Group items tagged

""Hyperfocus" teaches readers to control their limited capacity to focus on and process things in the moment, which he calls our "attentional space." It turns out our brain's scratchpad is pretty small and can only hold a handful of tasks at a time. When one of those tasks is complex - like putting together a business proposal or taking care of a toddler - that number dwindles down to one or two. The problem is that our brains are predisposed toward distraction, wandering for an average of 47 percent of the day, writes Mr. Bailey. And those of us who sit in front of a computer, an endless source of novelty, typically work for only 40 seconds before being distracted or interrupted. As a result, our attentional space is constantly filled, which slows down our work."

"Waiting for the next e-mail or internet "hit" means we are constantly distracted from our everyday tasks. But don't blame technology because the causes are human,"

""The liberation of human attention may be the defining moral and political struggle of our time,""

"You may not hear much about the crisis called "distracted living". This is where you miss out on much of your life because you generally aren't paying attention - or your attention is so torn in many directions that you really don't focus on anything."

"How often are you diverted from a task by the seductive lure of your mobile phone? And does it matter? In a landmark book, James Williams argues we're losing the power to concentrate"