Hyperfocus (Chris Bailey)
After we snap out of autopilot mode, we consider what we really ought to be doing and make the effort to realign our neurons to focus on that instead.
We are what we pay attention to.
An actor's most purposeful tasks might be rehearse and perform. My important tasks are writing books and blog articles, reading research to encounter new ideas, and giving talks.
Stuffing your attentional space with too many tasks can make you feel unsettled.
The tidier you keep your attentional space, the more clearly you think.
Just because we're busier doesn't mean we're getting more accomplished.
Productivity means accomplishing what we intend to. If our plan today is to write 3000 words and we successfully accomplish all of those, we were perfectly productive.
We make more mistakes because we don't properly encode the lessons we learned the first time we messed up.
The best time to take a break is after you've finished a big task.
Hyperfocus is many things at once: it's deliberate, undistracted, and quick to refocus, and it leads us to become completely immersed in our work. You're never too busy to hyperfocus.
Spotlight effect - where you think everyone's watching you when really, they couldn't care less.
We experience the benefits of hyperfocus mode by setting such simple intentions as being present in a conversation with our partner or fully enjoying a meal with our family.
The most important tasks on your list are the ones that lead to the greatest positive consequences.
Deciding in advance when you'll work on a task is significantly more important for a difficult one than when your intention is to do something simple. Our work tends to expand to fit the available completion time (Parkinson's law).
I have superhuman level of self-control. What i am better at is managing my impulses ahead of time.
Attention is the most important ingredient we have to living a good, productive life.
When we focus, we consume and collect dots; when we scatter our attention, we connect these dots. Scatterfocus lets us recharge, which turn provides more energy to hyperfocus.
Positive thinking lets us feel successful in the moment, but at the price of making an actual plan to become successful later.
Work breaks aren't generally as refreshing as they should be, as we immediately become too busy checking social media and the news and distracting ourselves in other ways without stepping back to actually let our mings rest.
