Hyperfocus

How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction

By: Chris Bailey

Narrated by: Chris Bailey

A practical guide to managing your attention - the most powerful resource you have to get stuff done, become more creative, and live a meaningful life

Our attention has never been as overwhelmed as it is today. Many of us recognize that our brains struggle to multitask. Despite this, we feel compelled to do so anyway while we fill each moment of our lives to the brim with mindless distraction. Hyperfocus provides profound insights into how you can best take charge of your attention to achieve a greater sense of purpose and productivity throughout the day.

The most recent neuroscientific research reveals that our brain has two powerful modes that can be unlocked when we use our attention effectively: a focused mode (hyperfocus), which is the foundation for being highly productive, and a creative mode (scatterfocus), which enables us to connect ideas in novel ways. Hyperfocus helps you access each of the two mental modes so you can concentrate more deeply, think more clearly, and work and live more deliberately every day. Chris Bailey examines such topics such as:

• Identifying and dealing with the four key types of distraction and interruption
• Establishing a clear physical and mental environment in which to work
• Controlling motivation and working fewer hours to become more productive
• Taking time-outs with intention
• Multitasking strategically
• Learning when to pay attention and when to let your mind wander wherever it wants to

By transforming how you think about your attention, Hyperfocus reveals that the more effectively you learn to take charge of it, the better you'll be able to manage every aspect of your life.

©2018 Chris Bailey (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"An engaging book . . . When Mr. Bailey was writing this book, he may as well have pinned my photo above his desk and labeled it 'my audience.' . . . Hyperfocus helped me recognize the limits of my attentional space and make my environment more conducive to focus . . . Mr. Bailey teaches how to re-examine your tasks, determine your priorities and minimize interruptions. . . . When I started the second part of the book, I excitedly placed exclamation points next to all of the examples of places your mind could go if it was left to do its own thing." (The New York Times, "Self-Helped" column)

"In this practical and widely applicable manual Bailey . . . identifies distraction as an endemic probem plaguing the business world, and just about every facet of modern life as well . . . Highly germane to any fast-paced workplace, this book is a must-read for readers seeking to regain control of their ability to concentrate." (Publishers Weekly)

"Hyperfocus does a remarkable job of unpacking the realities, obstacles, and best practices of managing the subtle but ever-present world of our conscious attention. All of us can get better at how, when, and on what we focus; and this is an extraordinary, eye-opening and research based report of what affects us in this regard, and how to take advantage of this information to achieve greater satisfaction in our lives. Bravo, Chris." (David Allen, author of Getting Things Done)

Very inspiring

I love this book! It explains the details of how to and the benefit of hyper focus and scatter focus with many practical guides. It very beneficial for people who are doing knowledge work.

How to remove distraction from your world

Very good book to listen,
It's help me to reduce the distraction around me and be more focused and more productive,

Gréât insights , pleasant to listen

Great book to improve efficiency . Listening to it every day in my car was very interesting

Solid and Effective

The book is a quick read for anyone wanting to build basics for improving productivity.

Worth focusing on

Plenty of good info on how to harness your brain to increase your focus and creativity.

Great in depth material on its points

Educational on how you should do things properly, especially on how to think/focus/process.

It's a lot of material covering topics as such which are filled with examples and plenty of tips on how to lean on valueing your time and focus.

Would still recommend to instead check out "How to train your brain"

That one changed my mindset and life just like "The Secret"...enabling to to have tools I can use for myself if i feel like i want to do things properly and better manage my time and brain energy.

Lots of great ideas

Besides the great ideas by the author, the book helped me generate a lot of productive ideas of my own. It was great.

Very useful!

I listened to The Productivity Project first, and I knew I had to listen to this one! It took me a while to get through because I wanted to take notes and really delve into the tools that are given to you. Putting these tools into practice while listening automatically makes listening more enjoyable too. I love Chris Bailey’s work, and this is one I will definitely be listening to again!

very informative yet slightly redundant

I do appreciate this book. it just started down a road at the end that was a bit redundant. it was very informative. There really wasn't a story here. I don't know why that was asked.

By far the most life changing text I have read.

This as a really easy book to read and had my attention the whole time. As someone with ADHD the very first chapter called me out instantly so it fell under the "I had to finish" list.