It’s Time to Reclaim Your Mind

Next week, Cal Newport and I will hold a new session of Life of Focus. The course is a three-month training program to help you achieve greater productivity and peace of mind.

We held our first session last fall. It was a resounding success. Students reported making major strides in their work, wresting back control over time and reducing their stress.

I even put myself through the same training regimen. It was a major factor behind me finishing my most research-intensive essay ever. As a new parent, the return to focus also helped me create more time to relax with my family.

The full course is a serious endeavor. Three months, divided over three different challenges to achieve focus in work, life and mind. Yet, even a little extra focus can go a long way. Therefore, for the next week, I’m going to be sharing four lessons drawn from the course to help you live a more focused life.

Let’s begin…

What is a Life of Focus?

The idea behind a life of focus is simple: the quality of your life is, to a large part, determined by the direction of your attention.

In your work, it’s not the speed in which you do everything, but the choice of what to focus on that brings the greatest returns. Doing the hard things that truly matter outweighs years of busyness spent on things that don’t.

In your life, do you spend your time constructively? Do you spend it in ways that build new…