Our brains are ravaged by a constant barrage of information. We aren’t meant to be in a state of such constant and persistent stimulation. I’ve really gotten into Cal Newport over the past few years. I highly recommend reading his books. He talks about the need for people to focus so they can do deep, meaningful work.
This past week, Newport ran a series of posts for Focus Week on his blog. I recommend reading all of them. Here are some excerpts:
First, give your brain some breathing room:
To summarize, in my proposed scheme, you engage with the world of digital information only twice a day once: in the morning, and (perhaps) once in the evening. Outside these brief moments of anxious consumption, you focus instead on living well.
Second, rediscover depth:
… read two chapters from a book every day; with at least one of the chapters read in a scenic or otherwise interesting setting.
Finally, take control of your time:
At the heart of my advice is a simple recommendation take: control of your time. To be more concrete, when thinking about your work day, I suggest that you give every minute a job.