Focus Management Quotes

Attention is a limited resource, so pay attention to where you pay attention.

Directing attention toward where it needs to go is a primal task of leadership.

Before competition, I start to question things. I don't know why it happens, but you've got to control it so you don't get too far out of the race.

I make time to exercise. It's not being indulgent. I think it's got a lot to do with your ability to manage properly and stay focused. There's no doubt about that.

Well, I'm writing everything that isn't my final project, so that when I actually sit down to write it, that's all that will be left in my mind.

There is no point in getting nervous. I get a few butterflies in my stomach, but it isn't really nerves but things that will help your game.

We only have a certain amount of energy for each day. If we use it for the wrong purpose, if we focus on the negative or dwell on whoever hurt us, then we're not going to have the energy we need for the right purposes.

I feel like, in a way, after doing it for so many years, you learn a certain concentration and how to turn it on and off.

I've gotten much better at multi-tasking. It's hard, though. But, writing a script is not totally focused. You're taking little breaks, all the time. If a kid runs in, you give 'em a horsey ride. It's a pretty fluid process.

Digression is my passion. I love telling the main stories, but in some ways, what I love most is using those narratives as a way of stringing together the interesting stories that people have kind of forgotten, and that are kind of surprising. The problem is, how do you pare stories away so that the book doesn't become a distracting jumble of material, and readers lose focus? In my experience, there's really only one way to do that. I pack it all in with the rough draft, then count on myself and my trusted readers to tell me what's good and what's not good.

I can multitask very well. But I know exactly when to block off anything coming in from the outside and just stay focused on the film.

Stop managing your time. Start managing your focus.

When you have a laser focus, and you get distracted by what other people say, you can lose that laser focus.

It's okay that the mind drifts away but you just bring it back.

The major problem of life is learning how to handle the costly interruptions.

I do think to some extent multitasking is a way of fooling ourselves that we're being exceptionally efficient.

Paying attention to what we allow ourselves to pay attention to is a tricky thing. It's like being in two places at once but completely worth the discipline. We can react mindlessly or respond mindfully. It's up to us.

Unless a person knows how to give order to her thoughts, attention will be attracted to whatever is most problematic at the moment.

I've always been good at refocusing my attention away from something that was bringing me down.

A lot of people don't feel like doing very much. Or one project is really all they can do at one time. I can have five or six things going at the same time. It doesn't bother me or tire me, but sometimes it does rattle me.

One of the most important rules of personal effectiveness is the 10/90 rule.

I don't really care about interruptions. I accept technology, and I don't turn things off. I've found a peace with fragmentation and a harmony with switching gears quickly to other things.