Limitless

people who multitask are considerably less productive than those who focus on one task at a time.

Clear your schedule of everything else and get into the flow.

If you have lots of outside stressors in your life—deadlines, relationship issues, family problems, worries about your job security, etc.—they’re likely to sneak up on you at any given moment.

if there’s anything that you absolutely must deal with before you can get into flow. If the answer is yes, address that first.

But in all likelihood, the answer will be no. It isn’t that the stressors aren’t real, but they often don’t need your immediate attention, and they aren’t going to be worse two hours from now.

“Perfectionism reduces creativity and innovation

“It is a steady source of negative emotions; rather than reaching toward something positive, those in its grip are focused on the very thing they most want to avoid—negative evaluation. Perfectionism, then, is an endless report card; it keeps people completely self-absorbed, engaged in perpetual self-evaluation—reaping relentless frustration and doomed to anxiety and depression.”

pushing yourself just a little outside of your comfort zone? When you do this, you increase the odds that you’re not going to get everything right the first time.

lack of perfection is not only okay but is a clear sign that you’re pushing yourself in ways that you must.

“The brain perceives uncertainty as a threat, which sparks the release of cortisol, a stress hormone that disrupts memory, depresses the immune system, and increases the risk of high blood pressure and depression,” writes Travis Bradberry, president of TalentSmart.6 If you don’t believe you’re going to accomplish anything of importance, you’ll guarantee that will be the outcome.

If you go into a task doubting your ability to complete it, ask yourself these questions: Do I have the necessary skills to do this? Do I have all the information I need to do this? Do I have enough passion for this project to do this? If the answer to any of these is no, set the task aside until you can answer each of these questions in the affirmative.

you were able to train your focus on the task at hand, get right on that task, and not let anything distract you from that task.

maybe what we’re really saying isn’t that this person is much more intelligent than most other people; maybe that person is just more focused.

The primary enemy to focus is distraction.

“I define concentration as my ability to keep my awareness on one thing for an extended period of time. Every time my concentration drifts, I use my will power to bring my awareness back.”

multitasking is a grossly inefficient way to get anything done.

allow yourself to do whatever you’re doing to the exclusion of everything else.

By doing one thing at a time, your concentration “muscle” will become incredibly strong, and your focus will reach limitless levels.

physical clutter in your surroundings competes for your attention, which results in decreased performance and increased anxiety and stress levels.

If you’re working on your computer, shut down every application and every open tab other than the ones you absolutely need to perform the task at hand.