Hyperfocus: How to Manage Your Attention in a World of Distraction

by Chris Bailey

Understanding the four types of productive and unproductive work tasks lets us step back and figure out what’s actually important so we can stop working on mindless autopilot mode. Recognizing the limits of our attention enables us to become aware of how few things we’re able to focus on in the moment. Hyperfocusing on our most complex, productive tasks lets us activate the most productive mode of our brains and get a large amount accomplished in a short amount of time. Setting strong daily intentions lets us work on our most productive tasks. Creating a personalized distraction-free mode, and a reduced-distractions mode, lets us work with more focus and clarity while directing our time and attention away from needless distractions. Simplifying our working and living environments lets us think more clearly by taking stock of the distractions that surround us. Clearing our minds using waiting-for, task, and worry lists lets us work with clarity and prevents unresolved mental loops from interrupting our focus throughout the day. Becoming good custodians of our attentional space—by making our work more complex when necessary and by expanding the limits of our attention—helps us properly manage our limited attention.

daydreaming is immensely potent when our intention is to solve problems, think more creatively, brainstorm new ideas, or recharge.

Just as hyperfocus is your brain’s most productive mode, scatterfocus is its most creative.

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.

Focusing on tasks all day consumes a good deal of mental energy, even when you’re managing and defending your attentional space using the tactics set out in part 1. Scatterfocus replenishes that supply so you can focus for longer.

The mode helps you connect old ideas and create new ones; floats incubating thoughts to the surface of your attentional space; and lets you piece together solutions to problems. Scattering your attention and focusing on nothing in particular supercharges the dot-connecting powers of your brain. The more creativity y...

When we’re surrounded by so many novel and stimulating objects of attention, most of us don’t want to be left alone with our thoughts.

We focus on certain objects of attention by default, and doing so is what has allowed the human species to survive. We’ve already discussed the first type of object of attention that draws us in: anything that’s novel. This is what makes our smartphones and other devices so enticing, while we find less novel tasks—like writing a report—boring, regardless of how much they lead us to accomplish. We’re also more likely to focus on anything that’s pleasurable or threatening.

We’ve crafted the world around us to cater to these cravings for novel, pleasurable, and threatening objects of attention. Consider this the next time you turn on the TV, open YouTube, read a news website, or check social media—these outlets provide a steady fix of all three.

Today the balance of these three objects of attention has been tipped. We’re continually surrounded by novel distractions, pleasures are plentiful, and legitimate threats are few and far between. The wiring in our brain that in our evolutionary past led us to store sugars and have sex as a survival mechanism now leads us to overindulge in fast food and pornography. Continually scanning for threats is what compels us to dwell on that one negative email or overthink a careless offhand comment from our boss. What once aided our chances at survival now sabotages our productivity and creativity in the modern world. It makes our most urgent tasks feel a lot more important than they actually are.

The next time you meditate (if you’ve begun to do so), pay attention to how your mind is naturally drawn to the threats, pleasures, and novel ideas floating in your head.

We spend hardly any time thinking about the future when we’re focused, while in scatterfocus mode we’re fourteen times more likely to have these thoughts. Scatterfocus lets us work with greater intention because our mind automatically contrasts the future we desire against the present we need to change to make that future a reality. We consider our goals only about 4 percent of the time when we’re immersed in what we’re doing, while in scatterfocus mode we think about them 26 percent of the time. The more time you spend scatterfocusing between tasks—rather than indulging in distractions—the more thoughtful and productive your actions become.

There are two ways your mind wanders: unintentionally and intentionally. Unintentional wandering takes place without your awareness, when you don’t choose to enter into the mode. This is where I draw the line between mind wandering and scatterfocus. Scatterfocus is always intentional.

Intention is what makes scatterfocus so powerful. This mode is always deployed deliberately—and involves making a concerted effort to notice where your mind goes. I’ve found it helpful to distinguish among a few different styles of scatterfocus: Capture mode: Letting your mind roam freely and capturing whatever comes up. Problem-crunching mode: Holding a problem loosely in mind and letting your thoughts wander around it. Habitual mode: Engaging in a simple task and capturing the valuable ideas and plans that rise to the surface while doing it. Research has found this mode is the most powerful.

clearing your mind of open loops is a powerful productivity tactic. The fewer to-dos, calendar appointments, and unresolved commitments you keep stored in your mind, the fewer things there are to fill your attentional space as you try to focus. For years I have been scheduling one or two fifteen-minute chunks of time each week to let my mind wander freely, during which I capture any valuable and actionable material. This practice is as simple as sitting with coffee, a pen, and a notebook and waiting to see what rises to the surface of my consciousness. By the end of the process, my notebook is invariably full: I’ve scribbled the names of people I should follow up with, stuff I’ve been waiting to do (and also follow up about), a list of people I should reconnect with, solutions to problems, tasks I’ve forgotten, house chores, intentions I should set, and more. I usually feel energized at the end of this little ritual because I’ve given my mind a break.

unresolved tasks, projects, and commitments weigh heavily on our mind, perhaps because our brain views them as threats. In capture mode, any unresolved ideas or projects move to the forefront of your mind, ready to be written down and acted upon later. Our mind’s propensity to wander toward these unresolved ideas is, in part, what makes scatterfocus so valuable—the open loops become much more accessible.

hold a problem in your mind and let your thoughts wander around it, turn it over, and explore it from different angles. Whenever your mind ventures off to think about something unrelated or gets stuck on one point, gently nudge your attention back to what you intended to think about, or the problem you intended to solve.

habitual scatterfocus is fairly easy: you simply do something habitual that doesn’t consume your complete attention. This gives your mind space to wander and connect ideas.

The happier you are in scatterfocus mode, the more benefits you’ll reap. An elevated mood actually expands the size of your attentional space, which leads you to think more expansively. Your attentional space is just as essential in scatterfocus mode as it is in hyperfocus mode—it’s the scratch pad your brain uses to connect ideas. A positive mood also allows your mind to wander more productively, as you’re dwelling less on the negative past.

since doing a simple, pleasurable activity takes so little effort (and self-regulation), you can recharge at the same time you scatter your attention. As well as being more fun, habitual tasks have been shown to yield the greatest number of creative insights when compared with switching to another demanding task, resting, or taking no break whatsoever.

Habitual tasks also encourage your mind to continue wandering. When you let your mind rest and wander, chances are you’ll want to continue this scatterfocus exercise until you’ve finished whatever you started. A habitual task acts as a sort of “anchor” that guides your mind until you’ve completed the work. This enables you to keep going for longer. To practice habitual scatterfocus, pick something simple that you enjoy doing. Then carry out that one task—and nothing else—until your mind wanders. The simpler the task, the better—going for a walk will unearth greater insights and connect more ideas than listening to music or reading a book. Good ideas will rise to the surface of your mind so long as you have attention to spare.

This is where problem-crunching and habitual scatterfocus differ: in problem-crunching mode, you bring your thoughts back to the problem you’re tackling; in habitual mode, you pretty much let your mind roam free.

Stimulating devices and distractions don’t only derail our focus—like water, they seep into the gaps in our schedule, stealing the valuable time and attention we would normally spend planning for the future and connecting ideas. A primary reason many of us feel burned out is that we never give our attention a rest. Try this today: don’t bring your phone with you the next time you walk to get a coffee or eat your lunch. Instead, let your mind wander.

Getting enough sleep, for example, can increase the size of attentional space by as much as 58 percent, and taking frequent breaks can have the same effect. This impacts productivity: when attentional space is approximately 60 percent larger, productivity can grow by just as much, especially when we’re working on a demanding task. The better rested we are, the more productive we become.

Research has shown that a refreshing work break should have three characteristics. It should be low-effort and habitual; something you actually want to do; and something that isn’t a chore (unless you genuinely enjoy doing the chore).