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

by Chris Bailey

When it comes to your most important tasks, the fewer things you pay attention to, the more productive you become.

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

Save hyperfocus for your most complex tasks—things that will actually benefit from your complete attention, such as writing a report, mapping your team’s budget, or having a meaningful conversation with a loved one.

The science suggests we pass through four states as we begin to focus. First, we’re focused (and productive). Then, assuming we don’t get distracted or interrupted, our mind begins to wander. Third, we make note of this mind wandering. This can take awhile, especially if we don’t frequently check what is consuming our attentional space. (On average, we notice about five times an hour that our mind has wandered.) And fourth, we shift our focus back to our original object of attention.

To hyperfocus, you must choose a productive or meaningful object of attention; eliminate as many external and internal distractions as you can; focus on that chosen object of attention; and continually draw your focus back to that one object of attention.

This first step to reaching hyperfocus mode is essential—intention absolutely has to precede attention.

Third, hyperfocus becomes possible when we focus on our chosen object of attention for a predetermined amount of time. This involves hunkering down for a set period that is both comfortable and feasible.

it takes an average of twenty-two minutes to resume working on a task after we’re distracted or interrupted. We fare even worse when we interrupt or distract ourselves—in these cases, it takes twenty-nine minutes to return to working on the original task.

Attention without intention is wasted energy.

Rule of 3: at the start of each day, choose the three things you want to have accomplished by day’s end.

Make sure to keep your three intentions where you can see them—I keep mine on the giant whiteboard in my office or, if I’m traveling, at the top of my daily to-do list, which is synced between devices in OneNote.

A second intention-setting ritual I follow is considering which items on my to-do list are the most consequential.

This is a powerful idea to internalize, especially since the most important tasks are often not the ones that immediately feel the most urgent or productive.

My favorite way to make sure I’m staying on track with my intentions is to frequently check what’s occupying my attentional space—to reflect on whether I’m focusing on what’s important and consequential or whether I’ve slipped into autopilot mode. To do so, I set an hourly awareness chime.

Research shows that we are more likely to catch our minds wandering when we reward ourselves for doing so.

“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.” In other words, if a student’s vague goal was to “find an apartment during Christmas break,” his implementation intention could be “I will hunt for apartments on Craigslist and email three apartment landlords in the weeks leading up to Christmas.”

Setting specific intentions can double or triple your odds of success

There are two notable caveats to setting specific intentions. First, you have to actually care about your intentions.

Second, easy-to-accomplish intentions don’t have to be as specific.

How to hyperfocus: Start by “feeling out” how long you want to hyperfocus.

Anticipate obstacles ahead of time.

Hyperfocus! When you notice that your mind has wandered or that you’ve gotten distracted, bring your attention back to your intention.

The costs of an unrelated interruption can be massive: it takes an average of twenty-five minutes to resume working on an activity after we’re interrupted, and before resuming that activity, we work on an average of 2.26 other tasks.

Eliminating distractions before you hunker down on a task makes focusing infinitely easier, as important tasks fill your attentional space quite naturally when there is nothing competing with them.

Focus work benefits from all the attention we can bring to it—the less we’re distracted, the more deeply we’re able to focus, and the more productive we become. This allows us, as author Cal Newport has put it, to do “deep work.”

Collaborative work, on the other hand, involves interacting with other people and being available in case you’re needed. The more you and your team are available for one another, the more productive your team as a whole becomes.

A distraction-free mode is especially valuable after a vacation or long weekend, as during these periods you’ll have less energy and be more susceptible to distraction.

Because it’s impossible to work in hyperfocus mode 100 percent of the time, we should also learn to enjoy the benefits of cutting back on distractions during other periods of our day.

Resist the urge to tap around on your smartphone when you’re waiting in line at the grocery store, walking to the coffee shop, or in the bathroom. Use these small breaks to reflect on what you’re doing, to recharge, and to consider alternate approaches to your work and life.

Research suggests that the most productive music has two main attributes: it sounds familiar (because of this, music that is productive for you may differ from your coworkers’ choices), and it’s relatively simple.

our brain is for having ideas, not for holding them. An empty brain is a productive brain, and the more stuff we get out of our heads, the more clearly we think.

Keeping a distractions list as you focus will remove distractions from your head so you can refocus more quickly and deal with them later

three measures we can use to measure the quality of our attention: how much time we spend working with intention; how long we’re able to focus on one task; and how long our mind wanders before we catch it doing so.

Capturing our mind’s “open loops”—through a task list, a waiting-for list, or even a worry list—prevents unresolved items from weighing on our mind as we try to focus. This helps us deal better with chaotic environments and set aside personal concerns.

Consciously making your tasks more complex, and taking on more complex ones, is another powerful way to enter into a hyperfocused state, as they will consume more of your attention. This will keep you more engaged in what you’re doing and lead your mind to wander less often.

doing mindless stuff at work or at home is not only unproductive but also a sign you don’t have enough important work.

To measure if you have enough work in general, assess how much of your day you spend doing unproductive busywork.

There is, however, one practice that has been proven in study after study to increase working memory capacity: meditation.

Each time you return your wandering mind to the details of your breath, you heighten your executive functioning: how much control you have over your attention.

it doesn’t matter how long I meditate, as long as I do so each day. Some days I can spare only a minute or two, which is sufficient as long as I keep faithful to a routine.

doesn’t matter how long I meditate, as long as I do so each day. Some days I can spare only a minute or two, which is sufficient as long as I keep faithful to a routine.

Practicing mindfulness is another proven way to increase the size of your attentional space. It’s similar to meditation but a little less intimidating.

Mindfulness is about becoming conscious of what is filling your mind and noticing the circumstances of the current moment.

The secret to deep, meaningful conversations is simple: bring your complete attention to the person you’re speaking with.

Wait until you hear the period at the end of their sentence before you think about what you’ll say next.

“Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.”

tactics that will help you develop an even stronger hyperfocus habit: making your work more challenging, taking on more projects at work and at home, increasing the size of your attentional space, practicing hyperfocus in all areas of life, and choosing exactly when to hyperfocus.

while it might take weeks to summon the energy and stamina needed to clean the garage or bedroom closet, once we do it for even just a minute, we could keep going for hours. The same is true for working out—after we overcome our resistance to getting started, we can go on with the rest of our workout. Starting provides enough momentum to carry out our intentions.

You always have time—you just spend it on other things.

Just as hyperfocus is the most productive mode of the brain, scatterfocus is the most creative.