People want autonomy yet, according to Robert Epstein, author of "The Myth of the Teen Brain" in Scientific American, his surveys showed that "teens in the U.S. are subjected to more than ten times as many restrictions as are mainstream adults, twice as many restrictions as active-duty U.S. Marines, and even twice as many restrictions as incarcerated felons." No wonder they love playing video games that give them a sense of control. In Indistractable, Eyal reveals the hidden psychology driving us to distraction. He describes why solving the problem is not as simple as swearing off our devices – abstinence is impractical and often makes us want more. International bestselling author, former Stanford lecturer, and behavioral design expert, Nir Eyal, wrote Silicon Valley’s handbook for making technology habit-forming. Five years after publishing Hooked, Eyal reveals distraction’s Achilles’ heel in his groundbreaking new book. There are so many expectations and pressures at Christmas. My advice is do it on your terms and try not to worry if things don’t go the way you hoped.” Keep things familiar and relaxed If there is one thing I wanted when my boys were young, it was for them to fall in love with reading. Books, for me, are a lifeline. They are my heart and soul. Thus, from the moment my babies sat up on their own, they had books in their hands.

The book covers a lot from being more focused at work to parenting to relationships and I learned several new ideas. What I loved the most, though, is how practical this book is. There are solid recommendations on new approaches to try as well as lots of useful and creative app recommendations to help you stay focused. I'm already putting several things into practice and seeing good results. As I was reading this book, a succession of seemingly far-fetched associations and recollections were projected - or perhaps should I say 'beamed' - onto my mind. The masterly crafted plot of this 'documentary thriller' is such that retelling it here would be a certain spoiler. Yet, I cannot refrain from revealing a totally unexpected (for me at least) final twist from the book's short postscript, in which the author introduces us to another real-life character – Admiralty scientist Raymond Whipple. Yes, the author's namesake. More than that: his own grandfather, who met his wife, Mary, the author's beloved 'Granny Mary', while researching radio waves. Is time management some sort of pain management? What is the best way to stay focused in this world filled with distractions? Nir Eyal tries to answer these questions through this book. Even cooler? Indestructible books are totally nontoxic, so if you have a kiddo who puts anything and everything into their mouths, you don’t have to worry about them being harmed by these amazing books.Use visual aids such as calendars, lists and schedules to help plan your Christmas. Try and plan for the whole break; that way, you can give yourself a couple of quiet days to recoup if needed.

Time is a finite resource and that means we should spend it wisely. I liked that Eyal admitted to falling victim to the dreaded time stealing monster himself and shares the solutions that helped him to overcome this. Being interested in psychology I particularly appreciated the parts in which he described the psychology behind the forming of habits, how to break them and how just being free of them will impact our lives for the better. He discusses how to implement the solutions to make use of them in everyday life and I found the book to be extensively-researched with case studies throughout to illustrate some of the points he makes. He also places bullet-point summaries at the end of each chapter to remind us of key points. Overall, it offers a refreshingly different approach to time management than other books on the subject.

For anyone dealing with an inner critic, here's another reason to focus on being more self-compassionate. "A 2015 review of 79 studies looking at the responses of over 16,000 volunteers found that people who have 'a positive and caring attitude ... toward her- or himself in the face of failures and individual shortcomings' tend to be happier." And people who have a tendency towards self-blame, are more likely to deal with depression and anxiety. Books for Life, constructed from tear and water-resistant synthetic paper, are the brainchild of publisher and motorcyclist Simon Rosenheim, whose weatherproof bike map inspired thoughts of similarly resilient books for children. But Sylvie, Fraser, Max and Tiziah, sitting in red class's book corner under a gaily painted "Come and read" sign, all explain sternly that books must be treated with care. Her concern, though, is that the children are taught to look after books as part of their education. "It is about learning to respect things. We always explain to them early on that if you tear your books or treat them badly there will be none left at nursery because they will all be ruined. If we used these books, we wouldn't tell the children they were indestructible."

Now, be forewarned. Indestructible books are not story books. These books are intended for our youngest readers, those who don’t yet understand that they need to treat books gently and like the treasures they are.

Time management = pain management. The drive to relieve discomfort is the root cause of all our behavior. Everything else is a proximate cause. One way to let go of thoughts or feelings that are not helpful is to use the "leaves on the stream" method. Imagine you sitting next to a gently flowing stream with leaves floating by. Put the thought or emotion on one of the leaves and watch the leaf carry on floating on down the river. Let’s get this out of the way up front: the guy who (literally) wrote the book on making addictive tech writing a guide on how to not get distracted by addictive tech is like someone writing a book on the merits of veganism and then writing a follow-up called “Eating Yummy Baby Cows and Other Ways to Fill Your Cramhole With the Savory Flesh of Delicious, Fluffy Creatures!”