The thing that distinguishes Nobel prize winners above everyone else is NOT that they can relentlessly focus. It’s that they know the KIND of focus they need at a specific time and task.
Study by Oshin Vartanian.
There is a lot of talk these days about deep work. Long stretches of uninterrupted time for us to get chunky work done. Deep work requires a tight focus. It requires we turn off distractions and narrow our focus to just one thing.
But is deep work the only kind of focus?
I was on a call today where we were collaborating on some marketing messages. It required focus, but not the deep kind that I need when I'm writing for instance. More of a playful focus, a wide focus that can look at the big picture, connect things together and be creative.
Every task requires a different types of focus.
The more we can identify and become aware of the kind of focus we need, the better we can plan our days and get work done. This is the reason I design my Notion dashboards the way that I do. So that I can easily see at a glance the kind of focus or 'mode' I might need.
Some of my different 'modes' or focus areas are:
Knowing what kind of mode or focus you need and being able to see that visually in a dashboard is KEY for finding flow in your daily life and work.
