Stolen Focus sounds like a self-help book, but it isn’t. Johann Hari takes a systems-first approach to understanding distraction, rather than centering the individual. Hari’s thesis is that our shrinking attention spans are not our fault. Instead, they are the direct result of conscious decisions by tech companies—companies whose profits depend on holding our focus as long as possible. Your distraction isn’t your fault, says Hari.

I think this book is worth reading. If you want to get the most out of this in a single chapter, I recommend chapter 8: Cruel Optimism. This is where the book really came together for me. Here, Hari argues with Nir Eyal, author of Indistractable (which is a self-help book) over the solutions to overwhelming distraction. Eyal advocates the individual approach (turn off your phone, walk outside, rigorously schedule things, etc.) while Hari proposes designing humane technology that assists us in disconnecting. Hari described a feeling that I’ve been having trouble articulating: so much of the individual approach is based on exceptionalism and privilege. I did it, so you can too—except that I can work remotely, and I don’t have to worry about food and job security, and I’m not taking care of four kids by myself. Bootstrapping is toxic.

This book makes me all the more certain that removing the feed-style format of this website was the right choice. At one point, one of my friends told me that I should have a sort of infinite feed to help “draw people in.” I thought about it and wrote up the code. But then I previewed it and felt disgusted looking at it. It wasn’t a humane website design. All good websites are finite.

Hari also discusses and condemns surveillance capitalism: the practice of harvesting and selling personal data. This is how many companies make money, from Facebook to Google to TikTok. If the service is free, then you’re not the customer—you’re the product. I appreciate that Hari includes this, as this section helps to explain the reason that companies want to take your data and intrude on your life as much as possible. It’s not malicious or personal, it’s business. But the cost of business is enormous.

There’s a lot of other things covered in this Stolen Focus—from the way we let our minds wander to the four day work-week, but I think they’re all best explained by reading the book. I recommend it. It starts off like a self-help book, and I understand if that turns you off. But Johann Hari has penned a solid critique of the current state of technology, and how we can move forward from it.