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FLOW Why is flow so important to becoming limitless? How do I achieve a flow state? What are the key enemies of flow?
flow as “the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”
flow is an expression of “optimal experience.”
Motivation and flow need to work together, and they must be coupled with a solid recovery protocol, like good sleep and nutrition.
KWIK START Have you ever experienced the flow state? Where were you? What were you doing? How did it feel? What did you achieve at the end of it? Visualize that state. Even if you can’t visualize, imagine that you can.
The flow experience is one of the greatest highs any of us will ever experience.
Reflect on a few times you’ve been in the flow. What were you doing? What was consistent about those experiences? How can you get back there more often?
Take out your calendar and find a spot in the next few days where you can carve out 90 minutes to two hours. This needs to be a time when you can free yourself of all distractions. Now, what are you going to do with that time to dramatically boost your productivity?
How often do you go into a project with one of the supervillains we talked about in this chapter stalking you? What can you do right now to defeat that super...
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method meth·od (noun) A specific process for accomplishing something, especially an orderly, logical, or systematic way of instruction.
FOCUS What can I learn from what I’m like when I’m most focused? How can I increase my ability to concentrate? How do I limit my distractions and calm my busy mind?
KWIK START Rate your current level of concentration from 0 to 10. Now rate your desire to increase this level. Your concentration is like a muscle. You can train to become stronger with practice.
PRACTICING CONCENTRATION
“Concentration is at the crux of all human succes...
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“I define concentration as my ability to keep my awareness on one thing for an extended period of time. Every time my concentration drifts, I use my will power to bring my awareness back.”3
“Multiple stimuli present in the visual field at the same time compete for neural representation by mutually suppressing their evoked activity throughout the visual cortex, providing a neural correlate for the limited processing capacity of the visual system.”
CALMING YOUR BUSY MIND
One, from University College London, compared the brains of heavy media multitaskers with those of light media multitaskers and found that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which is involved in focus, was smaller among the former group. Conversely, a study at the Max Planck Institute found that, among people going through training exercises to increase attention, their ACCs grew thicker.
Tools like meditation, yoga, and certain martial arts can be tremendously valuable in helping you calm your busy mind.
Three important ones are:
1. Breathe
2. Do Something That Has Been Causing You Stress
KWIK START What is that one important thing that you’re avoiding that is affecting your focus?
3. Schedule Time for Distractions
KWIK START Schedule your next distraction time.
Take a good look at your to-do list and identify the thing (or things) on it that is likely to invade your thoughts until you get it done. Formulate a plan for dealing with that task using some of the antiprocrastination tools you now have.
Do something right now that changes your productivity environment so you can do a better job of staying on task.
Practice a technique for calming your busy mind. Does it work for you? If so, comm...
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STUDY If I’m going to be a lifelong student, how can I optimize my study time? Is cramming the best way to learn something? How do I become a better note-taker?
KWIK START Think about a topic or subject you’d like to learn this month. How would you go about studying this topic? What’s your current approach or process?
The most successful people in the world are lifelong students. That means they’re continuously learning new skills, keeping up with the latest in their chosen fields, and staying apprised of what other fields might be able to offer to them.
Over my years of helping people to learn faster and study better, here are seven of my favorite simple habits to unlimit your studies.
Habit 1: Employ Active Recall
To employ active recall, do this: Review the material you are studying. Then close the book, turn off the video or lecture, and write down or recite everything you remember from what you just reviewed. Now, look at the material again. How much did you remember?
Habit 2: Employ Spaced Repetition
Habit 3: Manage the State You’re In
Habit 4: Use Your Sense of Smell
Habit 5: Music for the Mind
“Music stabilizes mental, physical and emotional rhythms to attain a state of deep concentration and focus in which large amounts of content information can be processed and learned,”
Habit 6: Listen with Your Whole Brain
There’s a very strong connection between listening and learning, and more than a quarter of us are auditory learners, meaning that the primary way in which we learn is through hearing something.
Habit 7: Take Note of Taking Notes
By being clear on your intention with your notes, you are able to distinguish between information that is relevant to you and information that is not.
“capture and create.” On the left side of the paper, you’re capturing, you’re taking notes; on the right side, you’re creating, you’re making notes. You’re writing your impression of what you’re capturing.
Take your active recall out for a spin. Introduce yourself to some new material and immediately assess how much of it you retained.
Find a music playlist that works for you. There are many of them available, and the right music is likely to enhance your ability to absorb information, so take some time to find one that you like. Maybe you’ll even want to have it in the background while you read the rest of this book.
Try out your new note-taking tools. Maybe go through this chapter again and take notes about it. Or watch a TED talk and take notes on that instead. Use the skills y...
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13 MEMORY What can I do to improve my memory right away? How do I keep a big chunk of information in my memory? How can I easily access this information when I need it?
MEMORY What can I do to improve my memory right away? How do I keep a big chunk of information in my memory? How can I easily access this information when I need it?
KWIK START How would you rate your memory right now? What aspects would you like to improve? Take our memory assessment at www.LimitlessBook.com/resources to understand more.
