Lesson 2 from Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey

Regularly check in with yourself to become more intentional about what’s in your attentional space.

If you’re anything like most of us, it’s tough to redirect your attention, let alone recognizing it off-course! It doesn’t help that your mind takes in roughly eleven million pieces of information each second. But that’s not the limit of your attention span.

You can really only process about forty things at once, and we still haven’t even talked about how much you can remember! When it comes down to it, your short-term memory is only good for about seven items.

It helps to consider your ability to concentrate in terms of an attentional space. It’s like a small cup, with only a few things being able to fill it at one time. For instance, if you’re in a meeting, you might keep thoughts of lunch in it rather than the presentation your boss is giving.

It’s easy to get lost in thoughts like this, but this is where meta-awareness comes in handy. This is when you look outside of your thoughts and become aware of what’s in your attentional space.

Whenever you need to focus, just practice using meta-awareness every so often to keep yourself on track. Set a timer each hour and when it goes off, think about what’s in your attentional space.