Focus Like a Laser Beam, Daydream Like a Believer

“The most important aspect of hyperfocus is that only one productive or meaningful task consumes your attentional space.”

– Chris Bailey, “Hyperfocus”

How is your focus these days?

If you are interested in increasing your productivity, decreasing distractions and cranking up creative insights, and haven’t yet read “Hyperfocus; How to be More Productive in a World of Distraction” by Chris Bailey, I highly recommend it.

In “Hyperfocus,” Bailey explains how the brain has two powerful modes that we can tap into.

The first is “focused mode” (hyperfocus). This is necessary if one wishes to be highly productive. “When you hyperfocus on a task,” writes Bailey, “you expand one task, project, or other object of attention, so it fills your attentional space completely.”

“When we are in hyperfocus mode,” the author explains, “we are deliberate, undistracted, quick to refocus and it leads us to become completely immersed in our work.”

The second is “creative mode” (scatterfocus). This mode enables us to connect ideas in novel ways. Being in scatterfocus mode is all about NOT focusing! It’s about mind-wandering, daydreaming and directing our attention inward. This is when our creative insights come to us. “Scatterfocus helps you connect old ideas and create new ones,” explains Bailey.