Attention management
Pick what deserves your focus instead of counting the minutes
One project at a time. You stay on it until it ends or until the ideas run out, instead of chopping the day into scheduled slots. The reasoning starts from a claim about people: we make poor parallel processors. So the gain comes from picking work worth sinking into, then refusing to switch away. Punctuality is the cost. Practitioners run late, and argue that time management mostly teaches you to notice the minutes you waste, then waste more feeling bad about it.
Who backs it
Sorted by strength of stance
- Adam GrantDoes it
Organizational psychologist · Think Again
By his own account he is bad at time management and has gotten good at attention management. So he stays on one project until the ideas or the hours run out. Chronic lateness is the cost he accepts for it.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #399 transcript“I think I’m bad at time management, but I’ve gotten good at attention management. … And so what I try to do is I try to do one project or task at a time.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #399 transcript (opens in a new tab) · 20 Dec 2019
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under focus or productivity.
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Hard thinking before lunch
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