1. Meta-awareness
   1. Just as you are what you eat, you are what you pay attention to
      1. The mere presence of a cell phone placed in the visual field interferes with closeness, connection and relationship quality
      2. We have to consciously choose what to focus to
      3. When distractions are 20 seconds away from us (the phone is inside the drawer or the chips in the basement), they are less tempting.
   2. Set intentions more often
      1. Just being aware of where we spend time the most can provide hours of extra time each day
   3. Simply noticing what is occupying our attentional space has been shown to make us more productive
      1. Leaving some space in your attentional space allows you to work with awareness of where you should direct your attention
   4. Choose what you want to accomplish before you begin working
      1. At the start of the day, choose three things you want to have accomplished by day's end.
   5. At any given moment you're focused on either your external environment, the thoughts in your head, or both.
      1. Three ideas fit comfortably within your attentional space, you can thus recall and remember them with relative ease.
2. How to be less productive
   1. Context switching
      1. It's impossible to seamlessly switch attention from one task to another. Context switches cause attentional residue that undermines or focus
      2. Switching between tasks rewards us with dopamine
   2. Auto-pilot mode
      1. The most urgent and stimulating things in your environment are rarely the most significant
      2. Getting distracted by notifications (of all sorts)
         1. Emails, WhatsApp and similar interrupt your flow
   3. Electronics on the desk
      1. They are infinitely more stimulating than things we should focus on
   4. Having too many tasks in your to-do list
      1. It undermines your productivity, leads to a lack of focus and increases stress
   5. Having your mobile phone working 24/7
      1. Try to put it in aeroplane mode from 8 pm to 8 am instead
3. Hyperfocus-mode
   1. How to enter into hyperfocus
      1. Consume caffeine before a high-demanding task
      2. Starting provides enough momentum to carry out our intentions
      3. Turn off notifications
      4. Modify your environment to be less distracting
      5. Eliminate the distractions before they derail you
   2. How to keep hyperfocus going
      1. Allow one task to consume your full attentional space such that you won't feel stressed or overwhelmed.
      2. Pomodoro Timer
      3. Hourly Awareness Chime
      4. Don't stop the flow. Write things down and deal later with them
      5. Chunking similar things together (like replying to emails)
4. Attentional space
   1. It's the part of your brain you use to store things while working.
      1. It's like your "short-term"-memory
   2. In this memory, you can store up to three different pieces of information
      1. You should keep at least two things
         1. The goal, and what you're currently doing.
         2. What you're currently doing.
   3. While switching from one task to another, you always bring some "attentional residue" from the last task
      1. When working on a deadline, take a break to clean your attentional space from the attentional residue
   4. Meditation has been proven the only strategy that helps improve attentional space
   5. The more the project is important, the more it needs every bit of extra attention
      1. Make a very detailed plan on how you want to achieve your goal