Charan Ranganath

So there's all sorts of things. I know there's a lot of tech bros who are just like, oh, no, I multitask. I'm great at it. You're not.

Well, and here's the thing, and this is really gets back to this idea of engineering your environment. And because so much of our lives, we're out of control, even though we feel like we're in control, right? And it's really, if I have a higher goal, sometimes you have to do exactly what you did, which is hack your environment to allow, to enable you to regain control, right?

Well, and here's the thing, and this is really gets back to this idea of engineering your environment. And because so much of our lives, we're out of control, even though we feel like we're in control, right? And it's really, if I have a higher goal, sometimes you have to do exactly what you did, which is hack your environment to allow, to enable you to regain control, right?

Well, and here's the thing, and this is really gets back to this idea of engineering your environment. And because so much of our lives, we're out of control, even though we feel like we're in control, right? And it's really, if I have a higher goal, sometimes you have to do exactly what you did, which is hack your environment to allow, to enable you to regain control, right?

So what I mean by this is it's like, I, even though I might not check my phone, I might have alerts off, If I have a habit, I'm thinking about it. And every time I think about it, that urge pops into mind. I'm getting a little distracted. I'm losing a little bit of executive control. So you don't even have to do it, right? You can just think about it. And multitasking is just one thing.

So what I mean by this is it's like, I, even though I might not check my phone, I might have alerts off, If I have a habit, I'm thinking about it. And every time I think about it, that urge pops into mind. I'm getting a little distracted. I'm losing a little bit of executive control. So you don't even have to do it, right? You can just think about it. And multitasking is just one thing.

So what I mean by this is it's like, I, even though I might not check my phone, I might have alerts off, If I have a habit, I'm thinking about it. And every time I think about it, that urge pops into mind. I'm getting a little distracted. I'm losing a little bit of executive control. So you don't even have to do it, right? You can just think about it. And multitasking is just one thing.

There's other things. Like one thing I talk about in the book is taking pictures. So you've probably been to concerts. I know I have where it's like people are like just filming the whole things on their phone. Or like now you see the rise of Instagram walls where you go into places and there's a wall that exists so people can post to Instagram. Nothing wrong with this.

There's other things. Like one thing I talk about in the book is taking pictures. So you've probably been to concerts. I know I have where it's like people are like just filming the whole things on their phone. Or like now you see the rise of Instagram walls where you go into places and there's a wall that exists so people can post to Instagram. Nothing wrong with this.

There's other things. Like one thing I talk about in the book is taking pictures. So you've probably been to concerts. I know I have where it's like people are like just filming the whole things on their phone. Or like now you see the rise of Instagram walls where you go into places and there's a wall that exists so people can post to Instagram. Nothing wrong with this.

But most – not all the research, interestingly, and I can get into why, shows that taking pictures actually impoverishes people's memory.

But most – not all the research, interestingly, and I can get into why, shows that taking pictures actually impoverishes people's memory.

But most – not all the research, interestingly, and I can get into why, shows that taking pictures actually impoverishes people's memory.

Let me be more specific about this, right? So let's say I'm mindlessly taking pictures. So I go in. I'm seeing the Grand Canyon. I'm just like, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch. A lot of people intuitively on average will say that they will remember it better because they took pictures. But what often happens is they're not really focusing on the distinctive elements of their experience.

Let me be more specific about this, right? So let's say I'm mindlessly taking pictures. So I go in. I'm seeing the Grand Canyon. I'm just like, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch. A lot of people intuitively on average will say that they will remember it better because they took pictures. But what often happens is they're not really focusing on the distinctive elements of their experience.

Let me be more specific about this, right? So let's say I'm mindlessly taking pictures. So I go in. I'm seeing the Grand Canyon. I'm just like, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch. A lot of people intuitively on average will say that they will remember it better because they took pictures. But what often happens is they're not really focusing on the distinctive elements of their experience.

They're just grabbing as much stuff as they can. Let's take the concert as another example. If you are filming the concert and you're just trying to grab what's being sung, you will have a recording of the concert. But what's the memory you want to have? Do you want to have a memory of the song that you already can stream anytime?

They're just grabbing as much stuff as they can. Let's take the concert as another example. If you are filming the concert and you're just trying to grab what's being sung, you will have a recording of the concert. But what's the memory you want to have? Do you want to have a memory of the song that you already can stream anytime?

They're just grabbing as much stuff as they can. Let's take the concert as another example. If you are filming the concert and you're just trying to grab what's being sung, you will have a recording of the concert. But what's the memory you want to have? Do you want to have a memory of the song that you already can stream anytime?

Or do you want the memory of how you felt, the friends you were with, the connection that you had with the artist because you were there? I know this sounds real hippy-dippy, but it's real.