Our economy relies on people consuming and producing as much as possible, and that can only happen while they’re awake. We still get that second wind but later in the evening, when we’re supposed to be getting ready for sleep.Ģ) Consumer capitalism.

Now, Hari says, we don’t notice that change in natural light because we rely on artificial lighting. That helped them reach safety or finish tasks before sunset. Earlier humans would rise with the sun and go to sleep by sunset, but they also got a second wind around four in the afternoon, just as the sun began to set. Evolution made humans sensitive to light, but artificial lights interfere with our programming. Hari cites two possible explanations for widespread sleep deprivation:ġ) Artificial light. (Shortform note: The percentage of adults sleeping significantly less than the recommended seven hours a day is so high that the CDC declared it a public health epidemic.) For children, the lost sleep time amounts to an hour and 25 minutes. The average sleep time an adult gets each night is an hour less than it was at the beginning of the 20th century. Hari argues that sleep deprivation is not an isolated problem. Hari believes we’re not getting enough sleep, and it’s diminishing our ability to focus. The third factor contributing to the attention crisis is sleep deprivation. We’ll also share suggestions for action based on Hari’s insights, as well as explore perspectives from other authors that complement his ideas. In this guide, we’ll explore Hari’s evidence of an attention crisis, the seven factors causing this crisis, and his three-part solution. He examines these forces, including everything from our food to the economy, and unlike other authors writing about distraction, he proposes societal solutions rather than individual tips. Hari argues that our attention crisis is the result of outside forces stealing our focus, not the fact that we’re not trying hard enough to concentrate. In Stolen Focus, Hari makes the case that we have a societal attention crisis: We’re all losing our ability to concentrate, which means we can't progress on our individual goals, and we can’t collectively confront the major challenges humanity faces. If you’ve been struggling to concentrate, journalist Johann Hari wants you to know that you’re not alone-and the struggle isn’t your fault.

Stolen Focus by Johann Hari