4 Strategies for Developing Your Focus Muscle and Creating the Future You’ve Always Dreamed of (TPS145)

Being able to focus is a lost art in today’s society, but it’s also extremely important (and valuable). Distractions are everywhere, and we’re constantly being interrupted by our technology and other people. We want to teach you how you can overcome the business and create the future you’ve always dreamed of by focusing on what’s really important. You can create time in your schedule to focus on your most important tasks, no matter how busy you are. In this episode, Thanh and Mike show you a better way to work that maximizes focus time and produces higher quality work in less time. They talk about strategies you can implement right now to get maximum results from your work and walk you through how to develop your focus muscle. If you have trouble focusing, this episode will help you create the momentum you need to achieve the future you’ve always dreamed of.

Cheat Sheet

• Why the deck it stacked against us as a society when it comes to productivity and focus [1:28]
• How to not only survive but thrive in the “attention economy” [5:22]
• How we (unintentionally) tell our companies and and coworkers “please, interrupt me at any time!” and how to break free of this [10:21]
• Why the ability to focus is a lost art and why’s it’s so important [13:37]
• How to become more economically valuable by developing your focus muscle [16:06]
• How to effectively implement the Maker vs Manager schedule [19:59]
• The important differences between deep work and shallow work and how you can create space to do more deep work [25:50]
• How to implement fixed schedule productivity to create things more consistently [31:06]
• How employers can help their staff carve out time for deep work and become more productive [34:32]
• Why you must work out your focus muscle in order to do deep work effectively [40:44]
• Meditation, Pomodoros, and other actionable tips you can use today to work out your focus muscle [46:48]
• The simple formula for doing deep work and how to implement it [51:01]
• Strategies to help you intensify your focus [54:23]
• How focusing on deep work has big advantages for your employer as well [1:01:24]
• How to implement the rhythmic approach to deep work, no matter what your schedule looks like [1:05:00]
• 10 Quick tips you can use to get a win right now and start focusing on your most important task [1:12:04]

Links

• Harvard Gazette: “Wandering mind not a happy mind”
• Paul Graham: Maker vs Manager schedule
• Grit by Angela Duckworth
• Deep Work by Cal Newport
• FocusAtWill.com
• Brain.fm
• Carcassonne app
• The CEO’s Secret to Productivity: An Executive Assistant (TPS143)
• Pomodoro Technique
• Adam Grant
• Why Time Management Doesn’t Work & Why You Should Focus on Energy Instead (TPS142)
• 10 Playlists to Triple Your Productivity

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If you enjoyed this episode, follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts or your favorite podcast player. It’s easy, you’ll get new episodes automatically, and it also helps the show. You can also leave a review!