The Ultimate Guide to Achieving Hyperfocus : From Distraction to Laser Focus
You will be amazed to hear what I am about to say. In today’s world big companies, politicians, celebrities, businesses, YouTubers, Instagram influencers, all of them are relentlessly chasing one thing, their focus is solely fixed on one thing: your attention. Consider this, it’s no small matter ; when so many people are vying for your attention, imagine the level at which your focus is being sought after. I won’t take much of your time; let’s get straight to the point.
Chris Bailey, the bestselling author of the book ‘Hyperfocus,’ met with the world’s top focus experts, read thousands of articles and research papers, conducted experiments, and finally wrote a book named ‘Hyperfocus.’ This book has changed the lives of millions. If you adopt even one or two things mentioned in it, your focus and concentration will reach the next level.
1. The Most Important Thing
According to research, the human brain absorbs 11 billion bits of information in a single second, However, it can only process about 40 bits of information from that vast amount. This indicates that our brain also has a limited attentional space. Attentional space refers to the brain’s ability to focus on and process any given thing.
Let’s understand this concept through an example of RAM in a mobile phone. When a smartphone has more RAM, it can easily process heavy applications, allowing us to use the phone without it hanging. Similarly, when you have more attentional space in your brain, you can focus much better on tasks at hand. If I told you that by just doing one thing, you could increase your attentional space by 58%, would you believe it? There are certainly other factors at play, but this one thing can directly increase it by 58%.
That one thing is to stop compromising on your sleep. In other words, you need to start getting 7-8 hours of quality sleep daily. You might say, “I already know that, but there’s a difference between knowing something and actually applying it to your life. The author suggests that if you sleep just two hours less on any given day, it can directly reduce your productivity and focus by two hours the next day. So, fix your sleep cycle, get 7-8 hours of sleep, and then see how your productivity and focus soar.
2. Bear Lower Stimulation
This is our normal state of mind where we keep our brains stimulated 24×7, with reels, shorts, messages, news, memes, notifications, and all such things. Constantly switching from one device to another, or from one app to another. But have you ever thought about what would happen if you suddenly stopped doing these things altogether ?
I mean, if you transitioned from a high level of stimulation to a low level of stimulationChris Bailey conducted an experiment, and the results will shock you. He first went to Reddit and asked people to comment on what the most boring things to do are, from those comments, he picked some things and started doing them on a daily basis.
Day 1 – read the terms and conditions of a company, day 4 – count all the zeros on a page, day 19 – he watched the clock ticking and on the 30th day, he started counting the grains of rice in 250 grams. Now, hardly anyone does these things. Why ? because all these things are boring.
But after doing all these things for a month, Chris realized that his attention span had significantly increased. He could easily focus on anything without much effort and it wasn’t because there were fewer distractions around him, no, but because now there was less stimulation in his mind, which made even boring things enjoyable for him. So stop living on autopilot mode and embrace boredom. Do boring things. Walk and drive without music, spend a day without Instagram, without YouTube, read boring books, sit in nature without doing anything. If you learn to lower stimulation, your focus will greatly improve, and literally, this thing can change your life.
3. Warren Buffet’s ‘Two List Strategy’
Warren Buffet elucidated a formula to his employees for focusing on work and achieving their goals, which he refers to as the ‘Two List Method.’ Buffet, using the example of his pilot Mike, stated that once he asked Mike to write down his top 25 goals on a piece of paper. Afterward, Mike took some time and listed all his goals on the paper. Following this, Buffet instructed Mike to choose five goals from those 25 and write them on a separate paper, emphasizing those that are most important to him. Mike promptly listed those five goals on another paper. Buffet then inquired, “What about the other 20 goals listed on the second paper?” To this, Mike responded, “For now, I will only focus on these five goals, but whenever time permits, I will also work on those 20 goals intermittently.” Warren Buffet asserted, “Absolutely not. You don’t need to think about those 20 goals at all now. Tear up that paper. You only need to focus on your five goals and strive to accomplish them.”
This approach offers two benefits: firstly, it provides clarity on exactly what you want, and secondly, it enables you to work with full focus on these five goals without any distractions.
The reason for overthinking, lack of discipline, getting distracted by trivial matters, and subsequently feeling disheartened is the lack of clarity.
Just as described, take a pen and paper and clear your mind in the same way. Start your day with a to-do list as well. Because once you gain clarity, all other obstacles will fade away, you will receive such substantial assistance in focusing that you cannot even imagine.
4. Practice Scatter Focus
Have you ever noticed that the best ideas don’t come to you when you’re actively trying to think of them, but rather when you’re not doing anything? Newton conceived the idea of gravity while simply sitting in a park. If Newton had been scrolling through social media, chatting on WhatsApp, or watching videos under a tree, would he have noticed the apple falling?
Experts suggest engaging in mindless activities a few times a day, such as walking, doing laundry, cooking, or gardening, and simply observing people and things around you. During this process, your mind quietly connects the dots in the background, figuring out what you need to do next or what the solution to your problem might be. Sometimes, this can lead to an idea that completely transforms your life, as many great ideas in history have come to people when they were idle.
Like you may have also noticed how on some random day, out of nowhere, you stumble upon the solution to a problem you’ve been pondering.
After evenings, the author completely disconnects from digital distractions. They spend quality time with their spouse every Sunday, during which neither of them touches their phones. They have a simple technique: if they encounter someone who is constantly engrossed in their phone, they exchange phones, ensuring they both can spend quality time together.
5. Schedule Distraction Time
In a day, I allocate myself two times for complete distraction. One during midday for 25-30 minutes and one at the end of the day for one or half an hour and besides this, every Saturday night, I watch a movie. Because of this, I am able to work efficiently throughout the week because as my mind knows that ” there is also a time for distraction ahead, then we’ll indulge in those pleasure providing things”
Means watching reels right after waking up or picking up the phone whenever you feel like, instead of doing this, allocate fixed time for distracting yourself. Fix one or two time slots throughout the day in which you can browse social media or other things. Try doing this for just 7 days your attention span will increase, you’ll start having more creative ideas related to work and your overall happiness level will increase.
If even a slight difference has been made in your thinking because of this post, and if you are going to apply any one of these things, then go ahead and write something in the comments.