Johann Hari interviewed over 200 experts across Moscow, Melbourne, and Miami to identify 12 factors that affect focus, from diet to workplace design. Most attention problems stem from environmental causes, not personal failure. Understanding these factors offers concrete ways to recover your ability to concentrate.
I went on this big journey all over the world, from Moscow to Melbourne to Miami, and not just to cities that begin with the letter M. I don't know why I keep doing that. To interview over 200 of the leading experts on focus and attention. And like I say, what I learned is there's scientific evidence for 12 factors that can make your attention better or can make it worse. And they range really widely, actually. The food we eat, the way our offices work, the way our kids schools work. And there's an incredibly broad array of factors that can positively or negatively affect attention. And loads of the factors that could harm your attention have been massively rising in recent years. So if you're struggling to focus and pay attention, if your kid is struggling to focus and pay attention, it's not that there's something wrong with you or something wrong with your child, there's something wrong with the way we're living. But once we understand these factors, we can begin to get our attention back in ways that are backed by the science.
