Attention researcher Dr Gloria Mark (Attention Span), bestselling author Oliver Burkeman (Meditations for Mortals) and book strategist Charlie Hoehn (Play It Away) on designing your day around peak focus, embracing imperfection in creative work and bringing play back to the page.
You'll learn
The four states of attention every writer should know.
Two daily peak focus windows, and a simple method to find your own.
The reframe that gives writers permission — most writing isn't flow.
How the success of one bestselling book can paralyse the next.
A quantity-over-quality method that satisfies the inner perfectionist.
Why free writing isn't a warm-up but the engine of the next draft.
A counterintuitive trick for handling interruptions when you're trying to write.
What play deprivation quietly does to creative output.
A small experiment with play that resets your relationship to work.
Why fighting your own nature as a writer is a losing game.
Resources & Links
Dr Gloria Mark
Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity by Dr Gloria Mark
Chronotype (Sleep Foundation)
Morningness Eveningness Questionnaire
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Yohaku no bi: The Beauty of Empty Space
Gloria's website
Gloria's newsletter
Oliver Burkeman
Meditations for Mortals
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
The Imperfectionist (newsletter)
Deep Freewriting by Stephen Lloyd Webber
ILYS software
Charlie Hoehn
Play It Away
The Power of Play | Charlie Hoehn | TEDxSantoDomingo
Charlie's website
Author Alliance
Original Episode Links
Dr Gloria Mark's original episode
Oliver Burkeman's original episode
Charlie Hoehn's original episode
About the Guests
Gloria Mark is Chancellor's Professor of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. She received her PhD from Columbia University in psychology and studies the impact of digital media on people's lives. She has published over 200 articles, and in 2017 was inducted into the ACM SIGCHI Academy, which recognises leaders in the field of human-computer interaction. She has presented her work at SXSW and the Aspen Ideas Festival, and her research has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, CNN, The Guardian, the Dax Shepard show, the Dave Asprey show and many others. She is the author of Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity.
Oliver Burkeman worked for many years at The Guardian, where he wrote a popular weekly column on psychology, 'This Column Will Change Your Life.' His books include the New York Times bestseller Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals and The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking. His latest book is Meditations for Mortals.
Charlie Hoehn is a three-time New York Times bestselling editor, five-time author, and the founder of Author Alliance. For three years, Charlie was Tim Ferriss' Director of Special Projects and first full-time hire. Together, they launched The 4-Hour Body to #1 New York Times, #1 Barnes & Noble, and #1 Amazon overall. Previously, he was Head of Multimedia for Scribe Media, where he produced over 500 videos and 300 podcast episodes. He is a keynote speaker who has presented to groups at Microsoft, PepsiCo, the Pentagon, U.S. Military, Stanford, TEDx and HEC Paris. His ideas on work-play integration have been featured on NPR's TED Radio Hour, Fast Company, Forbes, Financial Times, Huberman Lab, Chase Jarvis Live, TEDx, and many others.
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