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

by Chris Bailey

disconnecting is one of the most powerful ways to spark new and innovative ideas.

constant connectivity is one of the worst disruptions to our focus and productivity.

Working with my email client open and my smartphone on my desk was simply more appealing than trying to concentrate on one or two simple things.

For me, this book was born out of necessity: I wrote it because I needed it.

I learned that one of the best practices for fostering my creativity and productivity was learning how to unfocus.

By paying attention to nothing in particular and letting my mind wander—as I did on my way to the Kingston diner—I found that I became better at making connections between ideas and coming up with new ones.

I also found that we encounter more distraction today than we have in the entire history of humanity. Studies show we can work for an average of just forty seconds in front of a compu...

While trying to do more tasks simultaneously, we prevent ourselves from finishing any one task of significance.

And I began to discover that by focusing deeply on just one important thing at a time—hyperfocusing—we become the most productive version of ourselves.

When we invest our limited attention intelligently and deliberately, we focus more deeply and think more clearly. This is an essential skill in today’s world, when we are so often in distracting environments doing brain-heavy knowledge work.

Productivity research is great—but pretty useless when you don’t act upon it.

magic stops being magic the moment you know how it’s done.

Everyone is uniquely wired and has different routines—as a result, not all productivity tactics will mesh comfortably with your life.

Experiment with as many of these focus tactics as you can, and adopt whatever works for you.

When your mind is even slightly resisting a task, it will look for more novel things to focus on.

distractions and interruptions are infinitely easier to deal with before they become a temptation.

your smartphone for what it really is: a productivity black hole that sits in your pocket.

To focus on this book, I recommend leaving your devic...

It’s never healthy to be dependent on something—addictive, shiny rectangular devices included.

Or are you reading in an environment where you don’t have much control, such as on the train or the subway?

The most focus-conducive environments are those in which you’re interrupted and distracted the least.

External distractions aren’t the only ones to blame—think of the distractions that can come internally, like your brain reminding you that you need to pick up groceries.

In the notepad I write every distraction that makes its way into my mind—things I need to follow up on, tasks I can’t forget, new ideas, and so on.

Writing them down to make sure they don’t slip through the cracks will let you refocus on the task at hand.

Use paper pen to kote tdistraction list

Take time to weigh the value of your routine consumption. A tactic I find helpful is to view the descriptions of books, TV shows, podcasts, and everything else as “pitches” for your time and attention.

Just as you are what you eat, you are what you pay attention to.

Attention is finite and is the most valuable ingredient you have to live a good life—so make sure everything you consume is worthy of it.

caffeine takes eight to fourteen hours to metabolize out of your system—consider reading alongside a cup of coffee or tea.

Caffeine provides an invaluable focus boost, and while you usually have to pay this energy back later in the day as the drug metabolizes out of your system,

When I finish that first read, I go through the book a second time, rereading just the

highlighted parts so I can really process the most valuable nuggets. If I can, I’ll annoy someone nearby by sharing these bits so I can process them again even more deeply.

Your ability to focus isn’t limitless—while you can improve your attention span, it’s only a matter of time until it begins to waver.

For now, though, when you do notice your focus fading, step back from this book for a few minutes to do something relatively mindless.

Autopilot mode guides us through actions like these. As many as 40 percent of our actions are habits, which shouldn’t require conscious deliberation.

But some decisions are worth making deliberately. How we manage our attention is one of them. We typically manage our attention on autopilot.

The more we can manage our attention with intention, the more focused, productive, and creative we become.

Attention with intention

The environments in which we live and work, unfortunately, have their own agenda for claiming our attention, bombarding us with alerts, notifications, beeps, and buzzes.

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?

This is the problem with managing your attention on autopilot mode. The most urgent and stimulating things in your environment are rarely the most significant. This is why switching off autopilot mode is so critical.

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.

There are two main criteria to consider when categorizing what to focus on: whether a task is productive (you accomplish a lot by doing it) and whether a task is attractive (fun to do) or unattractive (boring, frustrating, difficult, etc.).

Necessary work includes tasks that are unattractive yet productive.

Unnecessary work includes the tasks that are both unproductive and unattractive—like rearranging the papers on your desk or the files on your computer.

Spending time on unnecessary work tasks keeps us busy, but such busyness is just an active form of laziness when it doesn’t lead to actually accomplishing anything.

Distracting work includes stimulating, unproductive tasks and as such is a black hole for productivity. It includes social media, most IM conversations, news websites, watercooler chats, and every other form of low-return distraction.

The remaining box on the chart is purposeful work—the productivity sweet spot. These are the tasks we’re put on earth to do; the tasks we’re most engaged in as we do them; the tasks with which we make the largest impact. Very few tasks fit into this box—most

Without selective interest, experience is utter chaos. —William James

First, there’s a finite limit to how many things we can focus on.

Our environment sends a steady stream of information to our brain every second.