Hyperfocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction
by Chris Bailey
Related videos
15:57
Author explains focus challenges and solutions in TEDx format
17.7M
450K
Apr, 2019
Spoiler:
Sharing some of his famous focus experiments, the author says that our brain comes up with its best and most creative ideas when we are neither totally focused nor distracted, but when we are in a state that he calls “scatterfocus,” a/k/a letting your mind wander. For example, he knits as a hobby and has found that he comes up with so many ideas while knitting that he keeps a pen and notepad next to his chair. He says running and making love induce similarly positive brain states.
8:24
Key ideas from the book, elaborated in animated format
95K
4K
Oct, 2022
Spoiler:
Using the metaphor of an old-style video arcade game, the content creator asks us to imagine two circles, a dashed circle representing our intention or goal, and a solid circle representing our attentional space. With a joystick and focus, the goal is to move the attentional-space circle to align with the intention circle, creating one unified circle that will reap rewards and results. Research shows that the average mind craves distraction every 40 seconds, so we need strategies for aligning these two circles.
26:24
Author chats with Bregman podcast about how to focus and unfocus
2K
34
Oct, 2018
Spoiler:
The author shares some of the joys of non-digital focus, such as reading one of the two physical newspapers to which he subscribes. (He cites a study in which people who watched six hours of news about the Boston Marathon bombing were more likely to get PTSD than those who were actually present at the bombing.) He gives tips for avoiding typical distractions; for example, keeping a phone on grayscale makes it much less attractive, compared to the in-color world and people around us.
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Other books by Chris Bailey
Publications
The New York Times: Having Trouble Finishing This Headline? Then This Article Is for You.
Forbes: Achieving It All: Four Tips For Improving Hyperfocus
The New York Times: Stop Trying to Be Productive
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