Brief Synopsis/Review
Many people can manage their time effectively, but fewer can manage their attention. That’s a shame, because according to Winifred Gallagher, author of RAPT, “paying rapt attention [..] increases your capacity for concentration, expands your inner boundaries, and lifts your spirits, but more important, it simply makes you feel that life is worth living”. In a nut, being able to better manage your attention makes you more focused, happier, and more productive.
RAPT guides you through not only how you currently manage your attention during different elements of your life (like in relationships, at your job, when you’re multitasking, and when you’re trying to become healthier), but it will also help you improve your focus and attention. The book is quite boring and dry in many parts, but overall, it’s worth reading. While it’s not overly entertaining, it is very practical, and just like The Power of Habit, it will uncover a part of your mind that you hadn’t even thought about before.
What you’ll get out of it
- An understanding of how you instinctively manage your attention and focus, and how you can improve your attention and focus
- Tips for how to manage your attention in different elements of your life (like when you’re being creative, or when you’re cultivating the relationships in your life)
Will it make you more productive?
- Yes. RAPT will give you practical, tactical tips to become more focused and pay more attention to the world around you
- RAPT also gives you tips on how to manage your attention better (like through meditation and mindfulness, for example).
- Similar to The Power of Habit, RAPT helps make you instinctively aware of how you manage your attention, which lets you be more mindful of where you’re directing your attention, and change where you’re directing it to. This will also make you more productive.
Tips
- Skip the first three chapters. They’re boring as hell, and to me, they’re incredibly fluffy. The real meat in the book comes after that.
- RAPT is kind of, well, boring. This book is no doubt worth picking up, but not for its entertainment value. The author has a very dry and boring writing style, but there’s no doubt that the book will make you more productive.
