If you have read through some of my other Book Brew posts you know that focus and productivity are high on my list of things I find interesting, so it is no surprise that I selected these quotes for this Quote Vault installment.
These great minds provide insights into how we can harness our attention and energy to achieve our goals. They remind us that success is often found not in doing more, but in doing what matters most with dedication and intentionality.
Focus and Productivity
- “I put myself in jail. ‘I’m in jail,’ I’d tell myself. I’m locked up with nowhere to go and nothing to do except the task in front of me. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, I have all the time in the world.”
The Happiness Project, page 77
- “The energy that could be used to focus on complex goals, to provide enjoyable growth, is squandered on patterns of stimulation that only mimic reality. Mass leisure, mass culture, and even high culture when only attended to passively and for extrinsic reasons - such as to flaunt one’s status - are parasites of the mind.”
Flow, pg 163
- “If you want to win the war for attention, don’t try to say ‘no’ to the trivial; try to say ‘yes’ to the subject that arouses a terrifying longing, and let the terrifying longing crowd out everything else.”
David Brooks, Deep Work, page 137
- “To stay relevant, you must keep your career in permanent beta.”
Reid Hoffman, Disrupt You!, page X
- “You have a choice: pursue your dreams or be hired by someone else to help them fulfill their dreams.”
Jay Samit, Disrupt You!, page 7
Ponder This
- Which quote resonates with your current approach to productivity and focus? Why?
- How do you distinguish between meaningful goals and distractions in your daily life?
- What steps can you take today to ensure that your career remains in "permanent beta"?
Books
- The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin
- Flow - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- Deep Work - Cal Newport
- Disrupt You! - Jay Samit
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