After hearing the author speak on The Ezra Klein Show podcast, I became fascinated by the field of attention and decided to purchase the book. I was not disappointed. This book is a page turner full of actionnable tips based on research that Bailey cites, details and explains. It is overall more a book about mindfulness than what some would refer to as a self-help productivity book. Some of the concepts and research the author addresses have contributed to changing the way in which I approach my days (e.g. blocking off time in my calendar to hyperfocus on one task that requires particular cognitive skills, focusing on one task at a time, not opening my email first thing in the morning, stop « taking breaks » by checking out news and social media (the concept of attentional residue is really powerful), removing social media from my phone, removing notifications). The book is also particularly insightful for how we interact with our surroundings, friends and colleagues (e.g. the value of focusing fully on conversations, putting our phone out of our attentional space, being mindful of not checking it as we often do it on "autopilot mode" in order to fill brief gaps, silences and moments of boredom). Indeed one of the book's key contributions lies in its provocative, well-researched argument with regard to our attitude toward mind-wandering and boredom. For instance, the importance of not attempting to constantly multitask (the author rightly points out that we never quite multi-task, we merely task-switch) or attempt to fill every pause and instead embrace boredom. This can take the form of, every now and then, driving without music, taking transport and look outside or at people, "scatterfocus" (i.e. mind-wander with a specific intent) in order to solve problems in creative ways). Overall a mind-blowing, game-changing book, I am so grateful to have crossed paths with it.
Comments