Hyperfocus: How to Work Less to Achieve More

Useful information is typically actionable and helps you reach your goals. For example, listening to a few talking heads argue about political issues on TV probably isn’t actionable or conducive to your personal goals.

If you pay attention to what’s on your mind—which is admittedly hard to do for more than a minute or so—you’ll notice that the content of your attentional space is constantly changing. You’ll understand that it truly is a scratch pad, with thoughts, tasks, conversations, projects, daydreams, conference calls, and other objects of attention continua

If not, allow me to introduce the Rule of 3: at the start of each day, choose the three things you want to have accomplished by day’s end. While a to-do list is useful to capture the minutiae of the day, these three intention slots should be reserved for your most important daily tasks.

If you’re like me, you may also find it handy to set three weekly intentions, as well as three daily personal intentions—such as disconnecting from work during dinner, visiting the gym before heading home from the office, or gathering receipts for taxes.

For years I have been scheduling one or two fifteen-minute chunks of time each week to let my mind wander freely, during which I capture any valuable and actionable material. This practice is as simple as sitting with coffee, a pen, and a notebook and waiting to see what rises to the surface of my consciousness. By the end of the process, my notebo

Consciously making your tasks more complex, and taking on more complex ones, is another powerful way to enter into a hyperfocused state, as they will consume more of your attention. This will keep you more engaged in what you’re doing and lead your mind to wander less often.

Directing your mental gaze to what is currently occupying your attentional space can be an odd exercise, as we rarely notice what has taken hold of our attention but spend most of our time totally immersed in what we’re experiencing. There’s a term for this process: meta-awareness. Becoming aware of what you’re thinking about is one of the best pra

One of my favorite weekly routines is a focus ritual, which I schedule for every Sunday evening or Monday morning to plan my week. During it I decide on my three weekly intentions and assess how much I’ll need to hyperfocus and scatterfocus in the days ahead.

What I’m arguing in my research is that goals need plans, ideally plans that include when, where, and which kind of action to move towards the goal.” In other words, if a student’s vague goal was to “find an apartment during Christmas break,” his implementation intention could be “I will hunt for apartments on Craigslist and email three apartment l

you’ll notice that your most necessary and purposeful tasks can’t be done out of habit.4 This is exactly what makes these tasks so productive. You