Hyperfocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction

We are what we pay attention to, and almost nothing influences our productivity and creativity as much as the information we’ve consumed in the past.

We have to work with intention as much as possible—this is especially true when we have more to do than time within which to do it. Intention enables us to prioritize so we don’t overload our attentional space.

Directing your attention toward the most important object of your choosing—and then sustaining that attention—is the most consequential decision we will make throughout the day. We are what we pay attention to.

1.   How much of your time you spend intentionally 2.   How long you can hold your focus in one sitting 3.   How long your mind wanders before you catch it

how important it is to choose what you consume and pay attention to: just as you are what you eat, when it comes to the information you consume, you are what you choose to focus on. Consuming valuable material in general makes scatterfocus sessions even more productive.

When it comes to productivity and creativity, scatterfocus enables you to do three powerful things at once. First, as I’ll discuss in this chapter, it allows you to set intentions and plan for the future. It’s impossible to set future intentions when you’re immersed in the present. By stepping back and directing your attention inward, you’re able to switch off autopilot and consider what to do next. Your brain automatically plans for the future when you rest—you just need to give it the space and time to do so.

An unfortunate truth is that the brain is not built to do knowledge work—it’s wired for survival and reproduction.

By removing every object of attention that’s potentially more stimulating and attractive than what you intend to do, you give your brain no choice but to work on that task.

meta-awareness. Becoming aware of what you’re thinking about is one of the best practices for managing your attention. The more you notice what’s occupying your attentional space, the faster you can get back on track when your mind begins to wander, which it does a remarkable 47 percent of the time.

by focusing deeply on just one important thing at a time—hyperfocusing—we become the most productive version of ourselves.

Setting specific intentions can double or triple your odds of success.

One study found that when we continually switch between tasks, our work takes 50 percent longer, compared with doing one task from start to completion.

Ask yourself: After consuming one of those products, will you be happy with how you invested your time and attention?

Continually seeking novel stimuli makes us feel more productive—after all, we’re doing more in each moment. But again, just because we’re busier doesn’t mean we’re getting more accomplished.

Compounding this is the fact that the brain’s prefrontal cortex—the large part of the forebrain that lets us plan, think logically, and get work done—has a built-in “novelty bias.” Whenever we switch between tasks, it rewards us with dopamine—that amazing pleasure chemical that rushes through our brain whenever we devour a medium-sized pizza, accomplish something awesome, or have a drink or two after work.

Productivity is not about cramming more into our days but about doing the right thing in each moment.

We have evolved to crave things that provide us with a surge of dopamine, which reinforces habits and behaviors that have historically aided our chances at survival.

How our mind refuses to shut off when we’re lying in bed at night. While a large part of us wants to sleep because we have things to do in the morning, our mind insists on reliving the entire day. How our mind brings up cringeworthy memories at the worst possible times. Where do these thoughts come from? How incredible ideas and insights come to us while our mind is wandering in the shower, but the same insights don’t strike when we need them the most. How we find ourselves having forgotten our reason for entering the kitchen or bedroom. Why did we lose our grip on our original intention? How we can’t focus on something when we want to—like writing a report that’s not on a deadline. Or why we procrastinate and focus on things that aren’t productive instead of spending our time productively. How we find ourselves in bed bouncing around a loop of the same five smartphone apps, checking for updates again and again until we snap out of our trance. We may fall into a similar mindless loop on the internet—switching between news websites, IM conversations, and social media. How we’re unable to stop worrying about certain things until they’re resolved or vanish into the ether. As you read Hyperfocus and learn to focus more deliberately, these lapses will make a lot more sense, and you’ll even learn how to prevent them.

If our plan today is to write three thousand words, rock a presentation with our leadership team, and catch up on our email, and we successfully accomplish all of those, we were perfectly productive. Likewise, if we intend to have a relaxing day and manage to do absolutely nothing, we're again perfectly productive. Being busy doesn't make us productive. It doesn't matter how busy we are if that busyness doesn't lead us to accomplish anything of importance. Productivity is not about cramming more into our days but about doing the right thing in each moment.

Make a very detailed plan on how you want to achieve what you want to achieve. What I’m arguing in my research is that goals need plans, ideally plans that include when, where, and which kind of action to move towards the goal.

The state of your attentional space determines the state of your life. When your attentional space is overwhelmed, you, in turn, feel overwhelmed. When your attentional space is clear, you also feel clear. The tidier you keep your attentional space, the more clearly you think.

just because we’re busier doesn’t mean we’re getting more accomplished.

We are what we pay attention to.

Happiness is the rose-colored lens we place atop our attentional space, which allows us to relate to our experiences in a more productive and creative fashion.

any sufficiently complex decision or idea is also indistinguishable from magic.

View the descriptions of podcasts, TV shows, movies, and books as a pitch for your time and attention.