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Staying Focused in the Age of Distraction
If it wasn't for the shout-out book cover of Get Anyone to Do Anything I would have totally missed this unassuming little volume
. Subtitled "How mindfulness, prayer and meditation can help you pay attention to what really matters", the authors fully deliver on that promise. If prayer is not for you, there are still parts of the book that are useful. An entire chapter is devoted to different kinds of spirituality, so it does not emphasize one faith system or "way" over another.
In a similar vein to Getting Things Done, the book starts out with the belief that people don't have a time management problem, they have an attention management problem. Attention, like time, is a finite resource. People are overloaded with too much choice in just about every aspect of their lives. If life seemed simpler in the past, it was due to a lack of choice. You might have bought only one make of shoe 70 years ago, while today you can stare up and down at a wall of shoes and not know which to buy - price, fit, style, support - all factor into the buying decision. The authors rightly point out that North Americans use resources so poorly that a simple life is almost impossible for the population as a whole. Just the other day I was broadsided by inefficiency - a car was stuck in a neighbourhood bus trap and the bus driver had to go back the way he came and take a detour. The trap is leftover from when the neighbourhood was first built and really doesn't need to be there anymore. But, if the driver was mindful of the big sign that says "BUS ONLY DO NOT ENTER" he might have saved everyone and himself some grief!
The authors emphasize mindfulness over mindlessness. An example would be scarfing down lunch in front of the computer - you may not really be aware of what you're reading nor what you're eating! Living on auto-pilot all the time sucks the enjoyment out of life - once that concept is understood, the authors describes ways of creating a more mindful life such as focusing one thing at a time, learning to be aware of your surroundings and bowing out of draining activities. Another concept is deciding what is important in your life. If you're on a committee and you find it draining, your energy is probably better spent elsewhere. When a person feels "pushed" instead of "called" to an activity, it just becomes another source of dissatisfaction. The authors have specific ways of helping you discover when you are being "pushed" or being "called" and how to make changes based on these feelings to improve your well-being, such as re-discovering activities that you used to enjoy as a way of staying in balance.
Other topics include optimism, gratitude, forgiveness and guilt. The authors have such a gentle tone that after a while I felt that the two authors were like best friends. They even encourage the reader to decide if the time is right for change, and that there are good reasons for not changing too. My favorite parts of the book were on meditation, as it's something I'm not as familiar with. I have been having trouble sleeping as of late, and in the past week I have discovered that doing the breathing exercises before bedtime have me out like a light!
. Subtitled "How mindfulness, prayer and meditation can help you pay attention to what really matters", the authors fully deliver on that promise. If prayer is not for you, there are still parts of the book that are useful. An entire chapter is devoted to different kinds of spirituality, so it does not emphasize one faith system or "way" over another.In a similar vein to Getting Things Done, the book starts out with the belief that people don't have a time management problem, they have an attention management problem. Attention, like time, is a finite resource. People are overloaded with too much choice in just about every aspect of their lives. If life seemed simpler in the past, it was due to a lack of choice. You might have bought only one make of shoe 70 years ago, while today you can stare up and down at a wall of shoes and not know which to buy - price, fit, style, support - all factor into the buying decision. The authors rightly point out that North Americans use resources so poorly that a simple life is almost impossible for the population as a whole. Just the other day I was broadsided by inefficiency - a car was stuck in a neighbourhood bus trap and the bus driver had to go back the way he came and take a detour. The trap is leftover from when the neighbourhood was first built and really doesn't need to be there anymore. But, if the driver was mindful of the big sign that says "BUS ONLY DO NOT ENTER" he might have saved everyone and himself some grief!
The authors emphasize mindfulness over mindlessness. An example would be scarfing down lunch in front of the computer - you may not really be aware of what you're reading nor what you're eating! Living on auto-pilot all the time sucks the enjoyment out of life - once that concept is understood, the authors describes ways of creating a more mindful life such as focusing one thing at a time, learning to be aware of your surroundings and bowing out of draining activities. Another concept is deciding what is important in your life. If you're on a committee and you find it draining, your energy is probably better spent elsewhere. When a person feels "pushed" instead of "called" to an activity, it just becomes another source of dissatisfaction. The authors have specific ways of helping you discover when you are being "pushed" or being "called" and how to make changes based on these feelings to improve your well-being, such as re-discovering activities that you used to enjoy as a way of staying in balance.
Other topics include optimism, gratitude, forgiveness and guilt. The authors have such a gentle tone that after a while I felt that the two authors were like best friends. They even encourage the reader to decide if the time is right for change, and that there are good reasons for not changing too. My favorite parts of the book were on meditation, as it's something I'm not as familiar with. I have been having trouble sleeping as of late, and in the past week I have discovered that doing the breathing exercises before bedtime have me out like a light!