Scatterfocus

I learned about scatterfocus from the book Hyperfocus (https://chrisbailey.com/hyperfocus/) from Chris Bailey. It sounds counterintuitive at first glance but when you read the book “Hyperfocus” you are really reading two books. Hyperfocus AND Scatterfocus. (Maybe you know these books or magazines which you can read from both sides. This is pretty much it.)

Scatterfocus is the counterpart to Hyperfocus. In hyperfocus you stay focused on one topic, one task for a decent amount of time. In scatterfocus you try to not focus at all. This should help your brain to make connections between different events, ideas and so on. Similar to brainstorming but without a specific topic or brain dump or mind sweep, if you are familiar with this GTD technique.

I try to integrate two scatterfocus sessions per day. One before- and one after lunch.

I set a timer to 15 minutes for one session. I use my meditaion app “Happier” for that but a normal timer will probably do. I tried 5 minutes before but especially if the day is full or I am full with stuff, I need a couple of minutes to get into the scatterfocus mood. 5 minutes was too short for that.

My go-to position is to lay on the floor and put my legs on the couch.

One reason for this position is, that it’s kind of uncomfortable for me to read in this position. That’s good. I want to make it hard for my lazy self to get distracted too easily. On the other hand I keep my phone somewhat close to collect any ideas or todos that come up.

The second reason is, that it’s just an unusual position for me. It’s a behavioural trigger. When I am in this position I go into scatterfocus mode. Pretty simple.

I always have an idea or a todo and I always use the word “always” with care (pun intended :-). Try it out and let me know if it’s something for you.