Hyperfocus

Hyperfocus teaches you how to become more efficient and improve your concentration by deciding on one thing to work on, focusing only on that task, and redirecting your attention back to it whenever your mind wanders.

The four stages of Hyperfocus are:

Pick something you want to focus on. Eliminate all distractions. Focus your attention on that task alone. Redirect your mind every time it wanders.

Think about the last time you were able to exert incredible levels of concentration, and you’ll recognize all of these steps were present. It was as if time stopped and there was nothing but you and your work. And it was fun, right?

It feels great to get into moments like this, and the added productivity even helps you make more money! But how can you master each of these stages to get into Hyperfocus more frequently? Let’s look at each individually to see how it’s done.

First, choose just one thing to focus on and no more than one. We’ve got a whole summary on the book The Myth of Multitasking, which will teach you why just planning to do one thing at a time is the only way to work.

Step two is to get rid of all distractions before they come up. If you struggle to open social media too often, limit your online activity with the Stayfocusd Chrome extension. Or even better, delete your social media accounts. Here are  10 reasons you should consider doing that.

Third, focus only on the task that you’ve chosen during the time that you’re working. It might take practice, but you can use the Pomodoro Technique to help.

And finally, as you’re working, bring your attention back to your task whenever it wanders.

If you’re anything like me, it’s tough to redirect your attention, let alone recognize it’s off-course! It doesn’t help that your mind takes in roughly eleven million pieces of information each second. But that’s not the limit of your attention span. You can really only process about 40 things at once, and we still haven’t even talked about how much you can remember! When it comes down to it, your short-term memory is only good for about seven items. It helps to consider your ability to concentrate in terms of an attentional space. It’s like a small cup, with only a few things being able to fill it at one time. For instance, if you’re in a meeting, you might keep thoughts of lunch in it rather than the presentation your boss is giving. It’s easy to get lost in thoughts like this, but this is where meta-awareness comes in handy. This is when you look outside of your thoughts and…