How smartphones and social media may be making us more anxious and distracted - and what to do about it. Cal Newport is the author of two seminal books: 'Deep Work' and 'Digital Minimalism'. He argues that our ability to perform undistracted work on something cognitively demanding is a vital skill to train. However, the ability to perform 'deep work' is increasingly rare - not least because of the impact of smartphones and social media. Cal says that IGen - people born between 1995 and 2012 - have been particularly impacted, because they came of age at a time when smartphone and social media use was ubiquitous. The rates of mental health issues in that generation are reported to have been rapidly and markedly impacted. Part of the problem - Cal argues - is that for the first time in human history, people don't ever have to be alone with their thoughts and feelings. With a smartphone, you always have a distraction tool within reach, and that's a problem. Without having to experience solitude in the same way as every preceding generation, people are struggling to experience uncomfortable thoughts and feelings - and grow as human beings.***My debut book - Champion Thinking: How To Find Success Without Losing Yourself - is available to buy from January 18. Drawing on some of my favourite interviews from this podcast over the last five years, I want to challenge our ideas about 'success', and where peace, joy and fulfilment are truly to be found. Flow is a fundamental theme.Pre-order here: https://www.simonmundie.com/bookWebsite: simonmundie.comYouTube: https://tinyurl.com/YouTubeSimonMundieInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/***Other episodes mentioned in this one are: Sir John Kirwan: Mental health https://play.acast.com/s/dont-tell-me-the-score-with-simon-mundie/mentalhealth-sirjohnkirwanRyan Holiday: Stoicism https://play.acast.com/s/dont-tell-me-the-score-with-simon-mundie/stoicism-ryanholidayDr Sherylle Calder: Vision https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06sfg6jHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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