Does your child have this skill? Why being ‘indistractable’ will be key to future success

Experts explain why Australia’s children must become ‘indistractable’, and how parents can start now and hone this new skill as they grow up.

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The art of being ‘indistractable’ is going to be a core skill for modern children needing to navigate the 21st century, experts say.

A reaction to the addiction of distraction, ‘indistractable’ is set to be the buzz word of the next decade with the ability to stay focused setting apart the next generation of leaders from the rest. As technology constantly vies for our attention, parents who want to give their kids an edge will need to teach them how to ‘keep traction’ on activities.

Author Nir Eyal said teaching kids how to be ‘indistractable’ is as important as teaching them good nutrition.

“In the future there will be people who are able to control their attention and control their life and people who let their attention and time be controlled by others,” he told News Corp Australia.

“You can compare it to proper nutrition and what diet we consume – we now have to consider the diet of what we put into our brain.”

Author Nir Eyal says being Indistractable will be a key skill for future leaders. Picture: Supplied

University of Sydney’s Dr James Donald, who is working on research that links internet addiction to an inability to regulate emotion, says parents are facing an “unprecedented challenge” with devices designed to compete for children’s attention.

“Being able to regulate your attention is a critical skill and the consequences are more severe than ever before,” he said.

Dr Donald said his research shows that if adults haven’t learnt the core skill of self-regulation they find it harder to take on the responsibility of making big life decisions.

“When kids spend a lot of unsupervised time online they are not practicing self-regulation; a key skill that enables them to resist distractions.”

Monash University’s Dr Megan Spencer-Smith said children’s brains are particularly vulnerable to incessant distractions as they get used to needing the sugar hit of constant stimulation.

“If children are not having the opportunity to maintain attention and focus for long periods of time it means they are not going to develop optimally,” she said.

Graphic from Author Nir Eyal's book on how to be indistractable. Picture: Supplied

But equally the ‘plastic’ nature of a child’s brains mean they can be taught how to retain focus – or traction, as Mr Eyal calls it.

“The opposite of distraction is not focus – the opposite is traction – the action that pulls you towards what you want to do with intent,” he said.

“. We need to teach our kids the concept of traction and have them practice that.

“Decide how much time you need to spend on your homework. Equally, if they are playing video games as they said they would – leave them alone, don’t be the external trigger.”

A behavioural engineering specialist, Mr Eyal wrote the book Indistractable as a reaction to his first book Hooked, on how to build habit-forming technology. A graduate from the Stanford School of Business he says that teaching children their limits is crucial to them forming habits of ‘traction.’

“The best thing you can do is help your child to learn how to moderate their use of technology – we are not raising children, we are raising future adults and we want to make sure we can give them the skills.”

Mother Nikolett Best makes sure her children are active as well as teaching them good screen skills, Zach, 7, Mason, 5, and Ava, 8. Picture: Jamie Hanson

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Mother of three Nikolett Best said her daughter Ava, 8, has now learned to regulate her time online and stay focused and on task.

“She goes on the PC to write a story and when she is finished with that she prints it out and the PC goes off. We have had to teach her that there are limits,” she said,

“It is definitely harder with Mason, 5, who doesn’t have that ability to regulate but we know it is important to teach him as well.”

But Principal Psychologist and Director of the Internet Addiction Clinic @ Kidspace Brad Marshall, who regularly speaks at schools, warned expecting children and teenagers to self-regulate is a challenge that has faced parents for centuries.

“This age group is going to be surrounded by screens and it is only going to get more problematic.

“Most school teachers will tell you kids are more distracted these days and more prone to be distracted by devices and screens.

“Teenagers don’t have the brain development to be as good at it, it is about modelling it and showing them what works and accepting that they aren’t always going to agree.

“Parents have to be willing to put boundaries in place.”

Originally published as Does your child have this skill? Why being ‘indistractable’ will be key to future success