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  • Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey

    #1
  • #2

    Book is divided into two parts

    • Hyperfocus (#3)
    • Scatterfocus (#48)
  • Hyperfocus

    #3
  • #4
    Unattractive Attractive
    Productive Necessary Work Purposeful Work
    Unproductive Unnecessary Work Distracting Work
  • #5

    There are tasks that can be grouped together and worked on simultaneously but

    • All of them cannot intensive
    • Require same type of mental faculty (seeing, hearing, talking etc)
  • #6

    Habits create automated tasks but can help reduce mental load and get more done.

  • #7

    Best way to reset between focused sessions is by doing automated tasks (chores).

  • Be Deliberate

    #8

    Attentional space is limited.

    If major task is Purposeful ie., Productive & Attractive, then likelihood of multitasking is low.

  • Overwhelmed & Forgetfulness

    #9

    For this reason it is better to reduce load by reducing stimulus. This avoids feeling overwhelmed or become forgetful.

    For example: While returning home after a day's work, your brain wants to process the day's happenings. Instead of giving it the required space, you use that time to listen to podcasts or other cognitive heavy tasks, your mind will feel crowded by the time you reach home.

    Note: Also consider that you need to navigate back home via driving or such and this is partly automated task.

  • #10

    Be mindful of your mind & body. If it is drifting or unable to function with full capacity, you most likely have other things on your mind.

    Being mindful of self, being deliberate and working with intention helps us to be productive ie., accomplish what we want to achieve.

  • Attention Residue

    #11

    We can have thoughts from a task floating in our Attentional Space even when we are done with it (Attention Residue).

  • #12

    Having explicit & reasonable Definition of Done for Purposeful Tasks can help avoid Attention Residue.

  • #13 Interesting

    Strict Deadline is the most effective tool at our disposal.

  • #14

    This is because we no longer have an option to go back and tinker with our work. Not surprising :: Paradox of Choice

  • #15

    Big tasks which require large amounts of focus can still leave Attention Residue even upon completion.

    For this reason, it is recommended to take some reason to reset the brain and flush out the residue.

  • Three Questions

    #16

    Productive & fulfilling work are a byproduct of deliberation & intentionality.

    Just like with meditation/mindfulness, we can get our focus back on track by asking these questions:

    • How much of your time is deliberate?
    • How long can you focus on a task?
    • How long does your mind wander?
  • #17

    Quality of purposeful work is directly proportional to focus applied.

    Quality of habitual work is inversely proportional to focus applied.

  • #18 Question

    Unproductive or distracting tasks can lead to decompression of mind, serendipity or learning news.

    How to balance the need for always being productive or purposeful vs. chilling?

  • Intention setting rituals

    #19
    • Rule of 3 (#20)
    • Most consequential Work (#21)
    • Hourly Chimes (#23)
  • Rule of 3

    #20

    Set three "intentions" or goals to achieve

    • Each Day
      • Work
      • Personal
    • Each Week (optional)
  • Most consequential Work

    #21

    Before starting the day with intentional work, it is important to ask

    • Which tasks will have positive impact?
    • Which tasks will have mid term & long term impact?
    • Which tasks can create cascade effect?

    And finally...

    Do the tasks in my quadrants align with these questions?

  • #22

    For example.,

    Answering emails (immediate productivity) vs. Writing a guide for new joiners (long term productivity)

  • Hourly Chimes

    #23

    To keep track of our intentionality.

    Questions to ask

    Are you..

    • Focused or is your mind wandering?
    • Intentional with your work or on autopilot?
    • In/reaching the zone or are you feeling overwhelmed?
    • Working on Purposeful Work or are you doing busy work?
  • Stronger Intentions

    #24

    Success with Intentions

    Intentions helps with achieving goals.

  • #25

    Vague intentions are better than no intentions.

    Specific implementation* Intentions are more likely to be achieved.

    * I find the term dorky. I will use Actionable Intentions.

  • #26

    Environmental/Situational cues can help trigger actionable intents. ie., turn them into habits [:see AtomicHabits]

  • Starting Hyper Focus

    #27
    • Plan Hyperfocus slots ahead of time
    • Start with manageable chunks of time
    • Take small breaks interim
    • Use a timer for structure
    • It's natural to get distracted. Important to accept this and get back on track.

    Note: Quite similar to Pomodoro Technique [:see PomTec]

  • #28 Interesting

    Best way to complete tasks you want to avoid is by culling distractions ahead of time.

  • #29

    Impulsiveness is highly correlated to procrastination. (In focus context?)

  • #30

    Having specific slots for non-deep work and even rewarding self with distracting work can become useful. [:see AtomicHabits]

  • Five Sentence Rule

    #31 Interesting

    Try to keep emails restricted to 5 sentences (max).

    Otherwise have a call to discuss further.

  • #32

    Skimmed/Skipped rest of Chapter 4. Did not find much else useful.

  • #33

    If your day is filled with lot of busy work, stress/boredom; It might be time to start picking up more complex tasks. This would allow Purposeful work & Hyperfocus to kick in.

  • #34

    The reason Hyperfocus felt similar to meditation is because Author has been meditating for over a decade.

  • #35

    Meditation seems to improve working memory capacity.

  • #36

    The act of meditation is simple

    Sit with eyes closed and try not to let your mind wander

  • #37

    Author provides the steps for breathing meditation.

  • #38

    Take some time before Hyperfocus to meditation*. Point being to make it a daily habit.

    * - Can be from a minute or two to a decent chunk of time.

  • #39

    Mindfulness is different & less intimidating than meditation.

    Mindfulness is about becoming conscious of all that's happening around you as you perform the task/action.

    Mindfulness asks following questions

    • What's occupying your mind?
    • What's happening right now?
  • #40

    Hyperfocus is about getting immersed in the moment/work/task.

  • #41 Interesting

    Mindfulness precedes Hyperfocus(?)

  • #42

    Meditating on smaller objects makes it easier mind to wander.

    Practice of bringing mind back helps train Hyperfocus and do more deep work.

  • #43

    It is our animal nature to turn our actions into autopilot. To work by instinct.

    Mindfulness makes us aware of what is being pushed to autopilot. Meditation helps us become pure mind/consciousness.

    Hyperfocus makes us intentional with our actions for most important tasks/actions.

  • Resistance to Hyperfocus

    #44
    • Shrink hyperfocus time slot to the minimum you won't resist [:see PomTec]
    • When mind says, "No time for hyperfocus", see if it is ready for distracting tasks.
    • Practice Hyperfocus at least once per day
    • If you spend a lot of time in Hyperfocus, resistance might be sign to take rest and recharge.
  • #45

    One way to clear mind for better focus is by writing down stuff that pops in the mind using various lists like

    • Waiting-for list
    • Worry list
    • Task list
  • #46 Interesting

    Author says that Hyperfocus should be a relaxing or not taxing process.

  • Definition of Hyperfocus

    #47 Interesting

    My definition of Hyperfocus*

    Maximizing Attentional Space to work intentionally on most Purposeful tasks for prolonged periods of time.

    * - Because author never really gives one, I think.

  • Scatterfocus

    #48
  • #49

    Mind wanders into three topics

    • Threats
    • Pleasures
    • Novel Ideas
  • #50

    Mind also wanders into three places

    • Past
    • Present
    • Future
  • #51

    12% of our time is spent on negative events.

    Remainder is spent thinking about present & future.

  • #52 Question

    Is this within a day or within every mind wandering session?

    If this is indeed the case, are longer sessions necessary to move beyond the negative?

  • #53 Answer to: Is this within a day or within every mind wanderin (#51)

    This has to be during a day, otherwise how will the mind know to divide the time allotted to it to wander with described bounds?

    Otherwise, there is a minimum time to be spent in Scatterfocus mode.

  • #54 Interesting

    Mind spends most time thinking about the Future (48%).

    This is more than past (12%) & present (28%) combined.

    Rest is spent connecting ideas or going blank or elsewhere.

  • #55

    Most of the Future-Wandering is about Planning.