Chris Bailey - Hyperfocus: The New Science of Attention, Productivity, and Creativity

PRAISE FOR CHRIS BAILEYS HYPERFOCUS

There are two kinds of focus we need in order to pursue whats essential in life: focus as a noun (our fixed intent) and focus as a verb (the ongoing process of connecting the dots). This is brilliantly illustrated both in writing and in graphics in this latest book from Chris Bailey. I loved the book.

Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism

Practical, well written and timely. Chris Bailey tackles one of the most important topics today as we seek success at work and attempt to raise positive kids in the modern world. What you attend to becomes your reality. Hyperfocus provides a practical path to using our attention to create an adaptive reality. If we want to achieve greater success and happiness, we need to start by focusing upon what our brain is attending to.

Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage and Big Potential

Hyperfocus is a lifeline in a world in which we are all overwhelmed with too much to do and not enough time to do it. Thanks to Chris Baileys groundbreaking and timely new book, I feel like I now have, for the first time in literally years, the ability to focus on the most important, value-creating things. Read this book if you want a stress-relieving salve as well as a guarantee to improve both your productivity and happiness.

Jim Citrin, author of The Career Playbook

Being hyperfocused in a busy world is a skill every professional needs in their arsenal. Chris Bailey will show you how to master it in his new book Hyperfocus. Using all of the latest science, Bailey gives you practical, incredible frameworks to change how you work.

Vanessa Van Edwards, author of Captivate

Theres no question: your attention is your most valuable asset. Everything in your lifeyour experience of lifecomes from your attention. And Hyperfocus will teach you how to use this tool, how to hone it, leverage it, and even enjoy it. Pay attention to Chris Baileythis book is well worth the focus.

Peter Bregman, author of 18Minutes

Attention may be the most important asset of the twenty-first century. Hyperfocus takes decades of scientific insights and pairs them with practical applications to show us how best to manage and multiply our attention.

David Burkus, author of Under New Management and Friend of a Friend

Chris Baileys book is a fascinating guide to managing our attention. He describes a methodology that will help us both focus and create more effectively. His book is not just theory, but a wonderful toolbox full of practical and detailed best practices. I cant wait to give these ideas a try.

Kai-Fu Lee, founder of Google China, chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures

VIKING

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

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New York, New York 10014

penguin.com

Copyright 2018 by Chris Bailey

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

Illustrations by Chris Bailey and Sinisa Sumina.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bailey, Chris, 1989 author.

Title: Hyperfocus : how to be more productive in a world of distraction / Chris Bailey.

Description: New York : Viking, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2018023750 (print) | LCCN 2018025476 (ebook) | ISBN 9780525522249 (ebook) | ISBN 9780525522232 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780525560043 (international edition)

Subjects: LCSH: Time management. | Distraction (Psychology) | Attention.

Classification: LCC BF637.T5 (ebook) | LCC BF637.T5 B349 2018 (print) | DDC 153.7/33dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018023750

Version_1

For Ardyn

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

WHY FOCUS MATTERS

Attention Is Everywhere

Im writing these words over the sounds of clanging cutlery and muffled conversation at a small diner in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Ive always been a fan of people-watching. Theres so much to take inhow they dress, walk, converse, and act when theyre either around or not around others. At a busy caf, or at a diner like this, its fun to see personalities collide like particles in an accelerator; to observe a guys personality change when he switches from talking to his friend to chatting up the waitress; to watch the personalities of waitstaff shift when serving each table, adapting to large families, young couples.

In focusing on other people, Ive made a lot of observations about what those people are focusing on. In any given moment, we are all focusing on something, even if were just lost in our internal thoughts. Lets take a glance through the diner.

I turn my attention first to the two twentysomething girls at the table to my left, who are mostly focusing on their smartphones instead of each other. Between bouts of texting, they flip their phones facedown on the table. This, it seems, is a pretty pointless gesturetheyve picked them back up thirty seconds later. While I cant make out their every word, I can tell theyre skimming the surface of the conversation they could be having. Theyre with each other in person, but their attention is elsewhere.

Or take the couple across the room. Theyre engrossed in a conversation fueled by hot coffee and buttermilk pancakes. They were engaged in relatively quiet small talk when they arrived, but their conversation soon became more animated. Unlike the girls, this couple has focused only on each other since sitting down.

A catchy Ed Sheeran song comes on over the restaurants speakers, and my attention is drawn to the two guys sitting a few tables over from the couple. One of them subtly taps his foot to the beat while his friend orders. The foot tapper is presumably spreading his attention across three things: the song, what his friend is ordering, and his own breakfast decision. After he orders the Three Egg Express, when the server asks how hed like his eggs prepared, he directs his attention inward, seemingly recalling how he usually takes them. He orders scrambled.

At the bar are a few strangers making idle conversation while watching last nights football highlights. I find it especially fascinating that millions of people around the world, including these three guys, are fixated on an eleven-inch piece of tanned cowhide. As I watch, one of the guys cocks his head, lost in thought. Then, as though a shock wave was traveling through his body, he rushes to capture an idea in his pocketed notepad. While he was lost in a daydream, and to the tune of football highlights, an insight struck from out of the blue. He had a eureka moment.