Podcasts about rapt attention

In this conversation, Ali chats with Indi Young about the power of listening and empathy in building products and brands. They discuss the practice of deep listening and the steps to improve rapt attention. They also explore the impact of toxic work cultures on mental health and the need for broader protections in the workplace. Indi emphasizes the role of individuals in creating change and suggests forming groups, talking to HR, and organizing lunch meetings to address these issues. They also touch on the potential of AI in freeing up human resources for more meaningful work and measuring the value of products based on user needs and well-being.  About Indi Young:Indi Young is a pioneering problem-discovery researcher and solution strategist. With over 30 years of experience, Indi has developed methods centered on inclusive and purpose-driven research, helping teams design solutions that align with various thinking styles. As a founding partner of Adaptive Path and the creator of mental model skylines, she has deeply influenced user research and product design. Indi also authored three books, including Practical Empathy, Mental Models, and Time to Listen. As one of the impactful voices in product development, Indi continues to share her expertise through teaching, coaching, and public speaking.Links:Indi Young Web and Courses: https://indiyoung.comTime to Listen (Book): https://a.co/d/bBooU8tIndi Young on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/indiyoung/Support the show*Disclaimer: The information provided in "The Ally Show" is for general informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified mental health professionals or medical professionals regarding any mental health concerns or conditions. The views and opinions expressed by guests on the show are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or the show. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information shared, "The Ally Show" cannot guarantee the completeness, validity, or timeliness of any information provided. Listeners are encouraged to use their discretion and consult appropriate professionals before making any decisions or taking any actions based on the information shared on the show. "The Ally Show" is not responsible for any consequences resulting from the use of or reliance on the information presented.For Guests: The views and opinions expressed by guests on "The Ally Show" are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the host or the show. The guests share their personal experiences and perspectives for educational and informational purposes. The information provided by the guests should not be considered professional advice or treatment. Learn More For questions, please contact: ali@theally.show

Being an author or an artist or almost anyone is about navigating. You have to walk a fine line with criticism and praise, discern what's real and what's not, what matters or not, what is noise and what is important. And sometimes? Well, sometimes we only hear and dwell on the one negative thing that someone has said to us or written about us even though they (or others) have also said 100 positive things. You're an author. You get a glowing review but there's one line in there that says, "I didn't like the mom character." That's all you focus on. This happens in real life, too. Your husband might tell you that you're beautiful 100 times a day, but that one time that he says, "Baby, maybe don't wear your sweater inside out?" Well, that's what you focus on. Or, let's say, in news. There are hundreds of lovely, beautiful things that happen in a community--even a small community--every week or month? But instead, we write about the one potentially scandalous thing a person or a board does. And when we read the news, we often gravitate toward the tragedy, the crime story, the corruption story. And that's important to write about and share, but that's not all there is. Negativity is not all there is. As Tasha Seegmiller wrote back in 2016, "The reality of reality is that we are programmed with a psychological and physiological predisposition toward negativity bias. Daniel Kahneman explains that “The brains of humans and other animals contain a mechanism that is designed to give priority to bad news. By shaving a few hundredths of a second from the time needed to detect a predator, this circuit improves the animal's odds of living long enough to reproduce.” "That bad review that you got? It's going to linger longer than the good. Your fear of someone hating your book before it even comes out? Not all the way your fault." We are programmed to be predisposed toward the negative. But we can lean away from that once we know it's there, sort of retrain ourselves toward the positive. One of the ways to do that is a gratitude journal. Do not snark and look away. Writing down the good facts of your life not only trains your brain to see that good things have happened, but it also becomes a record that all is not poop. As Alex Philippe writes, "According to Winifred Gallagher in the book Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life, we literally don't see as many things in our peripheral vision when we have negative emotions as when we have positive ones. "And studies like the swimming rat experiment show how negativity can kill our perseverance: when a rat sees no way to escape, it will fight much less for its survival. So, try it. Write something your grateful for. There's got to be one thing, right? Maybe tomorrow you can think of another. Our random thought comes from here. DOG TIP FOR LIFE Don't think about all the "bad dog" moments. Think about all the treats you can get. COOL EXERCISE These are from a piece in Positive Psychology by Alicia Nortje, Ph.D. They are a direct quote. "In the last week, what did you do that you are grateful for? "In the last week, what did someone else do that you are grateful for? "In the last week, what did you learn you are grateful for?" PLACE TO SUBMIT The Georgia Review Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and book reviews. Online submissions for non-subscribers are charged, but there is no fee for mailed submissions.   Details are here. Deadline: 14 May 2024 Length: Up to 9,000 words for prose, 6-10 pages of poetry Pay: $50/printed page of prose and $4/line of poetry, up to $800; $150 for reviews published on GR2. SHOUT OUT! The music we've clipped and shortened in this podcast is awesome and is made available through the Creative Commons License. Here's a link to that and the artist's website. Who is this artist and what is this song? It's “Summer Spliff” by Broke For Free. WE HAVE EXTRA CONTENT ALL ABOUT LIVING HAPPY OVER HERE! It's pretty awesome. We have a podcast, LOVING THE STRANGE, which we stream biweekly live on Carrie's Facebook and Twitter and YouTube on Fridays. Her Facebook and Twitter handles are all carriejonesbooks or carriejonesbook. But she also has extra cool content focused on writing tips here. Carrie is reading one of her raw poems every once in awhile on CARRIE DOES POEMS. And there you go! Whew! That's a lot! Subscribe

Heidi is up early the morning the Radiant Life Retreat gets underway. She shares some thoughts about eclipse season and a couple of poems.

The world is a crazy place and the battle for our attention has never been more fierce. (1) In 2009's RAPT: Attention and the Focused Life, WINIFRED GALLAGHER argues that the quality of your life largely depends on what you choose to pay attention to and how you choose to do it. Worth paying attention to. (2) Former Ohio Congressman TIM RYAN - lost 2022 Senate race to Hillbilly Elegy author, election denier J.D.Vance - urges the practice  of meditation in A MINDFUL NATION: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit.  

Do you ever struggle with staying focused and productive? Do you find it difficult to get through the day without feeling anxious and tired? There is a cost to hyperconnectivity, and this episode will help you find the best solution to this increasingly common problem.  In this episode, you'll hear some great tips for becoming more focused and productive, while decreasing stress and exhaustion. This is hugely important, as today we all face more hurdles than ever in the workplace. Consider this: a University of California study revealed that the average knowledge worker is interrupted once every 11 minutes, while another study from Loughborough University suggests that many workers check their email as often as every five minutes. Clearly, it's a widespread problem, but this show will give you the tools to help you fix this problem for yourself. We start by discussing James Hewitt's “Cognitive Middle Gear” and how you can avoid it, the best solution for managing stress and delivering peak performance, and how to plan for “cognitive endurance.” I reference Cal Newport's books Deep Work and A World Without Email (he calls email the most insidious interruptor and time suck/distractor) and explain why brief interruptions such as checking text messages and emails have such a massive negative impact (and why it's related to something called Attention Residue). I also discuss the psychological pain that comes from not being accessible, the real meaning of busyness, and the fact that studies have shown having a culture of connectivity actually ruins productivity.  Another book I recommend and mention during the show is Rapt: Attention and the focused life, which draws some parallels between attention and happiness, and was written by Winifred Gallagher, who brilliantly says who you are is the sum of what you focus on. This show also emphasizes the importance of scheduling out your time every day, protecting your time, having distinct shut down hours, and why you should never wait around for inspiration.   LINKS: Brad Kearns.com Brad's Shopping page James Hewitt's article The Attention Paradox James Hewitt's book Exponential James Hewitt's website   Join Brad for more fun on: Instagram: @bradkearns1 Facebook: @bradkearnsjumphigh Twitter: @bradleykearns YouTube: @BradKearns TikTok: @bradkearns   We appreciate all feedback, and questions for Q&A shows, emailed to podcast@bradventures.com. If you have a moment, please share an episode you like with a quick text message, or leave a review on your podcast app. Thank you! Check out each of these companies because they are absolutely awesome or they wouldn't occupy this revered space. Seriously, Brad won't promote anything he doesn't absolutely love and use in daily life. Brad's Macadamia Masterpiece: Mind-blowing, life-changing nut butter blend Male Optimization Formula with Organs (MOFO): Optimize testosterone naturally with 100% grassfed animal organ supplement BeautyCounter: Complete line of cosmetics tested to be free of typical toxins and endocrine disruptors. Try Brad's favorite vitamin-C skin serum and make the switch away from toxic mainstream skin-care products!  Bala Enzyme: Electrolyte and triple enzyme recovery drink mix. BRAD30 for 30% off BiOptimizers: Top quality performance supplements like magnesium, probiotics, and digestive enzymes. BRAD10 for 10% off Paleo Valley: Nutrient-rich, ancestral inspired health products. BRAD15 for 15% off BradNutrition.com: Coming soon - the ultimate whey protein superfuel formula for peak performance and longevity Morning Routine Course: Coming soon - Comprehensive online multimedia course to design the ultimate morning exercise routine See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stay tuned for daily classes!

A Sant Mat Satsang Podcast today exploring the three levels of satsang (spiritual association) that can help us go in a Godward direction during this life successfully following the Path of the Saints. We explore: The Four "SATS" or Key Essential Eternal Truths or Realities of Sant Mat; The Five Jewels of Spirituality; The Yoga of Love (Becoming a Lover of the Beloved); Having a Daily Satsang at Home; Listening to Satsangs with Rapt Attention; and Rising Above Body-Consciousness Regularly in Meditation.

Much like Dug the dog from the Pixar movie ‘Up,' we all have our version of a squirrel that distracts us. In fact, there's an entire industry in Silicon Valley that profits off of creating ‘squirrels' to catch our attention. In the face of that, how do we find the time and focus to do the things that really matter? John Zeratsky, a former design leader at Youtube and Google Ads, is the author of two books aimed at helping people make time for and focus on the things that actually matter in life. Get‌ ‌book‌ ‌links‌ ‌and‌ ‌resources‌ ‌at‌ https://www.mbs.works/2-pages-podcast/   John reads two pages from ‘Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life' by Winifred Gallagher. [reading starts at 08:03] Hear us talk about: How to decide if something is worth your attention. [15:09] | 'Your happiness and sense of purpose are filtered through the impact you have on other people.' [20:17] | 'Almost everything in life contains its own inherent value and reward.' [22:43] | The true meaning of contentment. [23:30] | How to remain content in the face of failures. [25:41]  | How to seek out the right partners and team members. [29:47] | The ‘Sprint process' in John's book. [31:57]

Is being ‘woke' the new version of being ‘right on'? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/juwon-ogungbe/message

Continuación del capítulo ANTERIOR Nuevamente acudimos a la página Farnam Street. Acá se revisan algunos conceptos del libro Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life de Winifred Gallagher. Dicho autor revisa conceptos basados ​​en ideas de Daniel Kahneman, premio nobel de economía, que escribió el interesantísimo libro “Pensar Rápido, pensar despacio”. Los conceptos que se revisan responden a la siguiente premisa: Cómo enfocarnos en las cosas incorrectas afecta el razonamiento que usamos para tomar decisiones. Los conceptos de esta parte son: 1. Los efectos de la adaptación 2. Suficientemente bueno Articulo robado de: https://fs.blog/2015/09/focusing-illusions/

Nuevamente acudimos a la página Farnam Street. Acá se revisan algunos conceptos del libro Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life de Winifred Gallagher. Dicho autor revisa conceptos basados en ideas de Daniel Kahneman, premio nobel de economía, que escribió el interesantísimo libro “Pensar Rápido, pensar despacio”. Los conceptos que se revisan responden a la siguiente premisa: Cómo enfocarnos en las cosas incorrectas afecta el razonamiento que usamos para tomar decisiones. Los conceptos tratados: 1. Aversión a pérdidas / riesgos 2. La Ilusión de Enfoque El artículo es robado de: https://fs.blog/2015/09/focusing-illusions/

I denne episoden er tema meditasjon. Vi drøfter egne erfaringer, hva slags oppfatninger og feiloppfatninger som farter rundt der ute om hva meditasjon er for noe, og hvorfor vi foretrekker ordet meditasjon til ordet mindfulness. Før hoveddelen begynner snakker vi litt om diverse tema, om livet nå for tiden og hjemmeundervisning, blogging og slikt.   Noen gode bøker om meditasjon og relaterte tema: Sam Harris, Waking Up. A Guide to Spiritualism Without Religion, 2014 (god og klar bok, kan være en fin intro til meditasjon for folk med skepsis til religion og alternative greier. Hans app Waking Up er også sterkt anbefalt, synes særlig de korte leksjonene er veldig gode, klargjørende og motiverende. Klikk her for å få en gratis måned, og man kan også få appen gratis for et år om man ikke har råd til å betale for den.) Dhammapada, (klassisk tekst innen buddhismen, overraskende lesbar og artig) Sparrow, «Sparrow’s Guide to Meditation», The Sun, jan 2020 Joseph Goldstein, Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening, 2013 (hør også samtalene som Sam Harris har hatt med Goldstein på sin podkast Making sense (ep.4, 15, 63), de gir mye bakgrunn i hvordan østlige meditasjonspraksiser kom til vesten.) Tara Brach, Radical Acceptance, 2003 David Treleaven, Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness, 2019 Ajahn Chah, masse interessante foredrag og bøker, ofte gratis tilgjengelig på nett, feks her Ajahn Anan, The World and the Heart, Seeking Buddho (fine samlinger med korte tekster om meditasjon, fra den thailandske skogskloster-retningen etter Ajahn Chah) Shunryu Suzuki, Zen-sinn, begynner-sinn. Undervisning i zen-meditasjon, 2000 [1970] Viggo Johansen, Indre stillhet, 2013, Stille vitne,2015 ((for de som vil lese greie innføringsbøker på norsk. Er ikke alltid så glad i forklaringene og stilen, men særlig den første boken er en interessant innføring i meditasjon, buddhismen og en interessant selvbiografi) Daniel Goleman & Richard Davidson, Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain and Body, 2017 Cal Newport, Deep Work, 2016, Digital Minimalism, 2019 Ole Jacob Madsen, «Det er innover vi må gå», 2014 (flott samfunnskritisk blikk på selvhjelp og lignende retninger, viktige aspekter å få med) Winifred Gallagher, Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life, 2009 (kort og god bok om hvorfor oppmerksomhet og fokus er verdt å fokusere på) Seneca, Selected Letters (klassisk klokskap, fortsatt ikke gått ut på dato) Willoughby Brittons Cheetah House, som tilbyr støtte og ressurser for folk som har hatt negative og skadelige effekter av meditasjon. Hør også Sam Harris samtale med henne og Jared Lindahl på Waking up, eller på podkasten 10 Percent Happier. Her er artikkelen fra forskning.no, «Meditasjon kan også gi ubehagelige opplevelser», av Karoline Spanthus Bjørnfeldt, publisert 6.juni 2019 ---------------------------- Logoen vår er laget av Sveinung Sudbø, se hans arbeider på originalkopi.com Musikken er av Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen, se facebooksiden Nygrenda Vev og Dur for mer info. ---------------------------- Takk for at du hører på. Ta kontakt med oss på vår facebookside eller på larsogpaal@gmail.com Det finnes ingen bedre måte å få spredt podkasten vår til flere enn via dere lyttere, så takk om du deler eller forteller andre om oss. Både Lars og Pål skriver nå på hver sin blogg, med litt varierende regelmessighet. Du finner dem på disse nettsidene: https://paljabekk.com/ https://larssandaker.blogspot.com/   Alt godt, hilsen Lars og Pål

THE DAILY ARTICLE FOR JULY 29, 2019 The lure of Shark Week Defining slothfulness How to find purpose in every moment ABOUT THE DENISON FORUM The Daily Article is a daily biblical commentary on the news of the day by Dr. Jim Denison. If you would like to learn more about the Denison Forum, please visit DenisonForum.org. You can always email us at comments@denisonforum.org.

(1) Ohio Congressman TIM RYAN entered the race last week for the Dems’ 2020 nomination. Here’s our 2012 interview on his book, A MINDFUL NATION: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit. (2) In 2009’s RAPT: Attention and the Focused Life, WINIFRED GALLAGHER argues that the quality of your life largely depends on what you choose to pay attention to and how you choose to do it. Worth paying attention to.

Alex and Nick invite Gary Sundt, writers' assistant on NBC's Superstore and ABC's The Goldbergs, to discuss the ins-and-outs of assisting TV writers in comedy. How do comedy writers' rooms operate? How do those experiences in the room help your own writing? When and how should you navigate asking your boss to read your content? What are the priorities when helping a writer develop a pilot? What is the meaning of storytelling? The Paper Team pulls up a chair... SHOWNOTES Content Being a writer's assistant, assisting a showrunner in developing pilots, working in a writer's room, and the role of comedy in politics (00:01:20) Resources and Next Time On (1:14:32) Links Gary Sundt on IMDb Superstore (TV Series) The Goldbergs (2013 TV series) Playboy's the Antiviral Show Archie Comics Kill Bill Angel (TV Series) Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Marley & Me Clerks II Summertime Killers Rick Wiener Kenny Schwartz American Housewife Charlie Grandy Guys With Kids Super Fun Night Justin Spitzer Dan Harmon Mulaney America Ferrara Ruben Fleischer Colossal Adam F. Goldberg Joseph Campbell Michael Arndt Blake Snyder "Save the Cat" - Blake Snyder Neil Gaiman Twister (Film) Independence Day (Film) Adam Wingard Death Note (2017 Film) "The Hidden Life of Trees" - Peter Wohlleben "Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life" - Winifred Gallagher "Essays in Love" - Alain de Botton "Modern Romance" - Aziz Ansari Resources Michael Arndt's "Setting a Story in Motion" (Video) "What Are You Laughing At?" - Dan O'Shannon This episode brought to you by Tracking Board's Launch Pad Writing Competitions Use code PAPERTEAM to get $15 OFF when you enter a Launch Pad Competition Special thanks to Alex Switzky for helping us edit this episode. If you enjoyed this episode (and others), please consider leaving us an iTunes review at paperteam.co/itunes! :) You can find Paper Team on Twitter: Alex - @TVCalling Nick - @_njwatson If you have any questions, comments or feedback, you can e-mail us: ask@paperteam.co

And so it begins… following the Presidential Election I want to focus on the spike in interest rates. Discover what this means for you and your retirement account. Announcing episode 204 of The 401k Owner's Manual !

TIM RYAN - Originally aired August 2012 WINIFRED GALLAGHER - Originally aired May 2009 "My experience is what I agree to attend to." -- William James This week we focus on mindful attention - hailed by ancient spiritual traditions and modern neuroscience alike as one of the keys to the quality of our lives. In the first half, I'll be joined by Ohio Congressman TIM RYAN, who offers a radical solution to the stresses and problems that face Americans today -- radical in its original meaning of having to do with roots of things. He has written a book, A MINDFUL NATION: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit. Ryan has a daily practice of mindful meditation and now he's advocating that the spread of similar practices could help heal us, not just as individuals but as a nation. And his book is filled with examples of how mindfulness is already being successfully applied in education, healthcare, even the military. Then I'll speak with bestselling author, WINIFRED GALLAGHER about her book, RAPT: Attention and the Focused Life. In it, she argues that ""The skillful management of attention is the... key to improving virtually every aspect of your experience, from mood to productivity to relationships." Gallagher came to appreciate this while fighting a fairly advanced form of cancer. Determined not to let her illness "monopolize" her attention, she made a conscious choice to look "toward whatever seemed meaningful, productive, or energizing and away from the destructive, or dispiriting." Her experience of the world was transformed, and she set out to learn more about the science of attention as well as what we can do to cultivate it. Here's one big tip based on neuroscience: GALLAGHER recommends starting your workday concentrating on your most important task for 90 minutes. At that point, your brain may need a break But don't let yourself get distracted by anything else during that first hour and a half, because it can take the brain 20 minutes to reboot after an interruption.

Aired 01/29/12 Though change has never been as rapid as it is today, adapting to new circumstance is so crucial to our survival that "love of the new" is hardwired into our brains at the deepest levels. The number of new things we confront - from products to information - has quadrupled in the last thirty years with no signs of slowing. In NEW: Understanding Our Need for Novelty and Change, WINIFRED GALLAGHER points out that 15% of us are "neophiliacs," biologically predisposed to passionately pursue new experiences. Another 15% are "neophobes" who resist change. Most of us fall in the middle. WINIFRED GALLAGHER has written for magazines from The Atlantic Monthly to Rolling Stone. Her books include Just the Way You Are: How Heredity and Experience Create the Individual, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, The Power of Place: How Our Surroundings Shape Our Thoughts, Emotions, and Actions; and Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life.

(Breather) Enjoy more insights from Cal Newport’s book, Deep Work. In this episode, I discuss why attention is key to living a happy life, why you are the sum of what you focus on, and why you can find something positive in any and every situation ― even when you get into a massive blowout fight with a friend or family member! All the way back in 1993, the late Neil Postman *warned us against the culture of technology* , where anything representing technological progress was deemed as good, instead of weighing the pros and cons. Oh man, doesn’t this hit home with the Apple Watch? You can make a list of the good things about it if it counts your steps and get you more active. If an old person falls, it sends a warning and help is alerted. But shouldn’t we make a list of potential downsides such as the constant ability to be distracted from the present moment, or perhaps the constant emission of electromagnetic fields on a device strapped to your body? Newport talks about examples from The New York Times pressuring their top reporters to regularly tweet (while their prestige comes from investigative journalism and complex stories, they still want distractible, low value noise instead of quality work. And Marissa Mayer banned Yahoo employees from working remotely, entirely due to a perceived lack of productivity (they would track employees as they logged-in to a remote server to get email). It’s all because the deep work that provides the real value in today’s economy is invisible, along the way at least. *What you’ll learn during this episode:* * Human beings are at their best when they are immersed into something that’s deeply challenging. * Since depth (people who do deep work) is becoming more and more rare, those who disengage from the cultural momentum *can create a huge competitive advantage for themselves by being more productive* than those immersed into busyness. By rejecting pressure to answer emails quickly or participate in social media, you can also obtain an additional benefit, which is increasing the meaning and the sense of accomplishment you get from your work. * Winifred Gallagher’s 2009 book, *Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life* ( https://www.amazon.com/Rapt-Attention-Focused-Winifred-Gallagher/dp/0143116908/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rapt&qid=1579301653&s=books&sr=1-1 ) , drew some parallels between attention and happiness. The *skillful* *management of attention is the key to living a good life* and it transcends across all different kinds of endeavors, including parenting, friendship, family, relationships, personal health, and fitness. * Gallagher says *who you are is the sum of what you focus on.* Her insights came from a cancer diagnosis, where she was resolute to not obsess about the treatments or the prospects, but instead focus on enjoying her daily life. It was, of course, an extreme ordeal, but she still reports feeling quite pleasant most of the time. * You can use even unpleasant situations, such as an argument with a loved one, and turn it into a positive by declaring that *the argument has uncovered a need to address an issue that’s causing pain and suffering.* There’s always a positive attribute to focus on: Gallagher cites research with elderly folks showing that they were successfully able to rewire their brains, such that the amygdala did not respond to negative imagery in the same manner as a young person. * *When you are deeply focused* on something, *you by definition ignore the little intricacies of your day* that are not perfect and can add up to major frustrations.  You have no time and energy to worry about little personal slates or busy work that needs to get done. But, when we are constantly distractible and constantly checking inbox and text messages, *we get dragged down the drain of negative energy,* because the idle mind tends to fixate on the negative, such as FOMO (‘fear of missing out’) and FOKU (‘fear of keeping up’, as coined by my past guest, Dr. Elisha Goldstein ( https://www.bradkearns.com/2018/09/13/dr-elisha-goldstein-mindfulness-in-the-age-of-distractibility-and-hyper-connectivity/ ) ). * Wise words from Gallagher after surviving cancer: “For the rest of my life, I’ll choose my targets with care, and give them my wrapped attention.” * Referencing the work of the great Flow state researcher Mikhail Csikszentmihalyi ( https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_flow_the_secret_to_happiness?language=en ) , Newport argues that, when we are in the flow state *we are the happiest* , and *this happens more likely at work, than during leisure time.* * Deep work leads to flow, it leads to deep satisfaction, and it leads to a happy, content life. Check out the show where I cover Dr. Robert Lustig’s book, The Hacking of the American Mind ( https://www.bradkearns.com/2019/12/20/hacking-the-american-mind-1/ ) , and talk about how most people don’t even recognize that they are constantly flooding their dopamine pathways, to the extent that they suppress serotonin and can’t concentrate or obtain contentment or satisfaction. So ― how do you kick some butt and become a Deep Worker??? Here are the top tips I’ve gathered from the book: * * *Schedule time for deep work.* Block out (at least) one hour in your calendar to focus on working on high cognitive demand tasks. Most people prefer to do more mentally demanding tasks in the morning, when they have fresh and clearer mindsets (as opposed to later on in the day), and still have the discipline to enforce boundaries that ensure productivity. * *Be OK with annoying people. Not by being annoying, but by not responding, or taking a long time to respond to messages and calls ― this is OK and oftentimes, very necessary for focus and productivity.* * * *Track your time.* Good to Great ( https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=jim+collins+good+to+great&qid=1591834813&sr=8-2 ) author Jim Collins sets a goal every year that 50% of his time will be spent on deep work or creative work. He also uses a spreadsheet so he can account for every minute of his time. * *Protect the time that makes you more creative.* For many people, this time is during the morning. But it doesn’t matter what time of the day it is that you’re able to get the most “deep work” done - just that you do it. If that’s mid-afternoon, then great! Just stay committed to doing deep work during a time that works best for you. * *Don’t forget about distinct shutdown time.* It’s easy to focus on the importance of productivity, but rest is equally important for focus and hard work. You won’t be able to get anything done well on little to no sleep, so take time to recharge. * *“Inspiration is for amateurs.” If you are going to wait around for inspiration to just suddenly strike, then you will be in the amateur division. Don’t wait to get started on all of these very important steps, like scheduling time and tracking how you spend your time, because how can you expect to make any progress that way? Don’t hesitate, overthink, or wait for inspiration ― just go for it!* *TIMESTAMPS:* The morphing of technology with humanity is not necessarily a good thing. [05:04] Is commuting to work and school always best? [08:45] The skillful management of attention is the key to living a good life. [10:04] The idle mind tends to fixate on the negative. [13:12] Schedule some time (actually use your calendar) an hour in the morning to work on highly cognitive demand tasks when you are most fresh. [15:18] Be okay with annoying people by not responding immediately. Keep track of how you spend your time. [17:13] Have the discipline to protect your time. Have a shut-down time as well. [19:03] If you are going to wait around for inspiration to strike you like a lightning bolt, you’re going to be in the amateur division. [19:51] *LINKS:* * Deep Work ( https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692 ) * Dr. Elisha Goldstein podcast ( https://www.bradkearns.com/2018/09/13/dr-elisha-goldstein-mindfulness-in-the-age-of-distractibility-and-hyper-connectivity/ ) * Rapt Attention ( https://www.amazon.com/Rapt-Attention-Focused-Winifred-Gallagher/dp/0143116908 ) * Mihaly Csikszentmihaly ( https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_flow_the_secret_to_happiness?language=en ) *QUOTES:* * "Human beings are at their best when they are immersed into something that’s deeply challenging." Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-get-over-yourself-podcast/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands