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Stolen Focus
- Why You Can't Pay Attention
- Narrated by: Johann Hari
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
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Stolen Focus
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- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,309
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,004
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From the New York Times best-selling author of Chasing the Scream, a radically new way of thinking about depression and anxiety. What really causes depression and anxiety - and how can we really solve them?
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2 out of 5 stars
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Some good ideas, a lot of incomplete science.
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What if everything we’ve been told about addiction is wrong? One of Johann Hari’s earliest memories is of trying to wake up one of his relatives and not being able to. As he grew older, he realised there was addiction in his family. Confused, he set out on a three-year, thirty-thousand mile journey to discover what really causes addiction – and how to solve it. Told through a series of gripping human stories, this audiobook was the basis of a TED talk and animation that have been viewed more than twenty million times. It has transformed the global debate about addiction.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Educational and eye opening …
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thought invoking.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Leave out the drums FFS
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Hugh keep up the great work.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Educational and eye opening …
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Nobody needs telling that there isn't enough time. We're obsessed by our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, the struggle against distraction and the sense that our attention spans are shrivelling. Yet we rarely make the conscious connection that these problems only trouble us in the first place, thanks to the ultimate time-management problem: the challenge of how best to use our 4,000 weeks. Four Thousand Weeks is an uplifting, engrossing and deeply realistic exploration of this problem.
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5 out of 5 stars
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thought invoking.
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5 out of 5 stars
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2 out of 5 stars
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Leave out the drums FFS
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5 out of 5 stars
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Hugh keep up the great work.
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3 out of 5 stars
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physical copy would be more helpful with this one
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5 out of 5 stars
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Another masterpiece!
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I love this book. thankyou gabor and Daniel mate
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1 out of 5 stars
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An average book that has been well marketed and copied content
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Publisher's Summary
Bloomsbury presents Stolen Focus by Johann Hari, read by Johann Hari.
Why have we lost our ability to focus? What are the causes? And, most importantly, how do we get it back?
For Stolen Focus, internationally best-selling author Johann Hari went on a three-year journey to uncover the reasons why our teenagers now focus on one task for only 65 seconds, and why office workers on average manage only three minutes. He interviewed the leading experts in the world on attention and learned that everything we think about this subject is wrong.
We think our inability to focus is a personal failing—a flaw in each one of us. It is not. This has been done to all of us by powerful external forces. Our focus has been stolen. Johann discovered there are 12 deep cases of this crisis, all of which have robbed some of our attention. He shows us how in a thrilling journey that ranges from Silicon Valley dissidents, to a favela in Rio where attention vanished, to an office in New Zealand that found a remarkable way to restore our attention.
Crucially, he learned how—as individuals and as a society—we can get our focus back, if we are determined to fight for it.
Critic Reviews
"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)
"A really important book.... Everyone should read it." (Philippa Perry)
"A beautifully researched and argued exploration of the breakdown of humankind's ability to pay attention." (Stephen Fry)
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What listeners say about Stolen Focus
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Joshua Van Arsdale
- 08-02-2022
There are much better books on attention and focus
I'm not saying that there's nothing going on for this book because there definitely are a handful of thought-provoking ideas scattered throughout, however, I could not enjoy this book for the remainder of the time padding out the book.
The author comes across as unrelatable and constantly moaning about problems in the world; every time the narrative returned to the author's own journey, I found myself rolling my eyes at yet another issue that the world has to change for him.
I found that the strongest theme throughout the book is 'the problem of losing focus is too big for you to manage by yourself, you need the government to solve that problem for you,' take from that what you will, but I found it was not an empowering theme.
I also found that, ironically in a book about focus, the focus of the book meandered about and sometimes seemed to get lost in asides for long stretches before meandering back.
If you're listening to the audiobook version of this, be prepared to be bombarded with phrases like "and he told me" and "and she said." If there's anything that stuck with me after listening, are those phrases ringing again and again in my head.
If found the logic of the arguments in the book was sometimes questionable, I found that there were a few occasions where the author would be building an argument, and then just drop in some pretty bold and unsupported statements as if they were facts and then draw conclusions based on those claims.
One of the main topics covered is about technology and social media - I found Adam Alter's Irresistible a much better read on the topic and would definitely recommend it over Stolen Focus.
Overall it's not a terrible book, but it's definitely not for me, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, especially with plenty of books that cover this topic in a much better way.
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22 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Chrystal Meinhardt
- 24-01-2022
Thought provoking
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.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 16-01-2022
Must Read!
Incredibly important topic. A crash course in why living a life of intention rather than screen mediated attention is so meaniful yet to difficult.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Meg Allford
- 02-02-2022
ironically going to listen to this again!
As a teacher there is a lot of extremely valuable information here. I'm recommending it to all my colleagues.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 05-02-2022
Well worth a read!
Enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed Lost Connections by Hari (also well worth a read!). I appreciate the way that Hari weaves narrative, with autobiography, with research.
I really enjoyed the Nextflix doco “The Social Dilemma” and Stolen Focus touched on similar themes.
I also love listening to Hari’s voice, it’s so soothing!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jennifer
- 23-01-2022
Stolen focus
This book is a must read for everyone. It is informing and empowering.
Knowledge is power for change. So important!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Arlyn Owens
- 31-01-2022
Brilliant and important
Johann Hari has a way with words, and telling stories… he’s a wonderful, engaging writer and narrator. His presentation of the complex issues in this book (and all his others) is nuanced, well examined and inspiring (and a little rage-inducing!).
Yet again an incredibly important and accessible book from one of my fave authors.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Adam
- 14-01-2022
Essential reading for the modern human
Overall a pleasant read about a topic which concerns us all. If anything it will give readers reason to rethink their addiction to social media devices.
Unfortunately the author has a leftist skew which comes across as out of touch with the current sentiments towards the left’s misuse of social media.
A more balanced political approach would result in a better body of work.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Emily
- 09-01-2023
This is a book about systematic, not personal, change
As long as you’re not looking for a self help book, this is excellent! I think it pairs well with something like indistractable that will give you some level of control and individual action over your focus, while this book reminds you ITS NOT JUST YOU. Excellently researched and a well argued narrative
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jade
- 04-01-2023
A must read!
A great (albeit scary) book. Would definitely recommend everyone to read and/or listen to.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Justinas Matusevicius
- 11-06-2022
incredibly disappointing book
Such a waste of time. the writer could be someone like Karl Marx, focusing solely on collective responsibilities and evil corporations and not giving really any tips how to regain focus. Everyone else is at fault but not you, so you cannot regain focus. what a bummer. I genuinely hated listening to this book.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 23-05-2022
this book is bad
this book is highly political. most chapters go something like this. Here are facts and here is science (this is fine) and then the conclusion of the chapter is: and thats why my political beliefs are correct. let's go and start a marxist revolution against our tech overlords!
The author has very little understanding of B.F. skinners works and paints him as an evil scientist. Yes his experiments were used to manipulate people and make them addicted to phones, but skinner died in 1990 long before the age of social media. Its like calling Alfred noble evil cause people used his invention to bomb houses.
B.F. skinners work was about explaining the effect the environment has on organism. The problem he had is that it is very hard to isolate a variable in the environment. he solved this by inventing the skinner box which is a box that you put a pigeon in. the box has a key on the wall that can be manipulated. The key is the only thing in the pigeons environment that changes and thus he could scientifically explain what effect that variable had on the pigeon.
Later people in silicon valley realised that this experiment is very similar to our experience when we interact with our phone or our computers or video games. Sins the only variable that changes is what is happing on the screen they could use the same principles that skinner used to manipulate his bird to manipulate the people using the devises.
Our phone addictions don’t make skinner bad, it just proves him right.
Last is the weird connection to climate change in the book that is also political mumbo jumbo. His argument is if we cant focus we cant solve climate change. But i really don’t see what climate change has to do with the topic. It was just thrown in there to give people with the same political believes as Johann Hari a political boner and doesn't really belong in this book.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Paroslav Mlatarić
- 28-05-2022
Feminine story telling
After two hours of listening I stopped and deleted it. Reminder of the book might be better but probably isn’t. Shallow, emotional and useless story telling, you probably know the kind. It offers little new to learn and instead fills pages with emotion loaded personal stories.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Linda Hellman
- 12-10-2023
Best book in a long while
This book is full of information, and yet it is written so that it’s easy to follow and understand. Writer tells the story in very fascinating way and the book just gets better and better the longer you listen to it.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- The_Customer
- 07-08-2023
Good book… too woke
I have been following the author for a while, with other brilliant books. This one, in my honest view, misses the mark. Too many woke ideas and climate change propaganda, a negative bias and (from a psychologist), a lack of rigor on the ADHD issue. In general, the book has very interesting ideas, but the organization and focus is… just not there. Cannot recommend unless you just want to get a simple view on the issue for a very, very general audience. That, of course, leaving aside the biases from the author. The quality from his previous works is just not there, but I did still enjoy a few ideas from the book that I found valuable. What a pitty, nice try though!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Avid Reader
- 16-06-2023
Great book drawing attention to a real challenge
Hi enjoyed the breadth of the book and that there are practical suggestions on what can be done while not diminishing the scale of the shift needed in the system as a whole
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- hazel k-b
- 15-05-2023
so important
listened at 1.2 speed, reccomend! so important, I'm so glad I picked up this book - Thank you for the resources at the end!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Mari
- 26-02-2023
It deserves more yet….
The author does a really good job of laying out his arguments and excellent job of interviewing experts. The 1st half was eye opening to say the least, the chapter on adhd and learning was mind blowing and took me back to my childhood of play and learn. However, the author keeps inserting climate change into the narrative (this is his hidden bias). It made no sense to the many times he made reference to it and maybe once or twice introduced interviews of his “hand”picked experts to support his beliefs. Something he avoided in all other chapters where he listened to both sides of the aisle. If this book was strictly about stolen focus, I would have rated it it much higher, but it’s not, it’s also about climate activism with no background, and forethought as to how his personal opinion without facts can affect the listener, especially since in one of the chapters I loved he spoke of how we, as a society, don’t deep dive anymore into serious subjects and let those short “clips” guide our beliefs. The author needs to do a “deep dive” on his climate change concerns before he spouts off trivial and superficial opinions on a subject that deserves its own book and certainly a lot of interviews from opposing and different points of views so we as a society can critically and intelligently come tou our OWN conclusion as to best serve the earth we live on.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nuno
- 02-02-2023
An excellent perspective on how we lost focus
Excellent book on explaining why we are having so much difficulty in maintaining focus. Johann carefully presents different scientific research on the why (which is the result of different "forces"), with a genuine preoccupation in presenting conflicting views when those are present. Nevertheless, and that's the reason why is a 4 star review (and not a 5 star), is that at the end the "revolutionary" prescription is, in my humble opinion, a little biased, and very much anchored on the idea that we all had very healthy lives 100/50/30 years ago and know we are at the brink of collapse because of technology and capitalism. Other than this bias and excessive simplicity, this is an excellent book with a very, very important message
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rumpelteazer
- 27-01-2023
Affirming what we already know, but still captivating
What my title says..
I gave a lower rating to performance of this audiobook because most of the time I was really bothered by Johann’s reading. He is clearly not suitable for this kind of long winded performance, he swallows often and that’s very distracting, and sounds tired. I wish he had agreed to let a professional performer to read this.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- the typist
- 17-01-2022
No substance and not much style
I truly wanted to like this, I’ve been reading books related to similar subjects and have found them fascinating. Unfortunately, this is way too anecdotal, and the anecdotes feel forced and - at times - entirety made up. But whereas the likes of Glennon Doyle can get away with a suspiciously well-timed and engrossing happening, Hari’s personal tales are so on the nose they read like they should come with a ‘insert relevant thematic story here’ disclaimer. As for the journey he is trying to thread through the book, it’s not only an affront to climate change – travelling halfway around the world to find peace and quiet. Really? It’s also completely unrealistic for anyone who has a regular job, children or a functioning relationship. Do yourself a favour and return the book, then download Oliver Burkemas ‘Four Thousand Weeks’. It covers the same topic and far more, it’s also incredibly well researched and well written and without the solipsistic overtones.
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57 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Niall R
- 15-05-2022
Bait and switch writing of the worst kind
If you decided to read/listen to this book after listening to Johann on the Chris Williamson podcast, you've already heard anything of any real use the man has to say.
The first 5 chapter of 'Stolen Focus' cover the subject of how social media is destroying your ability to focus. It is thought-provoking material.
Then it all goes horribly wrong.
The idea of stolen focus is used as a platform for the author to sell his ideological and hilariously social justice wares, such as how awful anything except Left-leaning politics is, why poor people are simply incapable of focusing why government controlled Internet and social media is actually a good thing, why everything is a social injustice, and how feminism has literally saved the world from the evils of men.
If that wasn't bad enough his constant fawning over the likes of Tristaaawn Harris and others is beyond cringe, especially considering Harris and his ilk are directly responsible for the social, societal and psychological problems teenagers and young adults experience today.
I coughed and laughed my way from chapters 6 - 10 and then called it a day.
The author knew he could never hope to sell a book that peddled his laughable ideological beliefs, so he used the premise of "Saving you from social media" to trick you to make the purchase...and then slips the social justice content in through the back door.
The only book out of the hundred I've ever purchased on Audible where I am strongly considering asking for a refund.
You're a dishonest hack, Johann Hari.
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23 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
- serginhowardinho
- 19-01-2022
Lacks Focus
This feels like Hari has read over social science book of the last twenty years, paid attention to every major news story in that same time span, struggled to find a way of knitting them together and then gone, "balls to it, I'll just write about focus."
It times its incoherent and unfocused, at other times far too anecdotal. There are flashes of insight and occasionally it's thought provoking, but by and large this is a dull book. The narration is pretty poor too.
I enjoyed Lost Connections immensely, but Hari's shtick has worn very thin. If I ever hear one more barely believable fabricated anecdote or one more example of him visiting an 'expert' followed by a paragraph which begins "he told me" I'll end up hurting someone nearby.
Even if you're a fan usually, avoid this.
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20 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- The G Man
- 08-01-2022
Bravo 👏 👏
Bravo to Johann Hari for this absolute masterpiece! I have listened to many audio books on this subject, most will point you in the direction of mindfulness meditation, which is not a bad thing, but in this book Johann tries to get to the root cause of our inability to focus, the way that external forces influence our behaviour, from tech giants to the food we eat, and everything in between.
I don't know if i will listen again, this book was so well written and so well read by the Author, every sentence relevant and memorable.
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20 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michael
- 11-01-2022
This is good
It's like somebody shining a light of clarity through the dark fog of misinformation and manipulation that is, no so gradually, engulfing us all. I'm not sure that it will be enough to save us, but at least it gives us a glimpse of what we are up against!
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Vanessa Higgins
- 10-01-2022
One of the most important books of this time!
I have been suspecting something has been very wrong and this book has confirmed it all and given me real support in rectifying the problem and reclaiming my own mind! Thank you Johann for bringing this into our awareness and offering real solutions.
The reflections you have given on how change has been made in the past has given me so much hope that we can change the current systems and we can create a better world for ourselves.
May this book reach far and wide!
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dimiti D
- 09-01-2022
Masterpiece
This book is lifechanging. I've been struggling with fragmented attention for some years now and read and listened to what I could on the matter. This book is a masterclass on the subjest. I loved Hari's last book "Lost Connections" so when I got a Kindle notification (yes that was a distraction but a welcome one in this case) that he'd just released this one I immediately bought it along with the Audible narration. This, in my view, is a must read/listen for anyone living in the digital age.
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Shopper101
- 26-04-2022
Interesting ideas; shame about the author
Interesting ideas, some of which have made me re-consider my own technology usage and concentration habits. Intriguing discussions around ADHD too.
Downsides: The narrator/author. His voice and inflection are incredibly irritating. The amount of upspeak made it difficult to take the author's points seriously.
He is also incredibly entitled and self-important; snatching his godson's phone because he didn't approve of him using it, chastising people in a museum for commenting on technology, judging a stranger on a train for choosing to daydream out of the window...the list goes on. Some of the book was read an indignant, condescending lecture, his voice getting higher pitched and inflections erratic as he made his points.
Some of his claims were a bit odd, especially when describing people he'd interviewed. They were the best in their field, most famous, most researched, or in one case...had read more about the subject than anyone else in the world. Really...? I read the book as it was recommended by a friend, but it's worth noting the author has a history of plagiarism; form your own conclusions about his arguments.
Worth reading - paper version, or by another narrator. Take the general gist, which has a worthy message, but be wary of the author himself.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Kunde
- 25-02-2022
Created awareness, overshoots in the end.
Wonderfully narrated and written by Johann. Builds up nicely and gives great insights in how your attention is diminished by several causes, like social media, diet, schooling and more. Especially the discussion on personal versus societal responsibility furthered my own thinking. This book was a great introduction to the topic for me after I notice my own dwindling attention span. A point of critique is that Hari seems to aim for the moon in the end with attacks on the economic system which are left without foundation. Suddenly he argues for a universal basic income and a four day work week. These can be argued for, but the connection with attention remains vague. This discussion should have remained out of scope and blur his points earlier in the book.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JPC
- 09-01-2022
Time well spent
This is such a well-crafted book about a subject which impacts all of our lives. It’s accessible enough but also credible and mature. He comes up with some lovely figurative turns of phrase and reframes ideas with compassion and humour. It’s a blend of personal experience and thorough, painstaking research - Hari has more than blown away any former clouds about the authenticity of his sources and is reliable and likeable.
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