Learning to Control Your Attention

Much of my work in the last 18 months or so has focused on educating people about the benefits and the processes to control their attention. I’ve written about it on this blog many times (Welcome to the Attention Age, What Martial Arts Teaches Me About Productivity & Control, and Why Time Management is No Longer Relevant). My research has convinced me that the ability to control your attention is not only the secret to peak productivity, but also to living the life you want.  It’s the subject of my first book, Personal Productivity Secrets. One of the ways that I teach attention management is through my Empowered Productivity System for controlling the details of your life.  It includes learning control over information, technology, and behavior. Another way to learn attention management is to meditate.  I have always believed this to be true, and the evidence is stacking up.  ScienceDaily wrote about a study conducted in 2010, and the New York Times wrote about a study conducted in 2007.  Both studies reached the same conclusions, which are that meditation helps you increase your attention span, and better control your attention. Some pointed quotes from the articles:

• “training in this kind of meditation leads to a profound shift in how the brain allocates attention.”
• “Attention is a flexible, trainable skill.”

I’ve been dabbling in meditation for years now, and use it in specific situations with great success.  But I think it’s time I took my meditation practice even more seriously to improve my attention management.