The Art of Focused Work

For about 12,000 years, what we called "work" was pretty much the same: we picked stuff up and put it other places. Then, about 60 years ago, work changed. What we used to do with our backs, we now did with our brains. The problem: no one taught people how to manage this new, project-based kind of work. And this has led to all manner of discontent. People are frayed, frazzled, and overwhelmed. They're given huge projects to accomplish, but with no guidance on how to break these projects into bits. Paul Shirley is a former professional basketball player -- a career that taught him to focus intensely in short bursts, whether because he was practicing in the summer or because he was shooting a free throw in front of 16,000 people. He had to come up with rituals and routines so he could do this when he didn't want to, when he was scared, and when he had a bunch of Toradol coursing through his body because he was playing with a broken foot. Not only that: he had to do this over and over, for years and years, often with no real idea of what the eventual reward would be. Which is a lot like the challenge faced by a whole bunch of people trying to do their jobs now. Instead of a huge crowd screaming at them, they're being screamed at by their phones, notifications on their laptops, or their own self-doubt. And just like with basketball, they often have to do this while bathing in uncertainty. Their jobs change. Technology changes. The economy changes. The good news is that there is an answer. We can learn to control our inputs, just like Paul learned to do in basketball and then applied to his careers as a writer and entrepreneur. Those inputs are periods of focused work. The Art of Focused Work is about how we can build those periods of focused work into our lives. This means using our natural love of rituals to get us into (and out of) focus. It means learning to get better at this skill over time. It means taking care of our personal infrastructure -- recognizing that we have to take care of the bodies and brains that allow us to do work in the first place. And it means learning to deal with failure, because we'll fail more than anything else. The Art of Focused Work is a quick, approachable, story-based read that has one goal: helping people focus so they can do the kind of work that is new to all of us.
ASIN: 1737563665
VSKU: DBV.1737563665.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Shirley, Paul
Binding: Paperback
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: Gently used with minimal wear on the corners and cover. A few pages may contain light highlighting or writing, but the text remains fully legible. Dust jacket may be missing, and supplemental materials like CDs or codes may not be included. May be ex-library with library markings. Ships promptly!