The distraction addiction : getting the information you need and the communication you want without enraging your family, annoying your colleagues, and destroying your soul / Alex Soojung-Kim Pang.

Cover image for The distraction addiction : getting the information you need and the communication you want without enraging your family, annoying your colleagues, and destroying your soul / Alex Soojung-Kim Pang.

Title:

Author:

Pang, Alex Soojung-Kim.

ISBN:

9780316208260

(hc)

0316208264

9780316247528

(int'l.

ed.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication Info:

New York : Little, Brown, 2013.

Description:

290 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.

Subject(s):

Information technology -- Social aspects.

Communication and technology.

Technology -- Social aspects.

Technology -- Psychological aspects.

Internet addiction.

Holds: Copies (not including on-order items):

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Call Number	Shelf Location	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Penrose Library	Book	303.4833 P191D	Nonfiction	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

The question of our time: can we reclaim our lives in an age that feels busier and more distracting by the day?

We've all found ourselves checking email at the dinner table, holding our breath while waiting for Outlook to load, or sitting hunched in front of a screen for an hour longer than we intended.

Mobile devices and the web have invaded our lives, and this is a big idea book that addresses one of the biggest questions of our age: can we stay connected without diminishing our intelligence, attention spans, and ability to really live? Can we have it all?

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, a renowned Stanford technology guru, says yes. The Distraction Addiction is packed with fascinating studies, compelling research, and crucial takeaways. Whether it's breathing while Facebook refreshes, or finding creative ways to take a few hours away from the digital crush, this book is about the ways to tune in without tuning out.

Author Notes

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang has spent the past twenty years studying people, technology, and the worlds they make. A professional futurist with a PhD in the history of science, Pang is a former Microsoft Research fellow, a visiting scholar at Stanford and Oxford universities, and a senior consultant at Strategic Business Insights, a Silicon Valley-based think tank. Pang's writings have appeared in Scientific American , American Scientist , and the Los Angeles Times Book Review , as well as in many academic publications.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

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: Zoe Pagnamenta, Pagnamenta Agency. (Aug. 20) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Setting aside the question of whether people enslaved by their mobile devices and the Internet would devote any time to reading this rangy self-help book by futurist Pang, those who do might discover that his approach to contemplative computing has merit. Taking a page from Buddhist thought, Pang presents eight principles (or steps) to help those hopelessly distracted by technology's siren call convert their switch-tasking to productive multitasking, adopt tools to protect their concentration, be more mindful in their involvement with social media, and recharge their minds and souls through restorative practices, including observing a DIY Digital Sabbath. Pang bolsters his advice with anecdotes of intellectual breakthroughs by great thinkers of the past, coupled with interviews with present-day scientists and tech-savvy professionals. These accounts, including the surprising use of social media by Buddhist monks and a lengthy analysis of Darwin's method of reflection through walking, are the best part of Pang's book, placing today's current tech addiction into a broader context of human history, development, and philosophical insight. Carolyn Saper--Saper, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist

Library Journal Review

Professional futurist and historian of technology Pang (visiting scholar, Stanford and Oxford; former Microsoft Research Fellow) provides the path back to attention in this Zen-inspired book containing chapters entitled: "Breathe," "Simplify," "Meditate," "Deprogram," "Experiment," "Refocus," "Rest," and "Eight Steps to Contemplative Computing." He argues persuasively that we are addicted to and hobbled by our dependency on technology. Pang implores us to use technology more mindfully in this thoughtful book that is rich in research and anecdote. He suggests helpful techniques, such as using computer programs that prevent Internet access, thereby letting us concentrate on the task at hand, rather than intermittently "multitasking" by reading email and searching the web. He also recommends taking Sunday sabbaticals from reading email. VERDICT Perfect for readers who enjoy books on the nature of attention such as Maggie Jackson and Bill McKibben's Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age and on the behavior of human-computer interaction.-Lynne F. Maxwell, West Virginia Univ. Coll. of Law Lib., -Morgantown (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Introduction: Two Monkeys	p. 3
Chapter 1 Breathe	p. 17
Chapter 2 Simplify	p. 52
Chapter 3 Meditate	p. 83
Chapter 4 Deprogram	p. 110
Chapter 5 Experiment	p. 139
Chapter 6 Refocus	p. 177
Chapter 7 Rest	p. 198
Chapter 8 Eight Steps to Contemplative Computing	p. 216
Appendix 1 Keeping a Tech Diary	p. 231
Appendix 2 Rules for Mindful Social Media	p. 235
Appendix 3 DIY Digital Sabbath	p. 237
Acknowledgments	p. 241
Notes	p. 245
Index	p. 281

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