whywhynot 's review for:

Hyperfocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction by Chris Bailey

2.0

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I approach self-help and ‘advice’ books the same way as I imagine some people might approach the bible. Theirs is no real expectation that any revelation will be brand new, but there is an off-chance that spending some time reading and ruminating on the material will in some way renew inspiration, motivation and resolve.

This is a low bar, that Hyperfocus, for me, barely met. I read about 2/3 of it, and then moved on. It isn’t poorly written, nor do I have a problem with any of the offered advice; it just failed to inspire and motivate me. Bailey refers to many apparently academic studies on the subject of attention and concentration, but in the end – get your phone out of sight and out of mind to reduce the temptation that its attractions might hold; mind your environment; be aware of what you are thinking of; focus on tasks that yield high value to you. Nothing wrong there; but for me, there just wasn’t anything in the book (as far as I got) that would take me to a higher level, or lead to a change in my current routine.

Your perception and experience may vary, of course, and that’s OK.