"Digital Anthropologist" Brian Solis, a consultant with Altimeter Group, has spent much of the past quarter-century advising companies about digital technologies and their implications especially for marketing and advertising .

But last year, faced with a dissipating ability to focus, be productive or happy, or even to write his next book, Solis took a timeout. He began looking for ways to recenter his attention in an era of endless digital distractions, searching for ways to be healthier, smarter and just better.

"I couldn't even write the book I set out to write, and had to figure out the path back to where I was," Solis said.

The resulting work led to a book, "Life Scale: How to Live a More Creative, Productive and Happy Life," published by Wiley in March. It suggests we need to adapt away from the digital world around us, in part by adopting ancient tools and approaches like the power of silence, isolation, meditation and mindfulness techniques.

But Solis is still talking about technology, marketing and advertising, including at this week's Open Influence Summit. The Los Angeles conference drew about 150 representatives from brands, agencies and similar organizations across the country and beyond to hear Solis and others talk about influencer marketing, branding and much else. (I moderated a panel there on entertainment and advertising featuring CEO Eric Dahan of host Open Influence, Tanya Bershadsky of Casting Influence, and Larry Shapiro of Ensemble Digital Studios).

After Solis' keynote conversation, I grabbed a quick conversation with Solis for the Bloom in Tech podcast. We talked about moving beyond what he calls "Influence 1.0" (which looks and measures outcomes a lot like TV from the 1990s), building a different relationship with both influencers and audiences/customers, and rewiring yourself for a happier, better life amid the onslaught of digital distractions.

Listen to the Brian Solis Bloom In Tech podcast episode on Anchor.fm here. It's also available on Apple, Spotify, the Android Store, Overcast, Breaker and several other homes for discerning audio content.