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Stolen Focus

Why You Can't Pay Attention

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Stolen Focus

By: Johann Hari
Narrated by: Johann Hari
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Summary
 Bloomsbury presents Stolen Focus written and read by Johann Hari.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS GUILD AUDIO AWARD
THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A SPECTATOR AND FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2022
A WATERSTONES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH

‘If you read just one book about how the modern world is driving us crazy, read this one’ TELEGRAPH
‘This book is exactly what the world needs right now’ OPRAH WINFREY
‘A beautifully researched and argued exploration of the breakdown of humankind's ability to pay attention’ STEPHEN FRY
‘A really important book . . . Everyone should read it’ PHILIPPA PERRY

—-

Is your ability to focus and pay attention in free fall?

You are not alone. The average office worker now focuses on any one task for just three minutes. But it’s not your fault. Your attention didn’t collapse. It has been stolen.

Internationally bestselling author Johann Hari shows twelve deep factors harming our focus. Once we understand them, together, we can take back our minds.©2022 Johann Hari (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Attention Deficit Disorders Children's Health Mental Health Personal Development Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Relationships Time Management Health Inspiring

Critic Reviews

A brilliant book about one of the most important topics of our time (Dr Rangan Chatterjee)
This mind-blowing book explains everything. Read it and be free (Simon Amstell)
There's so much in this book . . . Unbelievable, juicy dynamite that you have to read (Chris Evans)
I think this book is exactly what the world needs right now . . . I hope everybody buys the book. I promise you it will be worth your time and certainly worth your focus (Oprah Winfrey)
Johann Hari writes like a dream. He’s both lyricist and storyteller – but also an indefatigable investigator of one of the world’s greatest problems: the systematic destruction of our attention. Read this book to save your mind (Susan Cain)
I don’t know anyone thinking more deeply, or more holistically, about the crisis of our collective attention than Johann Hari. And this is a crisis that we must address if we are to meet any of the other pressing emergencies we face as a species, whether ecological or social. Which means that this book could not be more vital. Please sit with it, and focus (Naomi Klein)
A story that so many of us have felt needs to be told, but whose cause and consequences are hard to capture and articulate without guesswork, prejudice or ideology. Hari not only achieves this and more, but he does so it with the pace, sparkle and energy of the best kind of thriller writer. I can’t remember reading a book which made me shout out “yes! That’s it!” quite so many times (Stephen Fry)
A highly original and wide-ranging investigation into the causes of our epidemic of flagging attention. Written with Hari’s trademark incisive prose, indefatigable search for scientific evidence vividly presented, and illustrated with telling anecdotes, Stolen Focus is a bracing and necessary wake-up call to us all (Gabor Maté M.D.)
A fascinating journey into the mind and how it is being manipulated with devastating effects. Hari’s subject is something that is affecting us all and this seminal work will be one of the defining books of our era . . . Get off social media, switch off the TV, put down your smart phone and do one thing – read this book’ (Dr Max Pemberton)
Stop whatever you’re doing and read this book. A deeply researched, disturbing, and yet ultimately hopeful exploration of the primal crisis of our time: our diminishing ability to focus on what really matters (Rutger Bregman, author of HUMANKIND)
If you want to get your attention and focus back, you need to read this remarkable book . . . [Hari] has cracked the code of why we’re in this crisis, and how to get out of it. We all need to hear this message (Arianna Huffington, Founder & CEO, Thrive Global)
An unbelievable storyteller . . . It might just change your life (Steven Bartlett)
All stars
Most relevant
As a mother I found the free play and education stuff terrifying. I feel I've robbed my kids of a childhood, but I'm still too fearful to let them out alone. A few sleepless nights coming my way as I meditate on what good parenting looks like in today's society! I've also got a lot to think about in relation to my career as a teacher. A tough but necessary read.

Thought provoking

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This book is a must read for everyone. It is informing and empowering.
Knowledge is power for change. So important!

Stolen focus

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An absolute must read or listen. It’s an incredibly informative and well researched look at a highly complex problem. There is so much to be taken away from its learnings. Johann has a great voice and delivers it as a very easy listen. Recommending it to everyone I talk to.

Brilliantly researched book by Johann.

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An excellent, well-researched and extremely compelling story. Expertly crafted and well researched narrative that walks between varied factors influencing the lack of focus we may feel and why that could be. It gives answers to questions I wasn’t sure yet how to formulate. Going to be immediately recommending this one to my friends who are all withdrawing from social media for similar reasons.

Extremely well researched and thought-provoking

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What an excellent book. It was incredibly captivating and thought provoking. I had several moments where I pressed the rewind button to hear something again, purely because it was so personally profound that I needed to hear it twice. This book explained so much of my behaviour as a parent, the ‘why’ of how I limit my children’s freedom, and much about my own self limiting behaviour that until now, I knew about but hadn’t questioned.
I believe that everyone should read or listen to Stolen Focus.
10/10

A must listen 🌟

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