About this item

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.



About the Author

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

I study people, technology, and the worlds they make. My latest book, SHORTER: WORK BETTER, SMARTER, AND LESS-- HERE'S HOW (Public Affairs 2020) , explains how companies have moved to 4-day weeks without reducing profits, sacrificing productivity-- or cutting salaries.It's a sequel to my last book, REST: WHY YOU GET MORE DONE WHEN YOU WORK LESS (Basic Books 2016) , which explores the role that deliberate rest plays in the lives of creative and productive people. The latest paperback edition features a foreword by Arianna Huffington.REST builds on ideas I started exploring in THE DISTRACTION ADDICTION (Little, Brown & Co. 2013) , which explained how we can use information technologies to stay focused and be more creative, rather than distracted and fractured.Together, these books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.I founded Strategy Rest to help organizations that want to implement 4-day weeks and deliberate rest in their own workplaces. Previously I worked in as a technology forecaster and futurist in Silicon Valley think-tanks. I'm also a visiting scholar at Stanford University.I studied history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania, and have held fellowships at Williams College, University of California-Berkeley, and Microsoft Research Cambridge. My first book, EMPIRE AND THE SUN: VICTORIAN SOLAR ECLIPSE EXPEDITIONS (Stanford University Press, 2002) , is about, well, Victorian solar eclipse expeditions.



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