AbdulSalamDisclaimer:
This review is written by someone who is always searching for headings, sub-headings, data, figures, action plans, fewer case studies, and stories. If you are someone who always looks up to books to get stories and fiction, you may disagree with me. But this is how I define good books.
Hyperfocus:
I read hyperfocus last year. It was one of the top five reads of my life regarding practicality. This book by Chris Bailey will tell you how to achieve and utilize focus to get things you want. Bailey beautifully narrated the whole concept by dividing this book into two different parts.
Hyperfocus: In the first part, he talked about “Hyperfocus” and addressed “Scatterfocus” in the second half, explaining how we can use both depending on the situation and requirements. Hyperfocus is about strategies to focus on one task at a time. It is about how you can achieve more in less time.
Scatterfocus is a different concept that is a part of our focus ritual. It involves brainstorming out-of-box thinking leading to problem-solving and innovation. Scatterfocus will enrich you with the strategies you need to learn to have established problem-solving ability.
Plus Points:
Structure:
This book is very well structured. Starting from the first chapter till the last, it will guide you through each step one by one. It will help you read more quicker with small paragraphs and headings. From the title of the chapter, you can guess the upcoming discussion agenda and go through it very well.
Data:
Hyperfocus is a cake for data lovers. I have highlighted so many things in this book. The author has done much research before putting the topic into the paper. This book is a sum of so much related and valuable content of 240 pages.
Deep Work:
It took me three weeks to finish reading hyperfocus, but I finished “Deep Work” only in 3 days, dedicating four hours. I am the kind of reader who loves the flow of the book. If a book has a flow, it means that the author knows the art of engagement. Deep work started in a beautiful manner. Case studies of Carl Jung, Mark Twain, Woody Allen, and Bill gates and how they achieved some extraordinary results. Author Cal Newport defines Deep Work as
“ Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit.
As I went deeper into the book, I found so much content similar to what I had already read in hyperfocus. Examples and explanations were different, but the idea was similar. Soon after acquiring the flow state in reading this book, I started losing interest in it. There was an uneven distribution of paragraphs, and the content was bombarded with case studies and examples. Not enough information was provided on action plans leading to finishing it only through skimming.
Honest Feedback:
This review was not against Deep work, but honestly, I was disappointed to read this book. The title of this book is so good. It was staring me from my library for the past eight months, and finally, when I started reading it, it didn’t go well. If you ask me to evaluate both of these books as they cover the same topic, I will vote for Hyperfocus. Those 240 pages were way better than the 296 pages of useless explanations. Especially for a beginner, if you are thinking about reading, I hope you will like hyperfocus. But if you have already read both of them, let me know your views in the comment section. It will initiate a good discussion.
Also:
My FREE Udemy Courses: https://www.udemy.com/user/05dfe572-041b-43d0-a366-525c9d05a723/
My Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Abdul-Salam/e/B0BKKSZ6ZQ/ref=aufs_dp_fta_dsk
