Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey — Practical Book Summary

Marco Tiro
Nov 2 · 3 min read

Why you should read Hyperfocus

When was the last time you got distracted? You probably don’t have to dig very deep to come up with an example. We all are bombarded with e-mails, notifications, and messages. But it’s not just technology. I can remember when I was younger and there were no smartphones and no Facebook. I still wasn’t able to focus. Which led to prolonged study time with worse results. But not being able to focus is not just a problem, it is probably the one thing that is hindering your progress in the long run. I would even go as far as saying that being able to focus is some sort of superpower today. So, if it’s a superpower, you must be therefore born with it or is there a way to develop your focus?


3 Ideas you can implement right away

Multitasking is not the worst

We all were told that multitasking is the enemy number one. But is it? No, not really! There is still something worse. Switching between tasks is the number one enemy of focus. You can make a point that while multitasking, you are just switching at a very rapid pace. Thus multitasking can be seen as a form of switching. But let’s say you go for a walk and you listen to a podcast. You won’t have any problems, because walking is automated and doesn’t need as much focus and attention. Whereas switching between tasks with a high demand for attention, like writing and gaming, will cost you a lot of productivity. Every time you switch you have to center yourself back to focus. This way you lose not only a lot of time, but you also don’t enter a deep state of focus.

You must train your focus

Start meditating. Yes, I know you heard it a million times but there’s something to it. By meditating you train your brain to not allow every thought to enter the conscious mind. This way you will have a much easier time focusing. Start a daily meditation practice. You can do as little as 5 minutes a day and over time work your way up to 20 or more minutes a day. For me, 20 minutes is the optimum where I don’t feel like I waste time and still gain a lot of clarity and focus. I also like to use guided meditation especially when I feel restless.

Focus is not everything

Even though being able to focus for a prolonged time is great, there are times when you don’t want to be focused on a single task. This is the case when you want to be creative. Chris calls this mode scattered focus. Its where you connect new ideas to existing knowledge and therefore create something unique. You enter the scattered focus mode by doing boring tasks or by going out in nature for a walk.


Practical example

One major thing I learned from the book and observed in my own life is, that to be able to focus on something, you must have a passion for it. If you’re not passionate about what you are doing, you can apply almost every technique in the book — even staring at the blank wall will be more exciting than doing the task on hand. For the longest time, I considered myself an unfocused person. But when I think about it clearly, it came down to my lack of interest in what I was doing. Because when I, for example, was playing soccer, I never had a problem to focus.


Who is Hyperfocus for?

This book is for everybody, who wants to finally master his focus. It is for the student struggling with the upcoming exams. Or the entrepreneur, who needs to make sure to deliver on time without getting distracted. ​


Marco Tiro

Written by

Bodybuilding chemist on a mission to help people get unstuck through the power of learning. Grab the FREE learning cheat sheet: http://bit.ly/learncheatsheet

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