Can This Simple Change Save My Distracted Brain

Can This Simple Change Save My Distracted Brain? ![rw-book-cover](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3Qch7wmeySY/maxresdefault.jpg) 🔗 **Source:** [Can This Simple Change Save My Distracted Brain?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qch7wmeySY) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: #digital-minimalism #attention #mental-health #smartphone-addiction #internet-blocking #research > author: Cal Newport > source: Deep Questions Podcast > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qch7wmeySY > date created: 2024-12-28 15:30 > > # 🏷️ Title: Can This Simple Change Save My Distracted Brain? >  ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Try 14-day mobile internet blocking experiment — research shows dramatic benefits #digital-minimalism - [H2] Configure precise app blocking (SMG apps only) — avoid frustration with pragmatic apps #smartphone-addiction - [H3] Set up stronger blocking controls with friction — use physical devices or partner PIN codes #attention ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [[#📝 Summary]] - [[#📖 Main Content]] - [[#🗒️ Notes]] - [[#📚 References]] - [[#🗣️ Paraphrase]] - [[#📰 Newsletter]] - [[#✅ Action Items]] - [[#🧪 Hypotheses]] - [[#📊 Methodology]] - [[#❓ Questions]] - [[#🔮 Future Research]] - [[#💡 Implications]] - [[#🧠 Learning Styles Assessment]] - [[#📊 Accessibility Assessment]] - [[#🌍 DEIB Assessment]] - [[#✅ Logical Validity]] - [[#🛡️ DARVO Analysis]] - [[#🎯 Conclusion]] ### 🔗 References - [Research Paper: Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being](PNAS Nexus) - [Cal Newport Newsletter](https://calnewport.com) ## 📝 Summary - Cal Newport discusses groundbreaking research showing that blocking mobile internet for just 14 days dramatically improves attention, mental health, and well-being - The study used randomized controlled trials with 500+ participants, finding massive improvements in sustained attention, mental health scores, and subjective well-being - Only 25.5% of participants remained compliant, highlighting the addictive nature of mobile internet - Four mechanisms explain benefits: more meaningful offline activities, increased social interaction, better sleep, and enhanced self-control - Newport provides three practical tips for successfully implementing this intervention ## 📖 Main Content The research paper "Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being" represents a landmark study in understanding digital addiction's impact. Using the Freedom app, researchers blocked internet-powered applications while preserving essential functions like calls and messaging. The study employed rigorous methodology including randomized controlled trials, compliance monitoring through software logs, surveys, attention tests, and random experience sampling. This gold standard approach in social psychology research delivered unprecedented results in just two weeks. The intervention freed up approximately 150 minutes daily that participants previously spent on mobile internet. Rather than this time being wasted, participants naturally gravitated toward activities that enhanced well-being: meaningful offline pursuits, social interactions, and adequate sleep. This suggests humans have inherent drives toward beneficial activities when artificial constraints are removed. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=0) — [H1] Revolutionary digital intervention promises dramatic benefits - Key idea: Simple intervention delivers benefits equivalent to breakthrough pharmaceutical - Evidence: "Your symptoms of anxiety and depression would significantly reduce... your overall sense of moment-to-moment life satisfaction would improve... you would gain substantially more ability to concentrate" #### ⏱️ [02:30](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=150) — [H2] Study methodology and intervention design - Key idea: Researchers used Freedom app to block internet while preserving essential phone functions - Evidence: "They set it up to block internet-powered apps like social media and the web browser, but leave things like instant messaging and phone calls alone" #### ⏱️ [04:15](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=255) — [H1] Randomized controlled trial ensures scientific rigor - Key idea: Gold standard research design with compliance monitoring eliminates bias - Evidence: "They made this a randomized control trial... they could really be comparing what was the difference between these two groups" #### ⏱️ [06:45](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=405) — [H1] Dramatic improvements in sustained attention - Key idea: Two-week intervention produced massive gains in ability to focus - Evidence: "Between the beginning of the experience and time point 2... we see this blue line goes way up a market increase in the ability to pay attention" #### ⏱️ [07:30](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=450) — [H1] Mental health benefits exceed expectations - Key idea: Mental health scores showed dramatic improvement with lasting effects - Evidence: "An even more dramatic effect here... That's a massive increase... they still had some after effect benefits" #### ⏱️ [08:20](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=500) — [H2] Screen time reduced by half - Key idea: Mobile internet blocking cut daily screen time from 304 to 161 minutes - Evidence: "They basically dropped the amount of time they're looking at their screens by about a factor of two" #### ⏱️ [09:45](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=585) — [H1] Four key mechanisms explain the benefits - Key idea: Time reallocation and improved self-control drive positive outcomes - Evidence: "Meaningful offline activities... more social interaction... slept more and their sense of self-control increased" #### ⏱️ [11:30](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=690) — [H2] Natural human drives toward beneficial activities - Key idea: Without artificial constraints, people naturally choose activities that enhance well-being - Evidence: "If we see this in the research, the subjects all move towards those much more meaningful activities, it tells me that we're wired to do the right thing" #### ⏱️ [13:15](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=795) — [H2] Self-control improvement explained by reduced phone urges - Key idea: Removing reward signals from apps reduces constant urge for distraction - Evidence: "The short-term motivation center of your brain is constantly voting for picking up your phone... you will begin to experience your day as one in which you have much more control" #### ⏱️ [17:45](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=1065) — [H2] Low compliance rate reveals addiction severity - Key idea: Only 25.5% of participants completed the experiment successfully - Evidence: "They had originally recruited right around 500 participants for this study, but only 25.5% of the participants remained compliant" #### ⏱️ [19:20](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=1160) — [H2] Tip 1: Block precisely to avoid frustration - Key idea: Target SMG apps (social media, news, games) while preserving pragmatic functionality - Evidence: "Park Mobile... two-factor authentication... You need that on your phone... you can't have those type of frustrations" #### ⏱️ [21:30](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=1290) — [H2] Tip 2: Strengthen controls with friction - Key idea: Use physical devices or partner controls to prevent easy circumvention - Evidence: "Brick has a physical key fob... you can configure your phone such that it's protected with iOS's screen time" #### ⏱️ [23:10](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=1390) — [H2] Tip 3: Lean into boredom for natural redirection - Key idea: Accept discomfort and let natural drives guide toward beneficial activities - Evidence: "Feel that discomfort, feel that boredom... let me try other things that might get rid of this boredom unrelated to my phone" #### ⏱️ [25:45](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=1545) — [H1] AI flooding academic journals with low-quality submissions - Key idea: AI tools increase submission volume while dramatically reducing quality - Evidence: "Nearly 70% were desk rejected... by comparison, the desk rejection rate for low AI manuscripts was 44%" #### ⏱️ [29:15](https://youtu.be/3Qch7wmeySY?t=1755) — [H2] Landlining concept for phone management - Key idea: Keep phones plugged in kitchen to reduce constant access and addiction - Evidence: "Leaving our phones plugged in the kitchen... We now call it landlinining" ## 📚 References - [Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being](https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus) - [Cal Newport Newsletter](https://calnewport.com) - [Deep Questions Podcast](https://www.calnewport.com/podcast/) - [Freedom App](https://freedom.to/) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - Blocking internet access on smartphones for two weeks produces pharmaceutical-level improvements in attention, mental health, and life satisfaction through rigorous scientific testing - The intervention works by eliminating artificial reward signals that hijack natural human drives, allowing people to naturally gravitate toward meaningful activities, social connection, and adequate sleep - Successfully implementing this intervention requires precise blocking of addictive apps while preserving practical functionality, stronger controls with friction, and accepting boredom as a pathway to better choices ## 📰 Newsletter Groundbreaking research reveals that a simple two-week digital intervention can transform your mental clarity and well-being. Scientists found that blocking mobile internet access (while keeping calls and texts) dramatically improved participants' ability to focus, reduced anxiety and depression, and increased overall life satisfaction. The study's most striking finding? When freed from constant digital distraction, people naturally chose activities that enhanced their well-being - socializing, sleeping better, and engaging in meaningful offline pursuits. This suggests our instincts guide us toward beneficial behaviors when artificial constraints are removed. For WordPress professionals constantly juggling notifications, deadlines, and digital demands, this research offers hope. Consider implementing a modified version during focused work sessions or evening hours. Resources: [Learn WordPress](https://learn.wordpress.org/), [Developer Docs](https://developer.wordpress.org/), [WP-CLI](https://wp-cli.org/) ## ✅ Action Items #### DevRel - Developer advocacy: Create content about digital wellness for developer productivity - Education: Develop workshops on attention management for developers - Developer experience: Research impact of notification-heavy development tools - Community management: Implement "landlining" periods for focused community work #### WordPress - Core: Establish distraction-free development periods for complex features - Core Performance: Use focused attention blocks for optimization work - Documentation: Create guides on managing digital overwhelm while contributing - Community: Promote healthy digital habits at WordCamps and meetups #### The WPCC - Programs: Include digital wellness training in fellowship programs - Funding: Support research into technology's impact on contributor well-being ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Blocking internet access on development machines during coding sessions will improve code quality and reduce bugs - WordPress contributors using mobile internet blocking will show increased contribution consistency and quality - Teams implementing "landlining" practices will demonstrate improved collaboration and meeting effectiveness - Digital minimalism training will reduce contributor burnout and increase retention rates ### 📊 Methodology - Randomized controlled trial comparing blocked vs unblocked internet access during development work - Longitudinal study tracking WordPress contribution patterns before and after digital wellness interventions - Survey research measuring team productivity and satisfaction with various digital restriction protocols ### ❓ Questions - How can open source communities balance accessibility with the need for focused, distraction-free contribution time? - What digital wellness practices would be most effective for distributed teams working across time zones? - How might WordPress's mobile app development be influenced by understanding mobile internet addiction patterns? ### 🔮 Future Research - Impact of notification-heavy development environments on code quality and security vulnerabilities - Effectiveness of digital wellness interventions in remote work scenarios - Long-term effects of mobile internet blocking on creative problem-solving abilities ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Developers should consider implementing structured periods without mobile internet access during complex coding tasks - Policy: Open source projects might benefit from establishing digital wellness guidelines for contributors - Security: Reduced distraction could lead to more careful code review and fewer security vulnerabilities - Education: Programming education should include training on managing digital distractions ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 12th Grade (Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Charts showing dramatic improvements in attention, mental health, and well-being - Improve: Infographic summarizing the three implementation tips, visual comparison of blocked vs unblocked phone interfaces #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Podcast format with clear narration and explanation - Improve: Audio summary of key research findings, guided meditation for managing digital urges #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Clear definitions of terms like "SMG apps" and "landlining" - Improve: Analogies comparing digital addiction to other behavioral patterns, storytelling about transformation experiences #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Step-by-step instructions for implementing blocking software - Improve: Hands-on workshop for configuring phone restrictions, physical tracking sheets for monitoring progress #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Research methodology, statistical results, causal explanations - Improve: Decision tree for choosing blocking strategies, quantified tracking methods for personal experiments #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Discussion of partner involvement in blocking strategies - Improve: Group challenges for implementing digital wellness, peer accountability systems #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Personal reflection prompts about digital habits - Improve: Self-assessment tools for digital addiction, private journaling exercises for tracking improvements #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Connection between digital habits and natural human drives - Improve: Emphasis on how digital wellness connects to overall life ecosystem and natural rhythms ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Clear headings structure, descriptive chart titles - Improve: Alt text for data visualizations, audio descriptions of research charts #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Standard podcast player controls - Improve: Keyboard shortcuts for navigating to key sections, skip links for different topics #### Contrast and readability - Present: Audio format inherently accessible for visual impairments - Improve: High-contrast transcripts, large-text versions of accompanying materials #### Media and captions - Present: Audio content as primary medium - Improve: Accurate transcripts, chapter markers for easier navigation ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: Universal focus on human attention and well-being - Improve: Acknowledgment of different cultural relationships with technology, international research examples #### Inclusive language - Present: Gender-neutral examples, accessible explanations of technical terms - Improve: Recognition that digital access varies globally, sensitivity to economic barriers to digital wellness #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Clear structure with numbered tips, consistent formatting - Improve: Multiple strategies recognizing different attention patterns, accommodation for various executive function needs #### Representation - Present: Focus on universal human experiences with technology - Improve: Diverse examples of how digital wellness might look across different life circumstances ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: Strong logical progression from research findings to practical recommendations - Inductive strength: Robust generalization from well-designed study to broader population - Causal reasoning: Clear explanation of mechanisms linking intervention to outcomes - Analogical strength: Effective comparisons to physical fitness and drug addiction #### Fallacies - Appeal to authority: Appropriately relies on peer-reviewed research rather than personal opinion - Hasty generalization: Avoided by acknowledging compliance challenges and individual variation #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Informative and encouraging, balancing scientific rigor with practical accessibility ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: No denial patterns present; acknowledges difficulty of implementation - Attack: No attacks on technology users; frames addiction as systemic issue - Reverse victim/offender: No victim-blaming; focuses on empowering individual agency - Emotional cues and rhetoric: Uses hope and empowerment rather than shame or fear ## 🎯 Conclusion This research provides compelling evidence that our constant connection to mobile internet is causing more damage to our attention, mental health, and well-being than we realize. The solution - blocking mobile --- ## Full Transcript [00:00] Imagine if I could offer you a pill that [00:03] gave you the following benefits. One, [00:05] your symptoms of anxiety and depression [00:07] would significantly reduce. Two, your [00:10] overall sense of momentto- moment life [00:13] satisfaction would improve. And three, [00:16] you would gain substantially more [00:18] ability to concentrate. Now, to make [00:21] this even more enticing, let's say this [00:24] pill would deliver you those benefits in [00:26] only two weeks. If such a drug existed, [00:30] it would be a blockbuster. Now, the bad [00:32] news is there is no such pill that can [00:34] do this. The good news, however, is that [00:37] according to a major new research paper, [00:40] there's a simple intervention for your [00:42] digital habits that can deliver all of [00:45] those promises. I'm talking about [00:47] something that's free and that you can [00:49] put in place with minimal preparation. [00:51] Something that you could start [00:52] implementing [00:54] today. [00:55] Well, it's Monday, which means it's time [00:57] for an advice episode of this show. And [00:59] clearly, this is a perfect type of topic [01:02] to dive deeply into. So, here's what [01:05] we're going to do. I have the paper [01:07] here. We're going to go through it. I'll [01:08] start by describing the intervention [01:10] they studied and quantified the exact [01:12] benefits that they measured. Then we'll [01:14] look closer at the mechanisms that the [01:16] researchers believe explain why this [01:19] intervention works so well. And then [01:22] we'll end with three pieces of advice of [01:25] my own for how to maximize the chances [01:28] that you will succeed with this [01:30] intervention if you choose to try it. So [01:33] if you've been fed up with your [01:34] distracted digital life, this is an [01:37] episode you definitely need to hear. As [01:40] always, I'm Cal Newport and this is Deep [01:44] Questions, the show for people seeking [01:46] depth in a distracted world. [01:56] All right, so we're going to proceed [01:57] here by addressing three key questions. [02:02] The first question, what was the [02:05] intervention studied in this research [02:07] paper? Well, if you look at the title of [02:10] the paper, it sort of gives it away. [02:11] Here is the title. Blocking mobile [02:14] internet on smartphones improves [02:16] sustained attention, mental health, and [02:19] subjective well-being. All right, let's [02:22] look a little bit closer at this. What [02:23] do they mean by blocking mobile [02:26] internet? Well, they used an app [02:27] blocking tool called Freedom. And what [02:30] they did is they set it up to block [02:32] internetpowered apps like social media [02:35] and the web browser, but leave things [02:37] like instant messaging and phone calls [02:39] alone. Um, this is key as a lot of [02:43] people know, especially parents in the [02:44] audience. You need the ability to have a [02:47] phone on which you can do calls or [02:48] messages or WhatsApp. I I I checked it [02:50] recently, Jesse. I'm on three different [02:54] parental WhatsApp groups right now that [02:56] I have to monitor. Uh, and with three [02:58] kids in school, I would say I get called [03:00] by the school nurse like roughly once a [03:03] month. All right. So, they figured out [03:04] how to block the internet without making [03:07] you have to live without the other [03:09] functional benefits of a smartphone. [03:11] Now, here's what's critical about this [03:13] research. Part of what made it good was [03:15] they could then check compliance. they [03:17] could look at the log produced by the [03:19] blocking software and make sure that [03:20] their research subjects actually kept [03:23] the blocking on that they weren't [03:26] occasionally going around it. So that [03:28] made a big difference. Then to get even [03:29] better results, they did something even [03:31] more impressive. They made this a [03:32] randomized control trial. So they [03:34] recruited a group of participants and [03:37] then randomly divided them into a group [03:40] that was going to have the internet [03:41] blocking and then a group that was not [03:43] so they could really be comparing what [03:45] was the difference between these two [03:46] groups and not accidentally measuring [03:48] things like self- selection effects. As [03:51] the experiment went on, they could [03:53] measure the impact with various means. [03:56] They had surveys that they would have [03:58] the participants filled out. They had [04:00] various tests like tests of attention [04:01] that they would have the participants do [04:03] at various times and they would do [04:04] something called random experience [04:06] sampling [04:08] where they would randomly text the [04:10] participants and say hey tell me right [04:11] now in this moment how you are feeling. [04:13] This is sort of the gold standard in [04:15] social psychology for measuring people's [04:18] subjective well-being on average. [04:21] Okay. So that was the experiment and [04:22] they had uh the intervention group do [04:24] this for two weeks while the control [04:27] group did not. And then there were some [04:28] more complexities after that where they [04:30] then they swapped and the control group [04:31] started using them and they measured [04:33] what happened with the intervention [04:34] group for the week that followed. But [04:35] that was to core the experiment. What [04:37] did they find? Well, I'm going to put a [04:39] couple plots up on the screen here for [04:41] people uh who are watching. Okay. So, [04:43] this first plot here is looking at [04:46] sustained attention ability. I want you [04:48] to look at the blue lines. This is the [04:50] intervention group. and between the [04:52] beginning of the experience and time [04:54] point 2. So two is after 2 weeks we see [04:56] this blue line goes way up a market [04:58] increase in the ability to pay [05:00] attention. Then as we go forward uh it [05:03] falls a little bit but not all the way [05:04] back down to baseline. So even after [05:06] they started using their phone for the [05:07] internet again they still had some [05:09] attention left. All right. What about [05:10] mental health? An even more dramatic [05:12] effect here. Look at this blue line. [05:15] That's the intervention group. One is [05:17] right before the experiment starts. Look [05:18] at how high that jumps up by the end of [05:21] the experiment. It's a massive increase. [05:22] And look what happens when they measured [05:24] in at the third time point after they [05:26] started using their phones again. The [05:28] mental health began going down. They had [05:29] a long after effect of benefits from [05:32] spending those two weeks without mobile [05:33] internet. Here's the third chart. [05:35] Subjective well-being. Once again, look [05:37] at that blue line. From the beginning of [05:39] the experiment to the end of the twoe [05:40] period, we see a massive jump. And [05:42] again, as we go from time period 2 to [05:45] time period 3 and they start using their [05:46] phones again, it falls, but we still get [05:50] some uh aftere effect benefits from the [05:53] two weeks they spent without using their [05:55] phone. So these are notable results and [05:57] they were delivered really fast [06:00] in these sort of uh prospective [06:02] randomized control studies where you're [06:04] really comparing one group to another. [06:06] To see such a large jump on such [06:10] important metrics in only two weeks is [06:12] pretty rare. It gives us the sense that [06:15] maybe we were underestimating just how [06:17] much damage to our ability to pay [06:19] attention, our mental health, and our [06:21] subjective well-being. Maybe we were [06:22] really underestimating what a hit we [06:24] were taking by being uh using the [06:27] internet on our phone so constantly. All [06:30] right, so those results then motivate a [06:32] natural follow-up uh question. That's [06:34] what they saw. But why did they see [06:36] that? [06:38] What were the mechanisms that mediated [06:40] these improvements in those factors when [06:42] they stopped using mobile internet on [06:45] their phone? So that's our second [06:46] question here. What explains [06:49] these results? Now fortunately the [06:52] researchers also looked at this [06:53] question. They measured many factors [06:55] during the experiment before and after [06:57] to try to figure out what changed [07:00] during the period of not using mobile [07:02] internet. that seems at least like it's [07:05] uh likely candidate to be mediating the [07:07] positive results that they saw. Well, [07:10] the first thing they looked at was just [07:11] the obvious topline number. When you [07:13] take mobile internet off of your phone, [07:17] how much less do you look at it? And [07:19] they discovered that actually [07:21] significantly less. The average daily [07:23] screen time before the experiment began [07:25] was 304 minutes. By the end of the [07:28] experiment, that had dropped down to 161 [07:31] minutes. So they basically dropped the [07:32] amount of time they're looking at their [07:34] screens by about a factor of two when [07:37] you took mobile internet off of the [07:39] phones. [07:40] Okay. So they freed up the sort of 150 [07:42] or so minutes each day that they used to [07:46] be looking at mobile internet devices. [07:48] How did this then lead to them being [07:51] happier, less mental health impacts, and [07:53] ability to focus more? Well, the [07:55] researchers went on the to isolate four [07:58] what they called mediation factors that [08:00] emerged as having strong changes during [08:03] the experimental period and it's their [08:05] best guesses at what is actually [08:06] mediating the positive dependent [08:09] variable effects. So here's the four [08:11] mediation factors that they measured [08:13] during the experimental period. The [08:15] subject spent more time doing meaningful [08:17] offline activities. They experienced [08:20] more social interaction. [08:23] They slept more [08:25] and their sense of self-control [08:28] increased. [08:30] Let's think about those for a second. So [08:32] the first three, meaningful offline [08:34] activities, more social interaction, and [08:36] more sleeping. The researchers are [08:38] saying this is probably just a straight [08:40] up time reallocation. That is where that [08:43] 150 minutes that used to be looking at [08:45] internet connected apps on the phone, [08:47] that's where it went. they just [08:48] reallocated it towards activities that [08:51] had much more positive impacts on their [08:54] daily life. Now, here's what this tells [08:56] me. If we see pretty consistently that [08:59] once you take highly optimized internet [09:02] distract power distracting apps off of [09:04] phones, if we see this in the research, [09:06] the subjects all move towards those much [09:09] more meaningful activities, it tells me [09:10] that we're wired to do the right thing. [09:14] that if you don't have extra constraints [09:16] on us, if you put us in a situation [09:18] where we're bored, we have natural [09:20] drives that will drive us towards let's [09:22] go do something meaningful, let's talk [09:24] to other people, I'm tired, why don't I [09:27] actually go to sleep? And what we want [09:29] to understand is happening with our [09:30] phones is that it's basically just [09:32] shortcircuiting our natural drives that [09:34] left to our own devices, we tend to do [09:36] the things that are good for us from a [09:39] subjective well-being perspective. [09:42] And it's only when we have these sort of [09:43] outside tools come in that hijack those [09:45] drives do we end up in trouble. I mean [09:46] we see similar things with drugs and [09:48] alcohol where uh it will make our lives [09:50] worse because it's it's hijacking our [09:52] drives or our mind in a way that gets us [09:54] away from the activities we normally [09:55] would be doing to be beneficial. It [09:57] looks like the phones are doing the same [09:58] thing. If we could just get those highly [10:00] engineered distracting apps out of our [10:01] life, we will naturally start doing [10:04] things that are going to make us much [10:06] happier. But what about that fourth [10:07] mediation factor which was a sense of [10:10] increased self-control? [10:12] Here's my understanding of what's going [10:14] on here. And this is sort of my theory [10:15] based on my own study of these issues. [10:19] So, one of the things that happens when [10:21] you have your phone with you at all [10:22] times, like most people do, and you have [10:24] these internet-based apps that are [10:26] highly distracting on the phone, as I've [10:28] talked about many times before on this [10:30] show, [10:31] the short-term motivation centers in [10:33] your brain learn that picking up that [10:36] phone and tapping on one of those apps [10:39] is very likely to give you a reward [10:40] signal. The expected value is high. And [10:42] because of that, because you have such a [10:44] clean reward signal coming out of those [10:46] apps, the short-term motivation center [10:48] of your brain is constantly voting for [10:50] picking up your phone. And you feel this [10:52] as like a constant urge for distraction [10:55] that that pulls you away from other [10:56] things you might want to do or prevents [10:58] you from doing those things in the first [10:59] place. And it can make you feel like you [11:02] don't have control over your own body or [11:04] mind. You're like, why did I just spend [11:06] 150 minutes on TikTok? I didn't want to [11:08] do that. So, it leaves you feeling like [11:10] you don't have much self-control. Now, [11:12] on the flip side, when you get those [11:13] apps out of your life, those short-term [11:15] motivations in your brain is no longer [11:16] voting for picking up your phone so [11:18] strongly. And you find yourself able to [11:20] do other things more easily [11:23] because you do not have to overcome [11:25] the vote of your brain saying, "Hey, [11:27] let's pick up the phone. It's not nearly [11:29] as strong anymore." What is that going [11:31] to feel like? I have more self-control. [11:34] And so a course that was going to pick [11:35] up on surveys is when you turn off [11:37] mobile internet on your phone, you will [11:39] begin to experience your day as one in [11:42] which you have much more control or [11:44] autonomy over what you do, which is also [11:46] going to be obviously a very positive [11:47] factor. [11:49] We go to the end of the paper. Here's [11:51] one thing the authors say, I'm quoting [11:54] here. These results provide causal [11:57] evidence that blocking mobile internet [11:59] can improve important psychological [12:01] outcomes [12:03] and suggest that maintaining the status [12:05] quo of constant connection to the [12:07] internet may be detrimental to time use [12:09] cognitive function and well-being. [12:13] And to put that conclusion more plainly, [12:14] constant access to the internet through [12:16] mobile devices is causing way more [12:18] problems than most of us guess. It is [12:20] making us miserable. It really is an [12:22] emergency. [12:24] But for all the urgency of this problem, [12:27] the solution, fortunately, looks to be [12:29] pretty simple. Block mobile internet on [12:32] your phone. After even just two weeks, [12:33] you will realize just how much you were [12:35] missing in your life. Hey, let's take a [12:38] quick break to hear from some of our [12:41] sponsors. [12:42] But hey men, you need to take better [12:45] care of your skin. The best way to do [12:48] this with Calira Lab. Calira Lab makes [12:51] high performance skin care designed [12:52] specifically for men's skin. Now, this [12:54] is important because men's skin is 25% [12:57] thicker, oilier, and ages differently [13:00] from women's, which means men need clean [13:02] formulas engineered for their biology. [13:06] Now, Calier Labs has you covered here [13:08] because they offer three great products. [13:11] The first is actually called the Great. 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[14:03] I also want to tell you about another [14:04] new sponsor, our friends at Lariden. [14:06] Now, here's something I've learned as [14:08] someone who writes about technology. [14:11] Sometimes figuring out how best to use a [14:14] new tool can be just as hard as [14:16] innovating the tool in the first place. [14:18] And this certainly seems to be the case [14:19] with AI right now where we have teams [14:22] that are rushing to deploy dozens of [14:24] different tools with no clean way of [14:26] figuring out which of these tools is [14:28] actually helping. And sometimes [14:30] without this feedback, new tools can [14:32] make things worse rather than better. [14:35] Which is all to say the real challenge [14:37] right now isn't adopting AI. It's [14:39] understanding how it's being used and [14:41] how to maximize its value. This is [14:44] exactly what Laridin focuses on. Laridin [14:47] gives a clear view of AI tool adoption [14:49] and how teams are using them daily. 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Well, this is a [15:52] relevant question. There's a key data [15:54] point from early in the paper that [15:57] should give us pause. They had [15:58] originally recruited right around 500 [16:00] participants for this study, but only [16:03] 25.5% of the participants remained [16:06] compliant throughout the whole [16:07] experiment. Now remember, they could [16:09] check compliance exactly because they [16:10] could look at the logs of the blocking [16:12] software. [16:14] Now, I assume some of this [16:15] non-compliance was actually unrelated to [16:17] the internet blocking. Just people got [16:19] busy or tired of the surveys and the [16:22] test and the experience sampling. [16:23] They're like, I forget it. I don't want [16:25] to do it. But the sense you get from [16:27] reading the paper is that a lot of this [16:29] measured non-compliance was people [16:30] getting around the mobile internet [16:32] blocking. They could turn it off. Now, [16:34] it'd be log if they did and then they [16:35] wouldn't be counted in the data, but you [16:37] could turn it off. And it seemed like a [16:38] large number of people at some point [16:40] circumvented it at least a little bit. [16:43] So, this motivates a critical question. [16:45] If you want to do this experiment in [16:46] your life to get these benefits, what [16:50] can you do to maximize the odds that [16:51] you're like the 25.5% of the [16:53] participants who stuck with the blocking [16:55] and not like the 74.5% [16:58] who gave in and started using their [16:59] phone again? [17:01] Well, I came up with three tips. And if [17:03] you're going to put this into practice, [17:05] I came up with three tips that I think [17:08] would be helpful. Okay. All right. Let's [17:11] start with the first one here. I'll [17:12] reveal it. [17:14] This is dramatic, Jesse. Those who are [17:16] listening again are missing avatar style [17:20] visual effects. All right. Tip number [17:22] one, [17:24] block precisely. [17:26] So if you're going to block internet [17:29] connected apps, you have to be a little [17:33] bit more precise than basically saying [17:36] leave the phone, leave text messaging, [17:38] everything else is blocked. The problem [17:40] is, and I'm sure a lot of the [17:41] participants face this, is that there's [17:43] many pragmatic apps on our phones in the [17:46] modern world that use the internet or [17:48] the cellular and you need them just to [17:50] function practically in the world. [17:52] Right? So, I'm looking at my own phone [17:55] and I can see on here, for example, [17:58] um, Park Mobile, right? You park [18:01] somewhere. It's how we pay for parking [18:04] here in DC that uses the internet, but I [18:06] need that because I'm often parking in [18:08] places. uh the two-factor authentication [18:11] that I use to like log into Georgetown [18:14] or if we're logging into our system here [18:16] at our production company. I need that [18:19] on my phone so that I can do two-factor [18:20] authentication. There's a couple other [18:21] apps like that as well. So, if you want [18:24] to succeed, you can't have those type of [18:25] frustrations. So, you need to block more [18:26] narrowly. Whatever blocking software [18:28] you're using, you have to go through and [18:30] choose specific apps to block, not just [18:32] all. [18:34] The simple [18:36] advice I would give is look at the [18:37] so-called SMG apps, social media, news, [18:40] and games. These are the ones that are [18:41] really engineered to grab your attention [18:43] and therefore create that sense of [18:44] motivation to pick up your phone. So, go [18:47] block every SMG you can find, but you [18:49] can leave the other pragmatic apps, the [18:50] weather app, the parking app, the [18:52] two-factor authentication app. You can [18:54] leave those open so that you're not [18:56] going to have uh the the issue where [18:59] you're like, "Oh, I really need this [19:00] app. Let me turn off my blocking." And [19:01] now you never turn it back on again. All [19:03] right. So that's tip number one if you [19:05] want to succeed with this intervention. [19:07] All right. Tip number two, [19:14] strengthen controls. [19:16] So one of the thing that they did in [19:18] this paper is that the the software they [19:20] were using to block mobile internet [19:22] access, it wasn't particularly strong. [19:25] The subjects could turn it off or [19:27] circumvent it. It would take them out of [19:28] the sample study, but they could do it. [19:31] This is partially experimental design. [19:33] Like the researchers didn't want to take [19:36] over completely the subject's phone. I [19:38] mean, what if they were in an emergency [19:39] and they couldn't use it? But it's also [19:41] has to do with the reality of iOS, which [19:44] several years ago made a change that [19:45] made it very difficult for third party [19:47] apps to really have strong controls over [19:50] blocking on your phone. They didn't like [19:51] the idea of a third party app being able [19:54] to strongly block other third party [19:55] apps. But if you can have stronger [19:58] blocking, by which I mean blocking in [19:59] which there's more friction involved [20:01] than actually turning it off, it will [20:02] significantly increase your probability [20:04] of compliance with this intervention. So [20:08] if you want to move just one step above [20:10] the sort of basic controls they were [20:11] doing, you can think about a device like [20:13] brick. [20:15] Brick has a physical key fob that [20:18] becomes involved if you want to actually [20:20] uh turn off a particular blocking mode. [20:22] You have to touch it to your phone. You [20:24] can put this in another room or keep it [20:26] in your car or your bag. So, you still [20:28] have access to anything if you need it. [20:30] But the friction of going to get a [20:31] device and touching to your device is [20:32] often enough to give pause and to [20:34] prevent that short-term motivation [20:36] circuit from winning because it it it [20:37] sees a real cost you having to actually [20:40] demonstraably go and get this thing and [20:41] make it clear to yourself that you [20:43] failed with your own rules. You want to [20:45] go a step above that. You can configure [20:47] your phone. So if you have a partner, [20:49] right, you can configure your phone such [20:51] that it's it's protected with iOS's [20:53] screen time, but it's like you're the [20:54] kid and your partner is the parent, [20:57] right? And only they know the PIN code [20:59] for actually changing what settings are [21:01] on your phone. So if you want to change [21:03] the blocking software, you would have to [21:06] get the number from someone else. Again, [21:07] that's a higher level of friction, but [21:08] that's really going to work as well. [21:11] You're going to think, okay, uh, I'm not [21:13] going to go bother like my husband or my [21:15] wife or my girlfriend or my boyfriend to [21:16] get this PIN number. or that's just [21:17] admitting I failed. I guess I I'm going [21:20] to have to do without checking Instagram [21:23] right in this moment. All right, those [21:25] are three tips. Let me give you the [21:26] third [21:28] tip to succeed with this intervention. [21:33] Lean into boredom. [21:36] This is one of the more interesting [21:38] things I saw in the paper was this idea [21:40] that [21:41] many of these subjects [21:44] naturally drifted to the same highvalue [21:46] activities once you took the mobile [21:49] internet that that sort of potent [21:50] distraction out of their life. The point [21:52] is our instincts are good. [21:55] If we get rid of these sort of [21:56] artificial constraints in our lives, our [21:58] instincts for how we want to alleviate [22:00] boredom tend to be good. I want to go [22:02] hang out with people. I want to go do [22:03] something interesting. [22:06] I want to make my man my intentions made [22:08] manifest concretely in the world. [22:11] So you're going to feel discomfort when [22:13] you don't have access to those same apps [22:15] that you're used to delivering you uh [22:16] numbing or diversion. That's okay. [22:20] Feel that discomfort, feel that boredom [22:23] and tell yourself, rewire yourself to [22:25] think the solution to this boredom is [22:28] not circumventing the blocks and going [22:30] back to having access to apps on my [22:33] phone. let me try other things that [22:36] might get rid of this boredom unrelated [22:38] to my phone. And that's going to drive [22:40] you really quickly towards activities [22:42] that are actually very good for you. [22:44] Just like if you're very hungry and [22:46] you're put into a food environment where [22:47] you don't have ultrarocessed foods that [22:49] are hyper palatable, [22:51] you're going to eat the things that are [22:53] good for you. You're like, "Oh, I want [22:54] some, you know, I have like meat here [22:56] and vegetables and fruit, like stuff [22:58] that your body recognizes and likes." [23:00] So, in the absence of the artificial, [23:01] our instincts work really well. So in [23:04] the absence of artificial diversions, [23:06] the boredom will drive you towards good [23:08] behavior if you let it. Just take your [23:10] phone off the table as the solution and [23:12] see what other solutions arise in that [23:15] royal wake. And you're going to find [23:17] yourself drawn to activities that make a [23:19] big difference. [23:21] All right. So what's the long-term [23:22] vision here? Let's say you do this [23:24] intervention for two weeks. You feel [23:26] much better. You can concentrate. Your [23:27] subjective well-being is better. Your [23:29] mental health is feeling stronger. [23:31] The idea is once you get to that point, [23:34] you will follow something like my own [23:35] lead like what I do in my life and [23:38] permanently quit or disable these apps [23:41] that are on your phone that are causing [23:42] these diversions to make your phone [23:45] boring. Like losing your case for junk [23:47] food and now you can be around potato [23:49] chips and have no desire to eat them. [23:51] You will get there when it comes to [23:52] these digital diversions. If they're not [23:54] normally on your phone and you don't [23:55] normally spend much time with them, [23:58] they become less alluring. And what [24:00] becomes more attractive is all of the [24:02] other interesting things going on in [24:03] your life. Getting a full night's sleep, [24:05] interacting in the real world with other [24:06] people, [24:08] meaningful offline activities. So, this [24:11] is my advice. Take the take the lesson [24:14] from this paper and right away go ahead [24:17] and do a 14day mobile internet break on [24:22] your phone. Keep all the apps you need [24:24] for your day-to-day life. Just takes off [24:26] the ones you don't. remember the three [24:28] tips that I mentioned so that you're [24:30] more likely to succeed with this. And if [24:31] you make it to the other end, then ask [24:33] yourself like a true digital minimalist, [24:35] what role do I really want these [24:37] technologies to play in my life? And [24:38] then it might be time to make some [24:40] permanent changes. So there we go. That [24:43] was a well done study, Jesse. It [24:45] actually involved one of the co-authors [24:47] uh is a colleague of mine at Georgetown. [24:49] >> Oh, really? [24:50] >> Yeah. From the psychology department. So [24:51] there we go. It's a pretty international [24:53] group of researchers. I see a lot of [24:54] these papers. Some are good, some are [24:55] bad. This is a high quality one. It [24:57] appeared in the uh proceedings of the [24:59] National Academy of Sciences Nexus Open [25:01] Access Journal. So, it's that's actually [25:02] a really solid one. That paper's been [25:04] read like 200,000 times. [25:05] >> Did you know about it before it came [25:06] out? [25:07] >> Um I had heard rumors. I mean, I there's [25:11] a lot of papers. I kind of heard people [25:13] mention it and then I think it was uh [25:15] newsletter director Nate who was like [25:17] telling me about this twoe paper and I [25:18] went and read it and was like, "Oh, this [25:19] is a good one." So, that's how we [25:21] decided to to do it on the show. want to [25:24] take another quick break to hear from [25:26] some of our sponsors. [25:28] This episode is also sponsored by [25:31] BetterHelp. So, it's May now, which [25:34] means it's mental health awareness [25:36] month. This seems like a good [25:38] opportunity to remind you that if you're [25:40] struggling with your mind, you don't [25:41] have to deal with this all by yourself. [25:43] Having someone with you to listen, to [25:45] understand, and to support you can make [25:46] all the difference. This is where Better [25:49] Help enters the scene. It's a service [25:51] that makes it easy for you to find and [25:53] meet with a qualified therapist. [25:55] BetterHelp does the initial matching [25:57] work for you so you can focus on your [25:58] therapy goals. A short questionnaire [26:01] helps identify your needs and [26:02] preferences. And their 12 years of [26:04] experience and industryleading match [26:05] fulfillment rate means they typically [26:08] get that match right on the first time. [26:09] But if you aren't happy, you can switch [26:11] to a different therapist at any time [26:13] using their tailored recommendations. [26:15] BetterHelp therapists work according to [26:17] a strict code of conduct and are fully [26:19] licensed in the US. You don't have to be [26:22] on this journey alone. Find support and [26:25] have someone with you in therapy. Sign [26:27] up and get 10% off at [26:28] betterhelp.com/deepquests. [26:31] That's betterhp.com/deepquests. [26:35] All right, let's get back to the show. [26:37] All right, well that's enough uh hearing [26:39] from me. We also like to hear from you [26:41] because it's a Monday advice episode. We [26:44] often uh introduce a second segment in [26:47] which we open our inbox to get [26:51] questions, comments, and reactions from [26:54] my audience. If you have things you want [26:56] to send in to be covered on the show, [26:57] you can use podcastal [26:59] newport.com. [27:01] All right, we got some time today, [27:03] Jesse. Let's do a few questions. Who do [27:04] we have up first? [27:06] >> Our first question is from Tyler and [27:08] it's about AI and academic research. [27:11] All right. So, Tyler says, "I imagine [27:14] you've gotten many emails with this link [27:16] already, but just wanted to make sure it [27:18] got to you. Keep up the good work, [27:21] fellas." All right. So, what he sent me [27:23] was a Substack essay. I'll put on the [27:25] screen here. It's from a Substack called [27:28] So, here's the idea, the organization [27:30] science Substack. And the essay is [27:31] titled More Versus Better, Part One. [27:36] Now, I actually went through and read [27:38] this essay and enjoyed it so much that I [27:40] wrote a newsletter about it. So, the [27:42] newsletter that came out today at [27:43] calupport.com goes deep into this. So, [27:45] if this sounds interesting to you, go [27:47] over to calupport.com and check out my [27:49] essay today where I get into the details [27:51] on this essay. Uh, you should subscribe. [27:53] I mean, this is dispatches from the [27:54] front lines of the war of depth versus [27:57] distraction. So, if you listen to this, [27:58] you should subscribe. But, let me let me [28:00] go over some of the high points here um [28:03] on the podcast. So here's the the basic [28:05] idea. [28:07] This is a task force. The authors are a [28:09] task force that were organized by a [28:11] particular well-known journal in [28:12] organization science. It's called [28:14] organization science. Um this task force [28:17] was pulled together to answer the [28:18] question of what role is AI having [28:22] in the submissions and publications like [28:25] what role is it having on the academic [28:27] research community that is publishing in [28:30] this journal? and they gathered really [28:32] good data because these are researchers [28:34] from a field where what you do is gather [28:36] really good data. So, they know what [28:37] they're doing here. Um, I want to show [28:39] you a couple charts. I'm going to bring [28:40] this up here. All right, here's the [28:41] first chart. [28:43] So, this is labeled monthly submission [28:45] volume at organization science from [28:47] January 2013 until the end of 2025. [28:52] The key thing here is at the far right [28:56] we see this massive increase in [28:58] submissions and it happens right after [29:00] this vertical line that's labeled chat [29:02] GBT. So the first thing they noticed is [29:05] there was a a bump during CO 19. It was [29:07] it bumped up from what was happening [29:09] before but it was pretty steady. And [29:12] then post chat GPT they've been having [29:14] an increasing uh rate of submissions per [29:18] year. All right so that's chart number [29:19] one. Here's chart number two. This is [29:22] monthly submission volume by AIU's [29:24] category. So that black line is the [29:26] total submissions per month. That dotted [29:28] line in the middle is chat GPT gets [29:30] introduced. These lines down the bottom [29:33] are measuring how much AI was used in [29:36] the paper submitted. The orange line is [29:39] 0 to 15% AI. And what you can see is as [29:42] the total volume of submissions go up, [29:45] the total fraction of those submissions [29:46] or volume of submissions that don't use [29:48] AI is going down. [29:51] So they're clearly measuring they are [29:53] getting more AI submissions um ever [29:57] since chat GBT came out [30:00] I think. Let's see here. Okay. And then [30:03] here we see a chart that measures [30:06] essentially the readability of papers. [30:08] And Jesse as you'll notice it's pretty [30:10] flat from 2013 through CO 19 and then [30:14] what happens at the chat GPT line it [30:16] takes a nose dive just a nose dive. So [30:19] the papers become massively and notably [30:21] less readable right around the time chat [30:24] GPT is emerging. Here's a couple numbers [30:27] from the paper. Among manuscripts that [30:30] were uh high AI submissions, so 70% or [30:34] more of the manuscripts was generated [30:35] with the help of AI, nearly 70% were [30:38] desk rejected, which means an editor [30:40] determined they should not be sent out [30:41] for review. So they were so bad that the [30:43] editor is like, "We're not even going to [30:44] do a peer review on this." By [30:46] comparison, the the desk rejection rate [30:48] for low AI manuscripts, manuscripts [30:50] where there's very little AI used was [30:53] 44%. So it almost doubled the chance you [30:56] would get rejected right off the bat if [30:58] it was written with the help of AI. Now [30:59] remember, the editors don't know that. [31:01] They they labeled these after the fact. [31:02] This is just strictly based on their [31:04] assessment of the quality of the paper. [31:08] Later on the researchers fell that found [31:10] that the the percentage of high AI [31:12] papers that made it all the way through [31:14] to the final stage where they say uh [31:16] revise and resubmit for publication was [31:19] around 4%. Whereas for low AI papers [31:22] that rate was 12%. So you a 3x reduction [31:25] in the probability that your paper would [31:27] actually make it through and be [31:28] published. [31:30] So what they're finding is this is a [31:31] real problem. AI made it easier to write [31:34] and submit papers. And because of this, [31:36] they're getting a ton more submissions, [31:37] which really is actually taxing their [31:39] resources because editors have to look [31:40] at these submissions and peer reviewers [31:42] have to peer review them if they're [31:43] sufficiently good. Now, this would be [31:46] okay if these were all good submissions [31:48] and we're just strictly increasing the [31:50] amount of good science. You know, great, [31:52] we're going to now have a productivity [31:54] boom in this actual academic field. But [31:56] it's not what they saw. What they [31:57] clearly measured is AI made it faster to [32:00] produce papers, but the papers you were [32:02] producing were bad. They were they [32:04] weren't readable. They were way more [32:05] likely to be deskrejected. Way way more [32:08] likely to not make it through to [32:09] acceptance. And I think this is a a good [32:13] specific case study of a more general [32:15] issue [32:17] that we've been talking about recently [32:18] on this show, which is when it comes to [32:20] productivity, [32:22] making things faster doesn't necessarily [32:25] make things better. [32:27] making it easier to technically finish [32:30] and submit a paper doesn't necess [32:32] necessarily mean that you are a more [32:34] productive scientist or science is [32:36] proceeding more productively [32:39] and often you can have a reverse effect [32:42] where producing lower quality things [32:43] faster gunks up the works and prevents [32:45] the good stuff from happening and that's [32:47] for sure is what's happening to this [32:48] particular journal by flooding the works [32:50] with significantly more uh submissions [32:52] that are lower quality [32:54] I am sure that now the energy required [32:57] And the rate at which good research is [32:59] produced is down. [33:01] And we see this in our individual lives [33:03] as well. I've talked about this effect [33:04] like in last week's podcast with Dave [33:07] Epstein, right? You speed up one part of [33:10] your life at some work process you're [33:12] doing like I'm going to use email like [33:15] very quickly bounce back and forth ideas [33:18] with people, but it leads to too much [33:20] work on your plate. It all piles up at [33:22] the bottleneck of you actually doing the [33:24] hard work. And because you're so [33:25] distracted keeping up with all these [33:26] email conversations, the rate at which [33:28] you actually finish things goes down. [33:29] And you made one thing in your work [33:31] process faster, but you made the rate at [33:32] which you produce useful stuff slower. [33:34] And this happens time and again when we [33:36] bring in digital tools that makes one [33:38] thing faster easier. And we assume [33:40] that's going to mean we'll just become [33:41] strictly better at what we do, but they [33:43] can make things worse. I think it's a [33:44] great experiment, but if you want to if [33:46] you want a sharable version of this [33:47] discussion or you want to get some more [33:48] details, go to kelport.com. I just wrote [33:50] about it today. [33:52] All right, Jesse, what uh what do we got [33:54] next? [33:54] >> Our next message is from Emily, who had [33:57] a question about our recent episode on [33:59] reversing brain rot with cognitive [34:01] fitness. [34:01] >> That was a popular episode. [34:03] >> Yeah. [34:03] >> Yeah. Especially online. The kids like [34:05] the term brain rot, I guess, is what's [34:08] going on. Um, so for those who missed [34:10] it, I gave advice for how to get your [34:11] brain back in shape in a world in which [34:13] we have lots of distraction. So, [34:14] obviously today's episode [34:17] follows up on some of those ideas. I [34:19] would add the 14-day intervention we [34:20] talked about today is like idea number [34:22] six from that how to reverse brain rot [34:25] episode I did a couple weeks ago. All [34:26] right, so Emily is writing in reaction [34:28] to that episode from a couple weeks ago. [34:30] Here's what she said. [34:32] I really enjoyed your recent episode on [34:34] building cognitive fitness. I am [34:36] currently using the composing of this [34:38] email to not avoid writing. So thank you [34:40] for the motivation. My question for you [34:43] is also related to this writing portion [34:45] of your proposed regimen. [34:48] My expertise is in architecture and [34:51] design, and I have found that my journal [34:52] and notebooks tend to fill with drawings [34:54] and schematics as much as with words. Do [34:57] you think that there are equivalent [34:59] alternative forms of creating, [35:00] composing, and communicating that [35:02] require the same sort of brain processes [35:04] that writing does, or do you believe [35:05] that written language is uniquely [35:07] superior for practicing that mental [35:09] orchestration? [35:11] Well, I think exercise is a useful [35:13] analogy here, Emily, because there's [35:14] different types of exercise that can [35:16] promote fitness in different ways. All [35:18] of which is good, and in general, [35:20] variety is good. And I think that's what [35:21] we're talking about here. Technical [35:23] drawing and schematics are going to work [35:26] your brain in useful ways from a [35:27] cognitive fitness standpoint. They're [35:29] not the same ways that writing works it. [35:31] There's some overlap and there's some [35:32] ways where they're both different. [35:35] And so, they're both good. and a life [35:37] where you're doing some writing and [35:39] you're doing some technical drawing and [35:40] schematics. I think that's like an [35:41] athlete who cross trains. You know, [35:44] you're you're uh you do a lot of [35:45] running, but now you're also doing some [35:47] cross-country skiing. There's some [35:49] overlap and you're going to get fitness [35:51] in the same same sort of fitness boost [35:53] in both cases, but there's also ways in [35:55] which you're going to get different [35:56] types of fitness from each of those. I [35:58] think it's all just good. [36:00] Hard cognitive activity is good for your [36:02] brain. It's never been more important [36:03] because we're out of shape mentally. The [36:06] more you do, the better. But I just [36:08] think fundamental [36:10] reading and writing are fundamental [36:12] activities. This is like jogging and [36:16] lightweight training. Like you you do [36:17] need that you want that foundation in [36:19] there no matter what other things you [36:21] are doing as well. So I sometimes hear [36:23] from people who like well look I don't [36:24] write that. I'm just not a good writer [36:27] but I I I I kind of fake right or I'll [36:29] use like chat GPT and talk to it and [36:31] still express myself and and but I do [36:33] other things that help me concentrate. [36:34] And I would say the other things are [36:35] good, [36:36] but you want that reading and writing is [36:39] like the core dynamic duo of the post [36:43] paleolithic human modern experience. [36:45] It's where like all of the ideas that [36:48] defines modern humanity came from. Our [36:51] morality, our technology, our politics, [36:53] our philosophy, [36:55] all of those brain circuits were forged [36:57] in reading and writing. So you do not [37:00] want to take those out of your routine. [37:01] But adding other stuff in the routine [37:03] can only help. All right, what do we [37:05] got? Message number three. [37:07] >> Our final message is from Tyler, but a [37:10] different Tyler than our first message. [37:11] It's about your suggestion to leave your [37:13] phone in the kitchen. [37:14] >> All Tylers today. All Tylers all the [37:16] time. That's Jesse's motto. [37:20] All right, Tyler. Thank you for what you [37:22] do. Oh, here's his message. I'm not I [37:24] mean, Tyler, thank you for what you do, [37:25] whatever that is. But I'm I'm now [37:26] reading his message. [37:29] Thank you for the Thank you for what you [37:31] do. Deep work and slow productivity have [37:33] been transformational in helping me move [37:35] away from distracted, lazy forms of [37:37] working from home to more focused, [37:39] satisfying days as a data scientist. [37:41] Deep questions help me helps me remember [37:44] why the increased cognitive effort is so [37:46] worth it. And it's easy to get excited [37:48] after reading a book, then fall back [37:50] into bad habits two weeks later. My wife [37:53] and I adopted leaving our phones plugged [37:55] in the kitchen as a sort of mindfulness [37:57] challenge during Lint and couldn't [37:59] believe how impactful this was for both [38:01] of us. We now call it landlinining and [38:04] have continued to practice this even [38:06] after lint. It's easy to just tell my [38:08] wife, I'm landlining, so please call if [38:10] she needs anything while she's out. Uh I [38:13] like that terminology. I think it's [38:14] useful. So this idea of leaving your [38:16] phone plugged in the kitchen is one I [38:17] talk about all the time. I think it's [38:18] one of the easiest ways to begin to de [38:21] deaddict your mind from the attraction [38:24] of your phone, especially if your phone [38:26] just fundamentally has things attractive [38:27] on it, is keep it plugged in your [38:28] kitchen. So, you would have to get up [38:29] and go get it if you want to use it. Do [38:32] not have it on your person while you [38:34] eat, while you watch TV, while you read [38:35] books, while you socialize with your [38:36] family. It makes such a big difference. [38:38] But, I like having a term for it. So, [38:39] Tyler and his wife call it landlinining. [38:42] I think that's useful because it gives [38:45] you a shortorthhand for explaining to [38:47] people. Don't expect me maybe to [38:50] immediately see, for example, a text [38:51] message you send. [38:54] That's one of the big hooks that keeps [38:55] us near the ocean so that the jaws of [38:57] distraction can grab us and pull us [38:59] under is this idea of [39:01] people might expect me to answer a text [39:03] message and I I don't want to seem like [39:05] I'm being rude, so I need my phone with [39:07] me to check those text messages and now [39:08] it's on you. Now they've got you and all [39:10] the other stuff are there. So, if [39:12] landlinining caught on, you could use it [39:14] in the same way that Tyler uses it with [39:15] his wife. Right? You could say, "I'm [39:18] landlining in the evening, so you're [39:19] going to have to call uh if you have [39:22] something urgent to get my attention." [39:23] Right? So, I like that. Landlining. [39:27] People should use I like the [39:28] terminology. People should use it. [39:32] All right. So, uh because it's Monday, I [39:35] want to close out by uh talking about [39:38] what I am up to. I'm actually loading [39:41] something on my phone. [39:45] And Jesse, let's see here. You know what [39:47] I'm seeing as I go through my phone, [39:49] looking through the photos. Um, a lot of [39:52] baseball photos. It's a lot of little [39:54] league coaching photos of All right. [39:56] What we're going to do now is we're [39:57] going to break down multiple pitches for [39:59] my son's last little league appearance. [40:01] That'd be a good episode of the show. [40:03] No, I was looking up a thing, a book [40:04] title. All right. Uh, I finished my [40:06] fifth and final book of May. It was [40:09] actually an early release version of a [40:11] new book written by my dad that's called [40:12] How Society Should Deal with Inequality. [40:15] Um, so my dad's a sociologist who then [40:17] went on to become the editor-inchief of [40:19] the Gallup poll before uh retiring from [40:22] that role to be a senior scientist at [40:23] Gallup in 2018. He's also currently a [40:25] visiting scholar at Stanford's Institute [40:27] for Excellence and Survey Research. Um, [40:29] it's a cool book because [40:32] it mixes positive psychology, which was [40:35] uh bigger a few decades ago about using [40:37] sociology to try to figure out how to [40:39] make society function better as opposed [40:41] to negative sociology, which is just [40:43] about trying to highlight issues with [40:44] current society. And as one of its core [40:47] sources of information and motivation [40:49] for what is proposed is survey research, [40:51] actually public opinion polls. So, it's [40:52] sort of like a great merging of roles in [40:54] which he is a world-class expert. Um, I [40:57] enjoyed that book. That was my fifth of [40:58] May. And now I am uh I'm deep into [41:02] recording this on what the 3rd to [41:04] fourth. What date is it? [41:06] >> Fifth. [41:06] >> All right. I got to get rolling. I'm in [41:07] my first book of That was my last book [41:09] of April. Uh I'm moving slowly through [41:12] my first book in May. So I got to kind [41:14] of pick up the pace. I've been busy [41:16] recently. [41:16] >> We talked about last week having [41:19] counting long longer books for multiple [41:22] books. [41:22] >> I want to try that. I definitely want to [41:24] try that. So, I think what I'm going to [41:25] do, so I'm I'm reading a sort of long [41:27] enough, it's a long book, but it's going [41:28] to count as one. I'm also reading the [41:30] book that you got me, which is short, so [41:32] I'll be able to finish that pretty [41:33] quickly. I think I want to finish three [41:35] regular books by the halfway point and [41:38] then go for a twofer. It's like a [41:41] 600page book or something like this to [41:43] be count as the final two books of May. [41:45] >> Yeah, I kind of as a fan, I want a [41:47] twofer. [41:48] >> I want to do a twofer. I don't know what [41:50] I'm going to do. I got some ideas. I [41:54] gotta I gotta be I got some I got some [41:56] ideas. There there's various [41:58] constituencies in my life that are uh [42:01] arguing for different things. My son [42:02] wants me to read more. Brandon [42:03] Sanderson. [42:04] >> Those are usually twofers. Those are [42:06] long. [42:06] >> Yeah, [42:07] >> he reads these doors stops of books. U [42:10] there's some non-fiction twofers I've [42:11] been meaning to read as well. [42:14] >> All right. Oh, I got one in mind. All [42:16] right. So, I got to get through my three [42:17] because I really want to I really want [42:20] to dig into uh a twofur. And I'm [42:22] building up my strength, Jesse, for a [42:24] three. [42:25] >> Yeah. [42:26] >> 750 pages or more [42:29] count. So, like an 800 page book would [42:31] count as three. [42:32] >> Mhm. [42:32] >> I have some options, but I got to I got [42:35] to get my speed up. All right. Well, [42:36] that's all the time we have for this [42:39] week. Uh we've got an AI reality check [42:42] coming out on Thursday and then another [42:43] advice episode on the Monday that [42:45] follows. So hopefully I'll see you or [42:47] you'll hear me both those occasions. [42:49] Sign up for my newsletter at [42:50] kelupport.com. And until then, as [42:53] always, stay deep.  📄 **Full text:** ![[Full Document Contents/Articles/Can This Simple Change Save My Distracted Brain.md|Can This Simple Change Save My Distracted Brain? by YouTube]] ## Highlights - attention. Then as we go forward uh it falls a little bit but not all the way back down to baseline. So even after they started using their phone for the internet again they still had some attention left. All right. What about mental health? An even more dramatic effect here. Look at this blue line. That's the intervention group. One is right before the experiment starts. Look at how high that jumps up by the end of the experiment. It's a massive increase. And look what happens when they measured in at the third time point after they started using their phones again. The mental health began going down. They had a long after effect of benefits from ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01krbq4rmex8jeyxa0jz3dmx48)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - spending those two weeks without mobile internet. Here's the third chart. Subjective well-being. Once again, look at that blue line. From the beginning of the experiment to the end of the twoe period, we see a massive jump. And again, as we go from time period 2 to time period 3 and they start using their phones again, it falls, but we still get some uh aftere effect benefits from the two weeks they spent without using their phone. So these are notable results and they were delivered really fast ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01krbq4rn22mvxjncvw4p898gb)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - right, so those results then motivate a natural follow-up uh question. That's what they saw. But why did they see that? What were the mechanisms that mediated these improvements in those factors when they stopped using mobile internet on their phone? So that's our second question here. What explains these results? Now fortunately the researchers also looked at this question. They measured many factors during the experiment before and after to try to figure out what changed ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01krbq4rnnd3tqt6nxc81zeehx)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - minutes. So they basically dropped the amount of time they're looking at their screens by about a factor of two when you took mobile internet off of the phones. Okay. So they freed up the sort of 150 or so minutes each day that they used to be looking at mobile internet devices. How did this then lead to them being happier, less mental health impacts, and ability to focus more? Well, the researchers went on the to isolate four what they called mediation factors that ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01krbq4rp9stah6gnh5qj3yrx9)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - Let's think about those for a second. So the first three, meaningful offline activities, more social interaction, and more sleeping. The researchers are saying this is probably just a straight up time reallocation. That is where that 150 minutes that used to be looking at internet connected apps on the phone, that's where it went. they just reallocated it towards activities that had much more positive impacts on their daily life. Now, here's what this tells me. If we see pretty consistently that once you take highly optimized internet ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01krbq4rpw0g313vem5qt6gjg6)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - to feel like? I have more self-control. And so a course that was going to pick up on surveys is when you turn off mobile internet on your phone, you will begin to experience your day as one in which you have much more control or autonomy over what you do, which is also going to be obviously a very positive factor. We go to the end of the paper. Here's one thing the authors say, I'm quoting here. These results provide causal evidence that blocking mobile internet can improve important psychological ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01krbq4rs3ap0yd6a4hqbdv8y3)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - All right, so that's where the paper ends. But this leaves us with our third final and most practical question. How do I successfully stick with this intervention? So, if you know the thing to do is to spend 14 days blocking mobile internet on your phone and get all these benefits, how do we make sure we'll stick with this? Well, this is a relevant question. There's a key data point from early in the paper that should give us pause. They had originally recruited right around 500 ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01krbq4rt96h2zbrsjke3xbcz2)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted - getting around the mobile internet blocking. They could turn it off. Now, it'd be log if they did and then they wouldn't be counted in the data, but you could turn it off. And it seemed like a large number of people at some point circumvented it at least a little bit. So, this motivates a critical question. If you want to do this experiment in your life to get these benefits, what can you do to maximize the odds that you're like the 25.5% of the participants who stuck with the blocking and not like the 74.5% who gave in and started using their phone again? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01krbq4rw2fw9p4kz3sm56p437)) - Tags: 👻 ai highlighted