally distracted is having a negative impact on society. People are struggling to concentrate because of digital distraction, and people are damaging in-person relationships while being pulled away, for example, by text messages. In the book I talk about how to build up focus gradually. I also look at different kinds of relationships and at how to pay attention to what and who really matters to you.
What is a healthy relationship with social media and new technology? How often should we be checking our emails, going on Facebook etc? What practical steps do you suggest to loosen our dependence?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on who you are, what you do for a living, and what you want out of your time. A social media manager, for example, would probably be on social media more than, say, an academic. One piece of advice that is common to pretty much everyone is that we ‘need’ to be on email and social media a lot less than we think we do. You only realise this when you start cutting back. There are powerful drivers that keep us checking such as an expectation problem many of us have (expecting things of ourselves as well as others) and the fear that we will miss out on something. I look at both these things in the book. Rather than fixing a set amount of time that you should or shouldn’t spend switched on, it’s about you consciously choosing how to use technology, rather than technology being in control.
Buy The Distraction Trap here
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