Book review: Stolen Focus

If you ever want to have an interesting and insightful discussion about wellbeing, speak to Luke Sherriff. The former rugby player and co-founder of skincare brand Proverb is thoughtful and insightful, so when he suggested Stolen Focus: why you can't pay attention as a must-read... well, then we must!

As far as spa-side reading goes, it wasn't the usual light hearted fiction one might normally cleave to. However, Johan Hari's writing takes a complex and nuanced subject matter and makes it a surprisingly easy read. Conversationally and inquisitively written, the book explores our collectively and individually diminishing attention spans, and yes, unsurprisingly, digitisation plays its part.

The book is neither accusatory nor puritanical in its outlook - in fact, it's encouraging and reassuring but with some seriously sobering statistics. Simon Amstell is tantalisingly quoted on the cover, saying:

"Read it and be free"

Meanwhile, Stephen Fry heralds it:

"A beautifully researched and argued exploration of the breakdown of humankind's ability to pay attention."

For anyone who has become frustrated at their own ability to focus, or who's felt exhausted by the constant white noise of the world around us, this is a book that reassures you you're not alone, and there is a path towards improvement. Crucially, and wonderfully, Hari talks about this focus not only being important for our own individual health and wellbeing, but for our collective health as well. Solving the climate crisis, better international relationships - it all comes down to focus.

It all sounds heavy going, and in many ways the subject matter is, but Hari writes so beautifully that it's surprisingly digestible and uplifting in its message. This is a focus on what we can do rather than what we can't, and a reminder that we have a lot of the tools we need, personally and on a wider note - we just need to learn to use them.