Chris Bailey

Just as you are what you eat, you are what you pay attention to. Attention is finite and is the most valuable ingredient you have to live a good life—so make sure everything you consume is worthy of it.

It’s not a coincidence that so many of the tactics in this book involve making your work and life less stimulating—the less stimulated you are, the more deeply you can think. Each time we eschew boredom for stimulation, we fail to plan, unearth ideas our mind has incubated, or recharge so we can work later with greater energy and purpose.

Another of my favorite quotes is from Abraham Lincoln, who said, ‘Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.’

Attention without intention is wasted energy.

The concept of hyperfocus can be summed up in a single tranquil sentence: keep one important, complex object of attention in your awareness as you work.

The most important aspect of hyperfocus is that only one productive or meaningful task consumes your attentional space. This is simply nonnegotiable. Here’s why: the most crucial tasks, projects, and commitments benefit from every bit of extra attention.

The quality of attention is so integral to productivity that increasing it even slightly makes a remarkable difference in how much we accomplish.

One study found that when we continuously switch between tasks, our work takes 50 percent longer, compared with doing one task from start to completion.

Whether at work or at home, the quality of your attention determines the quality of your life. At work, the more attention you give to what’s in front of you, the more productive you become. At home, the more attention you devote to what’s in front of you, the more meaningful your life becomes.

Directing your attention to the most important object of your choosing—and then sustaining that attention—is the most consequential decision we will make throughout the day. We are what we pay attention to.