Stolen Focus
"A world full of attention-deprived citizens alternating between Twitter and Snapchat will be a world of cascading crises where we can’t get a handle on any of them."
— Johann Hari, Stolen Focus (2022)
Introduction
| Stolen Focus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Full title | Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention |
| Author | Johann Hari |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Attention; Distraction (psychology); Technology and society |
| Genre | Nonfiction; Psychology |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
Publication date | 6 January 2022 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardcover, paperback); e-book; audiobook |
| Pages | 352 |
| ISBN | 978-1-5266-2022-4 |
| Website | stolenfocusbook.com |
Chapter summary
This outline follows the Bloomsbury hardback edition (2022; ISBN 978-1-5266-2022-4).[1][2]
🚀 1 – Cause One: The Increase in Speed, Switching and Filtering.
🎯 2 – Cause Two: The Crippling of Our Flow States.
😪 3 – Cause Three: The Rise of Physical and Mental Exhaustion.
📚 4 – Cause Four: The Collapse of Sustained Reading.
💭 5 – Cause Five: The Disruption of Mind-Wandering.
📡 6 – Cause Six: The Rise of Technology That Can Track and Manipulate You (Part One).
🧲 7 – Cause Six: The Rise of Technology That Can Track and Manipulate You (Part Two).
🌀 8 – Cause Seven: The Rise of Cruel Optimism.
🔭 9 – The First Glimpses of the Deeper Solution.
🚨 10 – Cause Eight: The Surge in Stress and How It Is Triggering Vigilance.
🧭 11 – The Places That Figured Out How to Reverse the Surge in Speed and Exhaustion.
🌫️ 12 – Causes Nine and Ten: Our Deteriorating Diets and Rising Pollution.
🧩 13 – Cause Eleven: The Rise of ADHD and How We Are Responding to It.
🧒 14 – Cause Twelve: The Confinement of Our Children, Both Physically and Psychologically.
Related content & more
YouTube videos
Provided ID could not be validated. Author talk on the attention crisis (approx. 60–140 min)
CapSach articles
References
- ↑ "Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention (Hardback)". Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury Publishing. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
- ↑ "Stolen Focus (preview) – Contents and imprint pages" (PDF). PagePlace preview. Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 4 November 2025.