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 bestselling 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 twelve 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.
About the Author
Johann Hari is a writer and journalist. He has written for the New York Times, Le Monde, the Guardian and other newspapers. His TED talks have been viewed over 70 million times, and his work has been praised by a broad range of people, from Oprah to Noam Chomsky to Joe Rogan. He lives in London.
Industry Reviews
'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
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 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
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 Mate 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
In his unique voice, Johann Hari tackles the profound dangers facing humanity from information technology and rings the alarm bell for what all of us must do to protect ourselves, our children and our democracies
Hillary Clinton former US Secretary of State
An entirely necessary book, a miracle of clarity and depth, a resonant, deeply researched warning followed by a truly inspiring clarion-call to action. Read it and weep, then dry your eyes and join in
Emma Thompson
A visionary, systemic, revolutionary and practical guide for creating the new world. Through tireless research and genius insight Johann Hari certainly snapped me to attention. A life changing book
V, author of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES
