{"id":12406,"date":"2019-09-28T16:04:56","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T21:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=12406"},"modified":"2019-09-28T16:04:56","modified_gmt":"2019-09-28T21:04:56","slug":"book-review-free-to-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=12406","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Free to Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/banner-book.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12407\" src=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/banner-book.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"913\" height=\"1326\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/banner-book.png 913w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/banner-book-207x300.png 207w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/banner-book-768x1115.png 768w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/banner-book-705x1024.png 705w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 913px) 100vw, 913px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Michael Hyatt has been a favorite writer of mine for years.\u00a0 I started by following him on social media and then regularly reading his blog.\u00a0 I occasionally listen to his podcast and posted a review of his book\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=11981\">No Fail Meetings<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>on this blog.\u00a0 What I really appreciate about Hyatt is that his goal is not productivity just for the sake of efficiency and getting things done&#8230;his heart is truly set on doing more of the right things.\u00a0 He is very open about his own story earlier in his career where he had his priorities out of line and what that cost him.\u00a0 His platform now is to help people keep their focus on the right things.\u00a0 I really enjoyed <em>Free to Focus<\/em> and highlighted several things while reading.\u00a0 I posted those notes below&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div>&#8220;What will your life have been, in the end, but the sum total of everything you spent it focusing on?&#8221; &#8211; Oliver Burkeman, p. 11<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Information is no longer scarce. \u00a0But attention is. \u00a0In fact, in a world where information is freely available, focus becomes one of the most valuable commodities in the workplace. p. 13<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>We\u2019re doing more and gaining less, which leaves us with a huge gap between what we want to achieve and what we actually accomplish. p. 14<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>The goal, the true objective of productivity, should be freedom. \u00a0I define freedom four ways:<\/div>\n<div>1. \u00a0Freedom to Focus<\/div>\n<div>2. \u00a0Freedom to be Present<\/div>\n<div>3. \u00a0Freedom to be Spontaneous<\/div>\n<div>4. \u00a0Freedom to do nothing p. 36<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\u201cLa dolce far niente\u201d Italian for \u201cthe sweetness of doing nothing\u201d p. 37<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>We should design our lives first and then tailor our work to meet our lifestyle objectives. p. 38<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\u201cEverybody ends up somewhere in life. \u00a0A few people end up somewhere on purpose.\u201d &#8211; Andy Stanley, p. 43<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Aptitude signals skill alone, while proficiency signals skill plus contribution. \u00a0It\u2019s what you offer the world that the world rewards. p. 46<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\u201cYou will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.\u201d -Charlie \u201cTremendous\u201d Jones, p. 50<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>True productivity is about doing more of what is in your Desire Zone and less of everything else. p. 57<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>I have all the time I need to accomplish what matters most. p. 59<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>I have the ability to make better use of the time I control. p. 60<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Productivity is a skill I can develop. p. 61<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>I don\u2019t have to wait until my circumstances change to get started and make progress. \u00a0p. 62<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\u201cAlmost anything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.\u201d -Anne Lamott p. 65<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Personal energy is a renewable resource, replenished by seven basic practices. \u00a0We must:<\/div>\n<div>1. Sleep<\/div>\n<div>2. Eat<\/div>\n<div>3. Move<\/div>\n<div>4. Connect<\/div>\n<div>5. Play<\/div>\n<div>6. Reflect<\/div>\n<div>7. Unplug p. 68<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\u201cPlay nurtures a supple mind, a willingness to think in new categories, and an ability to make unexpected associations. \u00a0The spirit of play not only encourages problem solving but, through novel and analogies, fosters originality and clarity.\u201d (Virginia Postrel) Play produces creative breakthroughs. p. 81<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\u201cI\u2019m actually as proud of the things we haven\u2019t done as the things I have done.\u201d Steve Jobs p. 91<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>If we want to be free to focus, we must eliminate everything standing in our way. \u00a0That doesn\u2019t mean simply saying no to a lot of bad ideas; it also means turning down a ton of good and worthwhile ideas. p. 92<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Five tips for a tactful no:<\/div>\n<div>1. \u00a0Acknowledge your resources are finite.<\/div>\n<div>2. \u00a0Determine who needs access to you and who doesn\u2019t.<\/div>\n<div>3. \u00a0Let your calendar say no for you.<\/div>\n<div>4. \u00a0Adopt a strategy for responding to requests.<\/div>\n<div>5. \u00a0Accept the fact that you will be misunderstood. p. 107<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>I can\u2019t accept a new request without going back on a commitment I\u2019ve already made, even if that original commitment was to myself. p. 103<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>If someone is going to walk away disappointed, I\u2019m going to do everything possible to make sure I\u2019m not disappointing those closest to me. p. 108<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\u201cInnovation means saying no to a thousand things.\u201d &#8211; Steve Jobs, p. 111<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\u201cCivilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them.\u201d-Alfred North Whitehead p. 115<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Automation means solving a problem once, then putting the solution on autopilot. p. 121<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>At its heart, delegation means focusing primarily on the work only you can do by transferring everything else to others who are more passionate about the work or proficient in the tasks. p. 138<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>To what extent am I passionate about this? \u00a0Is it worth parking this task in my Development Zone to see if I can hone my skills enough to move it into my Desire Zone? p. 144<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\u201cA schedule defends from chaos and whim. \u00a0It is a net for catching days.\u201d &#8211; Annie Dillard p, 161<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>You can\u2019t bring your best to the rest of the day unless you schedule time to refresh. p. 177<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Once you put firm boundaries in place and force yourself to stay within them for a while, it\u2019s amazing how natural it becomes to fall into the weekly rhythm regardless of what\u2019s going on. p. 181<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\u201cIf you don\u2019t prioritize your life, someone else will.\u201d -Greg McKeown, p. 183<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>\u201cMy experience is what I agree to attend to.\u201d-William James, p. 205<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Oliver Burkeman says an email inbox is like having a to-do list everyone in the world can populate. p. 211<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>We work in the Distraction Economy. \u00a0Attention is a scarce resource, and almost everyone out there is trying to capitalize on your focus. \u00a0If you\u2019re not careful, you\u2019ll spend your most valuable resource to achieve someone else\u2019s goals. p. 228<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Hyatt has been a favorite writer of mine for years.\u00a0 I started by following him on social media and then regularly reading his blog.\u00a0 I occasionally listen to his podcast and posted a review of his book\u00a0No Fail Meetings\u00a0on this blog.\u00a0 What I really appreciate about Hyatt is that his goal is not productivity [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,35,25,16,23,28,17,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-creative","category-education","category-family","category-generosity","category-integrity","category-leadership","category-marriage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}