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

by Chris Bailey

While falling into autopilot mode can help us keep up the pace of work and life, attention is our most limited and constrained resource. The more we can manage our attention with intention, the more focused, productive, and creative we become.

The second way that our attention is limited is that after focusing on something, we can hold only a small amount of information in our short-term memory.

At any one time, your attentional space should hold at most two key things that you are processing: what you intend to accomplish and what you’re currently doing.

Our brains also reward us for poorly managing our attention, because for our early ancestors, seeking novel threats in the environment aided their chance of survival.

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

The most important aspect of hyperfocus is that only one productive or meaningful task consumes your attentional space.