If you could have any superpower, what would you choose?

When tech entrepreneur Nir Eyal's daughter was asked this question during their planned father-daughter time, he missed her answer – he was too busy checking his phone.

Nir tells us the story.

“I was busy looking at my phone checking on email, or whatever other distraction I was interacting with, instead of being fully present with her.

“And, by the time I looked up, she was gone. She left the room because she had gotten the message that my phone was more important than she was, and I'm really embarrassed that this happened,” he told the audience at our in-person event at Tank Stream Labs in Sydney.

“I'm also embarrassed by the fact that it didn't happen just once - that it happened many times.”

Today, after years of research and personal struggle, he knows exactly which superpower he'd pick: the ability to do what he says he's going to do.

In other words, becoming "indistractable."

As our devices become more persuasive and our notifications more persistent, this superpower isn't just nice to have – it's essential for career success, even survival.

The modern workplace is becoming increasingly digital and, consequently, increasingly distracting.

As Nir once told us in interview, knowledge workers need to solve complex problems and generate innovative solutions, and that requires them to maintain focus.

Yet many of us find ourselves constantly interrupted.

"Knowledge workers come up with solutions to novel problems," Nir Eyal explained, "but if you don't have time to think, if you don't have time to reflect, because you're constantly reacting to meetings and emails and group chat channels, your work output suffers."

The former video game designer knows all about these interruptions, because he actually used to design them into habit-forming products, the subject of his bestseller “Hooked.”

But, while it's easy to blame our devices, Nir reveals that distraction actually starts from within. We often turn to digital distractions to escape uncomfortable feelings:

• Workplace stress
• Anxiety about complex tasks
• Uncertainty about priorities
• Fear of missing out

"We are all motivated by the desire to escape discomfort," he told this week's event participants.

"It's ALL pain management."

As he says in "Indistractable," we use these tools to feel relief from some kind of uncomfortable sensation.

"I feel workplace stress anxiety, so what do I do to relieve that anxiety? I check email for a minute. I go on a group chat channel. I call a meeting. Because it makes me feel productive even if it's not a good use of time," he told us.

So, to wrest back control of our attention we need to go to these root causes of our inattention.

The Four-Step Framework for Becoming "Indistractable"

Step 1: Master Internal Triggers

· Recognise when you're using technology to escape discomfort

· Develop healthier ways to cope with stress and anxiety

· Surf the urge - wait 5-10 minutes before soothing those feelings; accept that occasional dissatisfaction is normal and even useful.

Step 2: Make Time for Traction

· Schedule focused work time in your calendar. Accept that you probably won't do hard work "when you feel like it." Try a timebox calendar to allocate fixed periods of time to tasks

· Align your calendar with your values and priorities - Ask yourself: "How does the person I want to become spend their day?"

· Remember, if you don't plan your day, somebody else will.

Step 3: Hack Back External Triggers

· Manage notifications strategically (Nir says two-thirds of people with phones never change their notification settings)

· Create barriers to workplace interruptions (Nir told the example of nurses dispensing prescription drugs wearing hi-vis vests to deter interruptions so to avoid life-threatening mistakes)

· Set clear boundaries with colleagues. Try a note on your desktop

Step 4: Use Commitment Devices

· Create accountability systems. Use apps such as Forest or Cold Turkey, or find a friend to be a focus partner (Nir's an investor in focusmate.com)

· Set up consequences for not following through

· Use "price pacts," “identity pacts,” “effort pacts” or other commitment strategies. Nir, for example said he'd pay his friend, author Mark Manson $10,000 if he (Nir) didn't meet an agreed deadline for finishing the manuscript of "Indistractable"

Nir also recommended teaching children to make their own pacts. His young daughter nominated the time she would spend on her device (45 minutes) and set the microwave to act as her timer. Later, she'd ask Amazon's Alexa to tell her when time was up.

In response to a question, Nir told the audience at Tank Stream Labs that meetings were a huge source of distractions.

He said that meetings were for agreeing consensus ONLY, not for brainstorming, and if there was no agenda, then there was no need for a meeting.

Nir says each meeting should be viewed critically through the lens of "What consensus are you trying to gain?"

He suggested a briefing document be sent to potential meeting participants before any meeting, to give the opportunity for team members to respond in their own time (and, ideally, outside their own focus time).

In our Growth Faculty Book Club interview Nir also shared a technique that helped his friend and fellow author Shane Snow reduce his email time by 90%:

• Only touch each email twice
• When first opening an email, ask: "When does this need a reply?"
• Categorise emails into "reply today" or "reply this week"
• Schedule dedicated time blocks for email responses
• Wait before responding – many issues resolve themselves

Audit Your Time

· Track how you actually spend your working hours

· Identify your most common distractions

· Note which internal triggers lead to distraction

Design Your Ideal Schedule

· Block out time for deep work

· Schedule specific times for email and communications

· Include time for learning and skill development

Create Your Focus System

· Set up your physical workspace to minimise distractions

· Configure your digital tools to support focus

· Communicate your availability to colleagues

Develop Your Skills Intentionally

· Use your newly-found focus time for deliberate learning

· Practice new skills without digital interruption

· Build expertise in areas that require deep thinking

As Nir Eyal reminds us in "Indistractable": "We are more powerful than we know." By mastering our relationship with technology and protecting our ability to focus, we can ensure we're ready for whatever the future of work brings. The choice is clear: either we learn to manage these tools effectively, or they will manage us.

Nir Eyal's event at Tank Stream Labs' Scaleup Hub was presented by Growth Faculty, Scalare Partners and Startup Grind, and Tank Stream Labs.

They say that when organisations are moving fast, there's rarely enough time and space for leadership training and support. The immersive live virtual learning program with Growth Faculty membership is one option to consider when researching how best to develop aspiring or current leaders.

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