We tend to think of attention as a single phenomenon, something we direct somewhere to enhance processing information selectively. But that’s a misconception.  In her book Peak Mind, Jha writes that attention is made up of three subsystems, with each doing something distinct. Jha calls them the flashlight, the floodlight, and the juggler.  Let’s look […]

Several things occur when we’re at our most productive. We single-task, focusing on one thing at a time. We limit distractions. We know when our mind wanders and, when it does, guide it back to the task at hand.  Our tasks are on the edge of what’s achievable. Not too challenging. Not too easy. We […]

The 1994 Winter Olympics. Lillehammer, Norway. Dan Jensen, a man regarded by many as the best speed skater alive, was about to compete in his final event: the 1,000-meter. In the event prior, Dan finished eighth in the 500-meter after slipping, costing him his chance of Olympic Gold in what he considered his strongest event. […]

On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 1st, 2014, Belgium snatched victory from the United States with a 2-1 defeat, knocking the underdog team out of the World Cup.  In the following days, while Belgium celebrated its victory and advanced in the tournament (they would eventually lose to Argentina in the quarter-finals), football pundits couldn’t stop […]

David Sedaris, a journalist, working for The New Yorker, was sitting in the back of a car, watching the seemingly endless suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, pass by, when Pat, his friend, and guide while in Australia, proposed to him a thought experiment. [1] “Imagine a four-burner stove,” she started, recounting an idea she learned having […]