Recommend some books on focus, concentration and attention

November 28, 2022 1:49 AM

Help me find books with advice on reaching the vaunted "flow state" and then staying right there, in the so-called zone.

I'm looking for books that can help me improve my focus, concentration and attention. I recently read "Stolen Focus" and "The Loop", both of which I found helpful and illuminating.

I'm familiar with tactics such as meditation and taking walks. I don't drink caffeine or alcohol.

What I'm looking for is a deep dive on these issues so that I can learn some additional, concrete strategies to help me get more into the flow state of whatever I'm doing, whether it's a task at work, reading a book at home, studying a language in the classroom, or just engaging with other people.

I'd like to find some books that deal with these subjects. Thanks!

posted by dead_ to Education (7 answers total)

Best answer: Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is considered the seminal work on this subject. It will be a bit more academic and less practical.

Tip on pronunciation for American English speakers: Chick-Sent-Me-High.
posted by sol at 5:07 AM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Classical musicians looking to train these skills usually head towards either Performance Success by Don Greene or the "Inner Game of X" collection by Timothy Gallwey.
posted by range at 6:03 AM on November 28, 2022

Best answer: Cal Newport has written several books on this general topic. Deep Work might be a good place to start (or just look around his blog)
posted by Bron at 1:32 PM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]

Re-reading parts of Csikszentmihalyi's Flow recently, some of his casual observations have a bunch of (IMO) mild sexism, racism and other isms in it that might sour the experience for you.

The core analysis and suggestions in the book remain good, but just a heads up in case this kind of thing would be a problem.
posted by lalochezia at 2:19 PM on November 28, 2022

Best answer: Steven Kotler has written two books about flow states: Stealing Fire (with Jamie Wheal) and The Rise of Superman. There is a lot of focus on gravity sports (climbing, surfing, skiing, kayaking, BASE jumping, etc.) in Superman, but both books touch on other aspects of flow, like flow in music, creativity, and learning. For your ask, about concrete strategies, I would suggest starting with "Rise of Superman", which does make some suggestions for "flow hacking" in the final chapters.

Having said that, the flow states Kotler is interested in are accompanied by brain chemistry changes in the forms of dopamine, norepinephrine, endorphins, and seratonin. If you are using the term "flow" interchangeably with being in a distraction free state, you may not find Kotler's work that helpful and I would refer you back to Bron's suggestion of Deep Work and maybe tack on Newport's Digital Minimalism.
posted by BlueTongueLizard at 4:40 PM on November 28, 2022

I think you might also be interested in Josh Waitzken's The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance.
posted by casaubon at 7:24 PM on November 28, 2022

Ezra Klein Show just did an episode with Maryanne Wolf and "deep reading", worth a listen.
posted by flamk at 9:26 PM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]