Archive for the ‘Tim Ferris’ tag
Boosting Memory, Perils of Diet Soda, and Getting Unstuck (Sunday Reads #3)
Welcome to Sunday Reads on Refocuser, a collection of weekly links from around the web to help you do incredible things. These links span topics like creativity, performance, focus, exercise, nutrition, and positivity. I’m posting this on Saturday this time to make sure email subscribers get this on Sunday.
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High-Performance Work and Life
Fantastic post on the differences between a high-performer and a workaholic. In my experience as someone who could maybe appear to be a workaholic from the outside, the conclusion rings true: “The big difference isn’t how many hours are logged, but how the individual feels on the inside about who they are in relationship to their work.”
When it comes to creativity, the “myth of epiphany” is commonplace.
An amazing episode of the Tim Ferriss podcast with Pavel Tsatsouline on the Science of Strength and the Art of Physical Performance.
Take Micro-vacations to Boost Focus
Feel overwhelmed yet? Most people do. They’re in the daily grind: wake-up, work, come home, sleep, rinse-and-repeat. The failing economy has already hit people’s wallets and purses hard enough to limit traditional vacations, and without something to look forward to, the day-to-day hurdles can be even harder to stomach. And of course, mood affects focus in profound ways – someone who isn’t inspired can find the flow state to be pretty elusive. Focus requires some level of inspiration for a kick-start – without it, you can end up in a negative downward spiral for quite a while.
Tim Ferris talked about “mini-retirements” in his book, The 4-Hour Workweek. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal covered “mini-vacations”, which are shorter but more frequent getaways to recharge. I’m generally a fan of both concepts (although find mini-retirements to be a lot more impractical). But taking 3-day weekends is still not something most people can do all the time to recharge their batteries. And I really do think that focus is local. Meaning: in order to improve your focus consistently, you need to start with a daily habit and not a monthly, bi-monthly, or annual one. Do something every single day to increase focus and over time, the actions will compound into a heap of focus-inducing love.
So take your 3-day weekends… but look at what you can do every single day as well. I’ve started calling these quick recharges “micro-vacations”.
Micro-vacation (def’n): Daily activity lasting at least 15 minutes that can’t be considered “work” by any sane, rational human being; purpose of which is to recharge and increase overall focus for the next few hours
In talking with people who have trouble with focus, one thing I’ve found is that they don’t intrinsically value taking breaks. They think it’s slacking off or being unproductive. But nothing could be further from the truth. In order for your prefrontal cortex to kick into focus mode, it needs to be ready – and too much work simply doesn’t work. Just like your muscles, your brain needs time to relax before continuing to push on.
