Optimizing Productivity

Strategy for Staying Present

When we say, pay attention, what exactly are we supposed to be paying attention to?

Author Oliver Burkman put it this way.

At the end of your life, looking back, whatever compelled your attention from moment to moment is simply what your life will have been. So when you pay attention to something you don’t especially value, it’s not an exaggeration to say that you’re paying with your life.

Our attention is our most valuable resource. And for everything that we pay attention to, there’s a hidden, yet significant tax that we pay.

I will reveal this hidden tax and introduce a technique that’ll help you protect your attention and help you stay focused all day long. Let’s dive in.

It all begins by paying attention to what we’re paying attention to. And the simple way to do this is by writing things down. Now you can do this digitally, but I prefer to do it in my paper notebook because it shields me from online distractions.

Writing things down helps us declutter our minds and see our thoughts clearly when they’re captured on paper.

It can also be a powerful way to become aware of and process our emotions. I name my thoughts and feelings through a technique called rapid logging. In short, rapid logging…