Behavioral Design in the Digital Era: Structuring the balance point between productivity and well-being with Amy Blankson & Nir Eyal
Original Air Date Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Technology is both a vice and a virtue. It can help us manage our lives and accomplish tasks with reminders and to-dos. But, at what point do the dings and pings become more of a distraction than traction? How much of our time is dedicated to managing our digital devices versus tackling the true task at hand? To learn more, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen revisits the subject of digital distractions and speaks with two experts who share how to stay healthy and productive while using modern technology. Amy Blankson discusses key points from her book, The Future of Happiness: 5 Modern Strategies for Balancing Productivity and Well-Being in the Digital Era, and Nir Eyal shares insights, about how to balance productivity and well-being using the same technology designed to distract us, from his new book, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life.
Amy Blankson — Productivity and well-Being in the Digital Era:
- There are challenges but we can be happy humans while making technology useful to us. [3:40]
- In Amy’s book, The Future of Happiness she calls people out to be conscious consumers when it comes to apps and gadgets. [7:53]
- Learning discernment, digital minimalism, and stepping out of the system. [11:09]
- Strategies for balancing productivity and well-being in this digital era. [15:21]
- Amy Blankson describes the three types of technology users. [23:54]
Amy Blankson has become one of the world’s leading experts on the connection between positive psychology and technology. She is the only person to be named a Point of Light by two presidents (President George H. W. Bush and President Bill Clinton) for creating a movement to activate positive culture change. A sought-after speaker and consultant, Amy has now worked with organizations like Google, NASA, the US Army, and the Xprize Foundation to help foster a sense of well-being in the Digital Era. Amy received her BA from Harvard and MBA from Yale School of Management. Most recently, she was a featured professor in Oprah’s Happiness course. Amy is the author of two books: The Future of Happiness and an award-winning children’s book called Ripple’s Effect.
Book: The Future of Happiness: 5 Modern Strategies for Balancing Productivity and Well-Being in the Digital Era
Amy Blankson Website
@amyblankson on Twitter
Amy Blankson on Facebook
Nir Eyal — Behavioral and Lifestyle Design:
- Nir explains his concept of Behavioral Design: how the seduction of technology has the ability to hijack our attention spans. [27:33]
- Identifying your addiction: are you a shamer, blamer, or claimer of distracting technology? [31:05]
- Four steps to mastering internal triggers to become indistractable and increase your productivity. [33:10]
- How Nir Eyal builds indistractable relationships and lives with personal integrity. [49:31]
Nir Eyal writes, consults, and teaches about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business. Nir has founded two tech companies since 2003 and has taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. He’s also an active investor in habit-forming technologies.
Book: Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life
Indistractable Website
@nireyal on Twitter
Nir and Far on Facebook
@neyal99 on Instagram
This episode of Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio about productivity is sponsored by:
Are We Happy Yet? Eight Keys to Unlocking a Joyful Life — A boot camp manual for greater emotional fitness. Happiness waits for no one and sometimes we all need support. What is getting in the way of your happiness right now?
H–Factor: Where is Your Heart? — Lisa’s documentary film explores the journey of human happiness. Emotions are contagious and happiness is a universally desired state. We tend to forget we all have the freedom to be happy or the liberty to be miserable each day.
“Rather than legislating policy, I think It's more important that we teach critical thinking, discernment, and emotional intelligence so we can make these informed decisions.” @LisaKamen Click To Tweet“I think there is a constructive way to eliminate digital shaming.” @LisaKamen on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet “When we look to our phones to find comfort, some of us are becoming more agitated and choosing to dial back.” @LisaKamen on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“We are bombarded by the media with information about how technology is destroying the fabric of our societies.” @amyblankson on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“I do think that the future looks incredibly bright in how technology can help us to tune in and not just to zone out.” @amyblankson on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“The idea is to support companies and business models that will foster a desire to create apps that measure their success based on how effective they are for us.” @amyblankson on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet “Technology keeps drawing us away into this web of more time on the computer, more time on the apps.” @amyblankson on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“The average smartphone user today opens and closes their phone, on average, 150 times.” @amyblankson on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“The idea behind my work is to use the psychology behind engaging products and services to build good habits. @neyal99 on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“The real source of distraction is that we are escaping something we don’t want to feel.” @neyal99 on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“Using an extrinsic reward as motivation has been shown to backfire.” @neyal99 on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“By making an implementation intention your only goal is to work on a task without distraction for a set period of time.” @neyal99 on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“Two-thirds of people with a smartphone never change their notification settings.” @neyal99 on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“We become indistractable when we say we are going to do one thing then follow through.” @neyal99 on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet “The antidote to impulsiveness is forethought. Planning ahead is how we can conquer every distraction.” @neyal99 on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet
CONTINUE YOUR JOURNEY
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