![]() ![]() Hyperfocus improves your productivity, so you may find yourself with more free time. Increase how many high-impact tasks you do. One Harvard Business Review article suggests having two careers can make you happier and more fulfilled.) (Shortform note: Even if you find that your job is not matching your skill level, you don’t have to quit. Reduce mind-wandering by adjusting your daily tasks to your current skill level. Therefore, excessive mind-wandering may be a sign that your current job is too easy or too hard. Citing Flow, Bailey explains that boredom occurs when your tasks are too easy, and stress occurs when your tasks are too difficult. If your mind wanders a lot as you focus on various tasks, you might be bored or anxious. Bailey recommends doing this by matching your tasks to your skill level and increasing how many high-impact tasks you do. In addition to redirecting your attention to your task when you become distracted, an ability that practicing meditation and mindfulness improves, a second piece of maintaining focus is to prevent your mind from wandering. (Shortform note: Bailey equates thinking more about your task with better decisions, but overthinking your task could prevent you from making any decisions at all.) The more working memory you have, the more productive you are-partly because when you’re focused on a task that doesn’t totally fill your working memory, you have even more spare working memory to think about the task so you can make better decisions about it.(Shortform note: Research suggests that the opposite may also be true: A working memory deficit is associated with ADHD, of which one symptom is distractibility.) The more working memory you have, the less likely a distraction is to crowd out your original intention-so you remember your original intention even if you do get distracted and can refocus your attention faster.(Shortform note: This may work best if the complex task is new: The better you get at a complex task, the less working memory it takes up.) The more working memory you have, the more complex the task you can pay attention to since more complex tasks take up more working memory.Improving your working memory is important for three reasons: (Shortform note: Bailey also suggests that hyperfocus might increase your working memory capacity, but he doesn’t delve deeply into the topic-perhaps because both meditation and mindfulness are scientifically validated methods for increasing your working memory capacity, but hyperfocus is not.) (Shortform note: Not everybody agrees with Bailey’s definitions of meditation and mindfulness: One expert defines meditation as intentionally doing something good for yourself and mindfulness as a general awareness of your circumstances.)īailey explains that both meditation and mindfulness are good for hyperfocus because they increase your working memory capacity. Bailey recommends picking a simple daily task and being mindful during it: Notice everything that happens as you, for example, wash the dishes. Conversely, mindfulness is when you pay attention to everything you experience in a given moment. Specifically, Bailey recommends focusing on your breathing for a small duration of time each day. To meditate, focus on a single thing and bring your attention back to it when your mind wanders. To make this easier, Bailey recommends incorporating two daily habits: mindfulness and meditation. In Step 3 of hyperfocus, you focus on your intended task for a set period. (Shortform note: If you’re inundated by emails, try viewing your inbox as a temporary workspace you use to sort your emails before dealing with them instead of a storage space.) Step 3: Use Mindfulness to Improve Focus ![]() This strategy is especially effective when combined with scheduling if your job requires quick responses to emails. (Shortform note: Improve your ability to focus on tedious meetings by actively looking for drama and disagreement during them, which may keep you engaged.) He also recommends hyperfocusing on emails if you have many to respond to. Try hyperfocusing on meetings you can’t get out of to get the most value from them. So, counterintuitively, Bailey recommends hyperfocusing on these potential distractions. Emails and meetings can be distracting, but they’re sometimes essential tasks you must complete. ![]()
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