nikkideeley's review against another edition
3.0
There were some good point in this book, however the majority of ideas were common sense (less distraction = more focus) and others weren’t employable (not working in an open office and not attending meetings). I also didn’t enjoy the concept of everything you consume must be useful, I think reading fiction is just as beneficial as reading a self help book! Overall the book was okay, some good takeaways but mostly the same ideas regurgitated.
radcampos's review against another edition
4.0
As someone who has an attention span of a chihuahua, I found this book super helpful in implementing easy-to-follow strategies in removing distractions, managing your focus, and re-evaluating what are the things I do daily that are wasting my time. Hyper-focus will probably rival Atomic Habits as my top non-fiction book this year!
Practical tactics I find useful:
1. Determine the types of tasks you do:
a. Necessary work - unattractive yet productive (team meetings, tasks with deadlines)
b. Unnecessary work - unattractive and unproductive (re-arranging papers or sorting files on your computer)
c. Distracting work - attractive and unproductive (social media)
d. Purposeful work - attractive and productive (tasks we’re most engaged on as we do them; tasks with which we make the largest impact)
2. Choose a meaningful object of attention
3. Make a distraction list (external and internal) every time something comes up that shifts your focus away from your task. Then eliminate them
4. Focus on that chosen object of attention
5. Continue to bring your attention back to the task at hand
Practical tactics I find useful:
1. Determine the types of tasks you do:
a. Necessary work - unattractive yet productive (team meetings, tasks with deadlines)
b. Unnecessary work - unattractive and unproductive (re-arranging papers or sorting files on your computer)
c. Distracting work - attractive and unproductive (social media)
d. Purposeful work - attractive and productive (tasks we’re most engaged on as we do them; tasks with which we make the largest impact)
2. Choose a meaningful object of attention
3. Make a distraction list (external and internal) every time something comes up that shifts your focus away from your task. Then eliminate them
4. Focus on that chosen object of attention
5. Continue to bring your attention back to the task at hand
joebathelt's review against another edition
4.0
The constant pinging of notifications and the zombie-eyed look that we see in other people as they are staring at their screen has many people longing for a solution. This is also reflected on the shelves of the popular science and self-help sections that are filling with ever more guides to tame distraction, increase mindfulness, and rebuild our relationship with technology. In my view, these books either provide a manifesto against attention-hogging technology (Cal Newport’s Deep Work), explain the science of attention (Gazzaley & Rosen’s The Distracted Mind), or offer practical advice. Chris Bailey’s Hyperfocus is an excellent contribution to the last category. The book provides sufficient background of the concepts involved, e.g. attentional space, but focuses mostly on tips to create the right conditions for concentration. Importantly, the practical tips can be easily implemented without having to commit to a digital minimalism lifestyle. It’s also quite refreshing that half of the book is dedicated to scattered thought, which can be used for creativity, problem-solving, and refreshing the mind. Altogether, I enjoyed the book and took away many tips that I integrated into my daily routine. I highly recommend the book to anyone who wants to improve their concentration or who is interested in productivity.
teelock's review
5.0
Meta-awareness:
Becoming aware of what you are thinking about.
A useful skill for managing your attention and thoughts.
Better you get at this, the better you become at bringing your attention back to your intended area of focus when it wanders.
Noticing what is in the attentional space makes you a better thinker and problem-solver.
A study found that people asked to solve a mystery while reading a detective novel – those whose minds wandered consciously solved it more successfully than those who did not pay attention to where their minds wandered.
Becoming aware of what you are thinking about.
A useful skill for managing your attention and thoughts.
Better you get at this, the better you become at bringing your attention back to your intended area of focus when it wanders.
Noticing what is in the attentional space makes you a better thinker and problem-solver.
A study found that people asked to solve a mystery while reading a detective novel – those whose minds wandered consciously solved it more successfully than those who did not pay attention to where their minds wandered.
muthul's review
5.0
I took up reading self help books as a part of my birthday resolution last November. I have started many books, but none of them were able to hold my attention long enough, for me to finish the book. This book, aptly dealing with attention space, was up for the task.
Short Summary :
This book can be separated into three parts. The first part has two chapters, Chapter 1 deals with the autopilot mode and why does our brain wander off into this productivity blackhole. And Chapter 2 deals with attention space and the science behind it.
Part 2 is about HyperFocus. And this being the longest and the best part of the book, does justice to its name. This part starts with explaining what is hyper focus and the steps to achieve hyper focus. A short summary of the steps would be :
1. Setting Intentions
2. Removing Distrations
3. Focus
4. Refocus, when your mind wanders away.
What follows is a practical session of tips/ideas that can help you achieve each of the above steps. I really loved the way this part of the book was written, with practical information and real life incidents, especially for working professionals.
The Final Part is about scatter focus. I kind of got pissed of when the author jumped ship and started talking about scatter focus. I just wanted the previous part to either go on or the book to end there. But the author proved me wrong when we went further into this part. This part explains in detail about scatter focus, how is it different from random mind wanderings and why is it of as beneficial as hyper focus. If hyper focus helps us to be more productive, scatter focus can help us to be more creative.
In the last chapter, the author does his best to wrap this neat little bundle of knowledge with insights into happiness, and how happiness affects our productivity and creativity.
So that was the short summary of the book. Now there were many small information placed strategically all through out the book to help us follow the guideline mentioned in the book. for example all of us have read about how to consume information from books, but seldom follow it. Here at the beginning of the book the author drops this information which kind of pushed me into start taking notes for each chapter, which in turn helped me to start following the ideas given in the book.
So what can this book help you with? i set three goals at the start of the book, they are :
Spend more time intentionally.
Hold focus longer in one sitting .
Catch my mind faster when it wanders away.
This book already helped me to improve in the three goals i set and much much more.
Definitely would recommend this!
Short Summary :
This book can be separated into three parts. The first part has two chapters, Chapter 1 deals with the autopilot mode and why does our brain wander off into this productivity blackhole. And Chapter 2 deals with attention space and the science behind it.
Part 2 is about HyperFocus. And this being the longest and the best part of the book, does justice to its name. This part starts with explaining what is hyper focus and the steps to achieve hyper focus. A short summary of the steps would be :
1. Setting Intentions
2. Removing Distrations
3. Focus
4. Refocus, when your mind wanders away.
What follows is a practical session of tips/ideas that can help you achieve each of the above steps. I really loved the way this part of the book was written, with practical information and real life incidents, especially for working professionals.
The Final Part is about scatter focus. I kind of got pissed of when the author jumped ship and started talking about scatter focus. I just wanted the previous part to either go on or the book to end there. But the author proved me wrong when we went further into this part. This part explains in detail about scatter focus, how is it different from random mind wanderings and why is it of as beneficial as hyper focus. If hyper focus helps us to be more productive, scatter focus can help us to be more creative.
In the last chapter, the author does his best to wrap this neat little bundle of knowledge with insights into happiness, and how happiness affects our productivity and creativity.
So that was the short summary of the book. Now there were many small information placed strategically all through out the book to help us follow the guideline mentioned in the book. for example all of us have read about how to consume information from books, but seldom follow it. Here at the beginning of the book the author drops this information which kind of pushed me into start taking notes for each chapter, which in turn helped me to start following the ideas given in the book.
So what can this book help you with? i set three goals at the start of the book, they are :
Spend more time intentionally.
Hold focus longer in one sitting .
Catch my mind faster when it wanders away.
This book already helped me to improve in the three goals i set and much much more.
Definitely would recommend this!