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You 2.0: The Value Of 'Deep Work' In An Age Of Distraction

Every time you give in to your phone or computer that's buzzing with notifications, you pay a price: little by little, you lose your ability to focus. Tom Merton/Getty Images/Caiaimage hide caption

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Tom Merton/Getty Images/Caiaimage

Hidden Brain

You 2.0: The Value Of 'Deep Work' In An Age Of Distraction

Every time you give in to the buzzing notifications of our phone or computer, you pay a price: little by little, you lose your ability to focus.

You 2.0: The Value Of 'Deep Work' In An Age Of Distraction

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Why Your Facebook Habit At Work Makes Economists Worry
Ivary/Getty Images

All Tech Considered

Why Your Facebook Habit At Work Makes Economists Worry

Productivity, a key measure of the economy's health, has been growing more slowly in recent years. Can Facebook and other social media distractions on the job be partly to blame?

Why Your Facebook Habit At Work Makes Economists Worry

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At This English Bar, An Old-School Solution To Rude Cellphones
Liam Norris/Getty Images/Cultura Exclusive

All Tech Considered

At This English Bar, An Old-School Solution To Rude Cellphones

A new bar in Sussex has lined its walls with foil to block phone signals. The owner, inspired by the Faraday cage, hopes people will talk to each other rather than stare at their smartphones.

At This English Bar, An Old-School Solution To Rude Cellphones

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Information Overload And The Tricky Art Of Single-Tasking
John Hersey/WNYC

All Tech Considered

Information Overload And The Tricky Art Of Single-Tasking

We know, we know. Digital distractions make us less focused. In a challenge from WNYC's Note to Self podcast, NPR staff come face to face with their consumption addictions.

Information Overload And The Tricky Art Of Single-Tasking

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Pick Up Your Smartphone Less Often. You Might Think Better.
Illustration by John Hersey/Courtesy of WNYC

All Tech Considered

Pick Up Your Smartphone Less Often. You Might Think Better.

Our friends at the WNYC podcast New Tech City recently challenged you to put down the smartphone to see what sort of brilliance beckoned. We check in on the results.

Pick Up Your Smartphone Less Often. You Might Think Better.

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Studying? Take A Break And Embrace Your Distractions

Author Interviews

Studying? Take A Break And Embrace Your Distractions

This back-to-school season, it's time to reevaluate a few common assumptions about how best to study. Benedict Carey, the author of How We Learn, says science shows that discipline isn't everything.

Studying? Take A Break And Embrace Your Distractions

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We Asked, You Answered: Going To Extremes To Disconnect On Vacation

Our readers wrote in on how they tried to take a vacation from their smartphones. Christian Wheatley/iStockphoto hide caption

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Christian Wheatley/iStockphoto

All Tech Considered

We Asked, You Answered: Going To Extremes To Disconnect On Vacation

Giving up digital devices — even if for just a few hours or days — is a struggle. Whether it was to catch up on the news or peek in on the World Cup, NPR listeners found it tough to kick the habit.

We Asked, You Answered: Going To Extremes To Disconnect On Vacation

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Surrounded By Digital Distractions, We Can't Even Stop To Think

Researchers at the University of Virginia and Harvard asked people to simply sit still and think. For many, the experience was less pleasant than it sounded. iStockphoto hide caption

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iStockphoto

All Tech Considered

Surrounded By Digital Distractions, We Can't Even Stop To Think

A study on the wandering mind had a simple request: Just think. But many participants couldn't sit still for very long, and they even were willing to shock themselves to avoid doing nothing.

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