Image: Victoria Ford/Penguin
Whether it's glancing at every notification, opening an endless stream of emails, eavesdropping on nearby chatter, or good-old-fashioned staring into space, we all have our vices when it comes to losing focus. Particularly in today’s world of constant distraction, forced multitasking, and short-form entertainment (here’s looking at you, TikTok), it’s easy to feel like our attention spans are dwindling.
Fortunately, there are plenty of brilliant books by doctors, spiritual leaders, and productivity experts offering life-changing advice and methods to remedy this issue. From mindfulness to digital detoxes to breathwork and even ice baths, we’ve rounded up the best of them below.
From the Buddhist monk, scholar and activist "who taught the world mindfulness" comes a beautiful and accessible guide to honing your focus. At just 128 pages, How to Focus is aptly suited to readers struggling to devote their attention to any one thing, filled with bitesize musings on the relationship between focus and happiness, breathing and even meditatively eating an orange. The latter section of the book offers 16 exercises for mindful breathing, aimed at developing concentration across the realms of body, feeling, mind, and objects of the mind.
If you’re struggling to achieve your goals, why not learn from some of the most successful people in business? You’ll likely find they all have one thing in common: focus. Penned by "The Focus Coach" Les Hewitt and Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, the authors behind the wildly successful Chicken Soup for the Soul series, The Power of Focus outlines 11 strategies and actionable lessons for staying on-track with your ambitions, from establishing good habits, to building confidence, to optimising your strengths and becoming more decisive.
Swedish psychiatrist Anders Hansen brought evolutionary wisdom, breakthrough research and neuroscience to modern-day mental health issues with his award-winning book The Happiness Cure The Attention Fix , he’s tackling the overwhelming distractions that come with living in the age of the smartphone. Drawing from the latest scientific research, he explains how our relationship to technology is one of addiction and offers practical steps on how to break free from the tethers of our phones and regain focus.
There are many commonplace assumptions and misconceptions about what it means to have attention deficit disorder (ADD). But this comprehensive and sensitively written book by world-renowned doctor Gabor Maté, who himself has ADD, comprises myth-busting research and actionable advice for anyone whose lives are touched by the condition – be it parents of children with ADD, or adults who want to better understand the root causes of their ADD, and how to manage common ADD traits such as guilt, shame, addiction, and low self-esteem.
What does it mean to pay attention, and what do the things that capture our attention say about ourselves? In this short and thoughtful book, psychoanalyst and literary critic Adam Phillips seamlessly blends the work of great authors and thinkers to unpack the concept of attention. He explores the basis of what we find interesting, how things pique our curiosity, and how our attention is informed by other fascinating aspects of human psychology, like shame.
A strong sense of focus starts with the formation of healthy habits – and, according to wellness expert Adrienne Herbert, that means finding time for yourself, ideally before the rest of the world wakes up and begins vying for your attention. In Power Hour, as the name suggests, Herbert espouses the benefits of finding – and leveraging – a designated hour of your time to focus on your goals and ambitions, whether it’s setting up your own business, running a marathon, or simply reading more books .
Dubbed the “Marie Kondo of Productivity,” bestselling author Cal Newport has created the blueprint for finding quiet amid the noise of today’s hyperconnected digital world, and nurturing a greater capacity for focus. Fans of Cal Newport’s approach should also be sure to also check out his deeper dive into the problems of modern ways of working, A World Without Email and the interactive planner that will bring the game-changing Time-Block method to your daily workflow.
Advertising professional turned yoga teacher and mindfulness coach Michael Townsend Williams believes that we can balance productivity and personal well-being in our lives. In this short and accessible audiobook, he offers a way to “breathe yourself better,” talking through the fundamentals of breathwork, meditation and mindfulness practise to incorporate into your habits. The end result? Less stress, more productivity, better workflow, improved focus, and a more resilient and confident approach to the ups and downs of life.
Hindu priest and entrepreneur Dandapani left his life as a monk behind in 2008, with little more than a laptop, a thousand dollars, and two sets of robes. But it was the teachings he learned from his time in the monastery that truly helped him establish himself as a businessman, father and husband. In this comprehensive book, perfect for anyone feeling distracted or stressed, Dandapani imparts this wisdom through a 10-step guide to honing and practising our concentration skills in a way that applies to – and improves – all aspects of our lives.
A huge step towards improving focus and attention span is figuring out what , exactly, we should be focusing on. That means clarifying the things that matter most and setting priorities and boundaries accordingly. Jake Knapp, the inventor of the Design Sprint process at Google, and tech and productivity expert John Zeratsky share their four-part framework and over 80 practical tips for improving your focus and productivity. From taking control of your phone, to daily exercise and mindful eating, Make Time will leave you equipped to make the most of the 24 hours we all have in a day.
Taking ice-cold showers or learning how to breathe at high altitudes may not seem like an obvious (or proportionate) fix for waning focus, but according to extreme athlete and motivational speaker Wim Hof, they are powerful methods for taking ownership of your body and harnessing the potential of your mind. In this bestselling book, "The Iceman" shares his method, honed over nearly four decades, that can help improve everything from immunity to energy levels to cognitive performance.
