In the world of Project-Based Learning, we design for depth: sustained inquiry, collaboration, revision, and creation. Yet the conditions of modern life, like constant notifications, multi-tasking demands, and fragmented digital environments, are working directly against the focused attention that powerful PBL requires.
Johann Hari’s Stolen Focus is an urgent read for teachers and school leaders committed to preserving and growing student thinking. Hari documents how our collective attention is being eroded and explores what it means for relationships, empathy, learning, and human potential. The book is part research synthesis, part personal reckoning, and full of actionable insights that map beautifully onto the challenges we face in classrooms today.
Key takeaways for PBL practitioners:
- Depth requires time and protection. Hari emphasizes that “depth takes time… and it takes attention.” Long-term projects thrive on this, but students (and teachers) are habituated to rapid switching. Protecting blocks of deep work becomes a design feature of strong PBL units.
- Flow states vs. fragmentation. Drawing on Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the book contrasts the expansive power of flow with the shrinking effects of constant fragmentation. In PBL, we aim for those immersive, purposeful experiences where students lose themselves in authentic problems (Sustainable School Garden units, Silent Voices projects, design challenges, etc.). Understanding the conditions that support flow helps us structure scaffolding, routines, and classroom culture more intentionally.
- Empathy and sustained narrative. Research highlighted in the book suggests that deep engagement with complex stories builds empathy, while fragmented media often does not. This reinforces why rich, extended reading, storytelling, and real-world case studies are non-negotiable in PBL.
- Human downgrading + responsibility. Hari explores the systemic design of attention-capturing technologies and the need for both individual strategies and collective change. For educators, this means advocating for device policies, designing offline-rich phases in projects, teaching metacognitive focus strategies, and modeling healthy tech relationships.
- Hope in redesign. The book ends on a note of possibility: just as work cultures shifted during COVID, we can redesign learning environments to prioritize focus. PBL is uniquely positioned to do this.
As we develop AI Literacy in PBL resources at CraftED, Stolen Focus serves as a critical compass. AI can be a powerful thought partner for planning and personalization, but only if we keep student (and teacher) focus, creativity, and critical thinking at the center.
Recommendation: Read this with your PLC or book club. Use the highlighted passages and questions as anchors for conversations about classroom culture, project design, and the skills our students need most. Then, audit one upcoming PBL unit through the lens of attention protection…what changes would you make?
I’d love to hear how this book lands for you as a PBL educator. Drop your reflections in the comments or join our broader conversation on Substack.
About the Author: Jenny
