Sam Darnold Quotes

I think long and hard about what it is I'm actually trying to do, and then I kind of have to narrow my focus into that. If I don't, I'm too all over the place.

I'm not very good at multi-tasking. Most people aren't, but they think they are. The mind is really better when you're really focused on one thing.

Some people think they are concentrating when they're merely worrying.

If there is something that strikes me as interesting or beautiful or something I could learn from, and I don't write it down, then I could be at lunch with you, and it's like there's a pile of laundry in my brain that I haven't put away, and I struggle to really listen, so that's always been important to me.

I used to listen to 'Woman's Hour' every morning, but I've discovered that I can't have words on when I'm working.

I'm definitely a note taker.

I gotta take notes when things occur to me.

I admit that Post-it note sheets that adhere to virtually any surface are now my substitute of choice for retention.

Task switching is hard because we do not control what is on our mind. Despite our efforts, the original task continues to occupy our mental bandwidth. Although we can control where our time goes, we cannot fully control how our bandwidth is allocated.

Experts say you can't concentrate on more than one task at a time.

I just prefer instrumental. I don't need to hear what other people are singing. And if I need music as a backdrop to work or to think, I need to have that part of the brain clear - I don't need people feeding their fantasies into my vision.

I don't like to listen to music while I'm working.

Multi-tasking arises out of distraction itself.

Well-arranged time is the surest mark of a well-arranged mind.

When I was a postdoc, I jotted every fresh thought on a three-by-five card and kept them in a card catalogue.

When I was younger, I was able to write with music playing in the background, but these days, I can't. I find it distracting. Even when the music is just instrumental or has lyrics in a language I don't understand, the clash between the voices in my head and the song can be very disorienting.

I hate belongings. I hate clutter. It really bothers me because I can't think properly. If you've got distractions in front of you, your mind goes nuts.

There's no such thing as multitasking.

My mind was always very cluttered, so I took great pains to simplify my environment, because if my environment were half as cluttered as my mind, I wouldn't be able to make it from room to room.

I think people who multitask pay a huge price. They think they're being extra productive, and I think when you multitask so much you don't have time to think about anything deeply, you are giving the world an advantage you shouldn't do, and practically everybody is drifting into that mistake.

I'm able to think more clearly when I don't have clutter and stuff around.

I multitask and always have the TV on in the background. If I need to focus, I generally have to turn off the TV.

I think that we get so distracted with our smartphones... It takes your body and your brain time to switch between tasks. If we can focus on what we're doing, we'll be more productive at that task.

You wouldn't read 'Anna Karenina' and try to work on the computer at the same time, would you?

You can't compartmentalise everything but the more you do that the easier it is. Keeping a notebook is a good way of dealing with it. You can rest from any thoughts if you put them down on paper.