August, 2021

1 Practical Tip

You can use your vision to control whether to focus or to relax, whether to see the details or to see the big picture.

When you use your focal vision (which means you look at something directly) you activate your sympathetic nervous system (the GO!-part). This is great when you need to focus, to do deep work, to grind things out.

But to only stay in that mode is not sustainable.

”.. if we remain locked in this high-focus mode of visual perception for longer than our nervous system can tolerate, we may experience feelings of stress, anxiety, tunnel vision (or “one-track mind”), and hyper-vigilance”

So when you need to relax, get out of the tunnel vision and get the bigger picture, you can use your vision to do so. You can force yourself to view into the peripheral vision, take in everything, and try to see yourself in the surroundings.

There is a physical response that happens that deactivates the sympathetic nervous system and activates the parasympathetic nervous system.

You can also go for a walk, look at the ocean, go to a mountain top to get the same effect.

Cool right?

Listen to the fascinating conversation between Andrew Huberman and Tim Ferriss here, and the article they link to here.

1 Interesting idea

High quality work produced = time spent x intensity of focus

The equation that matters. Intensity of focus is often missing. An hour of deep focus easily outperforms four hours of scattered focus.

Found in Ryan Holidays book Perennial Seller.

1 Question for your coffee break

Here’s a question for any project you are working on:

What’s the easiest way to do this?

1 Bonus Link

A blast from the past. Here’s Nick Kokonas on Invest Like the Best. Nick is a master of asking stupid questions, thinking differently and clearly. I keep coming back to this episode. It’s like a good book - I’m always learning something new every time time I listen.

https://joincolossus.com/episodes/20135760/kokonas-know-what-you-are-selling?tab=shownotes

Know What You Are Selling

Nick is the CEO of Tock and co-owner of some of the world’s best restaurants & bars: Alinea, Next, and The Aviary. We cover misconceptions of starting a restaurant, improving the profitability of any business, and the importance of understanding what you really sell.