researchers to get to the bottom of why we get distracted so easily and discover how we can get our stubborn minds to focus in a world of distraction. And I started to experiment with the research myself, to see if it was actually possible to get a grip on my focus.
What I discovered completely changed not only how I work but also how I live my life. I began to see focus as not only a contributor to my productivity but also a factor in my overall well-being. Surprisingly, I leamed 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 computer before we're either distracted or interrupted. (Needless to say, we do our best work when we attend to a task for a lot longer than forty seconds.) I went from viewing multitasking as a stimulating work hack to regarding it as a trap of continuous interruptions. 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.
Above all else I began to view attention as the most important ingredient we can add if we're to become more productive, creative, and happy-at work and at home. 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.
This book takes you on a guided tour through my exploration of the subject of focus. I'll share not only the fascinating things I've learned but also how to actually put those ideas to use in your own life (I've road-tested all of them). Productivity research is great-but pretty useless when you don't act upon it. In this way, I see Hyperfocus as a sort of "science-help" book; one that explores the fascinating research behind how you
focus but also bridges those insights with your daily life to explore ways you can
manage your attention better to become more productive and creative. These ideas
have already changed one life (mine), and I know they can do the same for you too. On
the surface, the results can seem a bit like magic, but magic stops being magic the
moment you know how it's done.
