- 注释版
- 纯净版
导读
提升专注力，已经是老生常谈的话题了，那到底什么是专注？为什么我们无法专注？作者给出了答案：专注就是，一段时间内，只做一件事，忽略其他的。而我们无法专注的原因，是因为Multitasking。文中也提到了multitasking的代价。听过潇哥之前procrastination和multitasking两节课的同学，对内容本身应该比较熟悉了。8月7日上次的Focus课程更多的注重怎么去做，今天的这篇，更多在于解释背后的原理，这两节课在内容和词汇上也可以相互补充呼应，希望对你有用。
第一步：解决高频单词
elimination [i,limi'neiʃən]
n. 消除；淘汰；除去
prerequisite ['pri:'rekwizit]
n. 先决条件/ adj. 首要必备的
permanent ['pə:mənənt]
adj. 永久的，永恒的；不变的
concentrate ['kɔnsəntreit]
vt. 集中；全神贯注/ vi. 集中
procrastinate [prəu'kræstineit]
vt. 拖延，耽搁
beforehand [bi'fɔ:hænd]
adv. 事先；预先/ adj. 提前的；预先准备好的
instant ['instənt]
adj. 立即的；紧急的；紧迫的/ n. 瞬间；立即；片刻
seamless ['si:mlis]
adj. 无缝的；无缝合线的；无伤痕的
interrupt [,intə'rʌpt]
vt. vi. 中断；打断；插嘴；妨碍
get your bearings
find out your position 找你的方位
in the middle of
正在（忙着）做某事
第二步：精读重点段落
（Tips: 双击文中单词可以查释义并加入你的生词本哦）
第三段（精读）
Focus can only occur when we have said yes to one option and no to all other options. In other words, elimination is a prerequisite for focus. As Tim Ferriss says, “What you don’t do determines what you can do.”
- elimination n.删除
- prerequisite n.前提条件
第九段（精读）
Have you ever been in the middle of writing an email when someone interrupts you? When the conversation is over and you get back to the message, it takes you a few minutes to get your bearings, remember what you were writing, and get back on track. Something similar happens when you multitask. Multitasking forces you to pay a mental price each time you interrupt one task and jump to another. In psychology terms, this mental price is called the switching cost.
- in the middle of 正在忙着做某事
- interrupt vt.打断
- get your bearings 找到你的方位，位置
第三步：攻克必学语法
What引导的名词性从句
What = 先行词 （某个名词） + 关系代词 (that, which, who)
把What 看成The things + that (或者the people who, the place that)
原文例句1：What you don’t do determines what you can do.
改写示范：The things that you don’t do determines the things that you can do.
例句2：He is no longer what he was.
改写示范：He is no longer the people who he was.
改写练习
把what 改为先行词+关系代词，然后找出what在句子中充当的成分（主谓宾补）
原句1：It takes you a few minutes to get your bearings, remember what you were writing.
原句2：What is impossible, however, is concentrating on two tasks at once.
加分任务：精读全文
在之前的三步后，你已经完全具备了精读全文的能力。再多花半个小时，让你的学习效果达到120%！
下载音频
（Tips: 双击文中单词可以查释义并加入你的生词本哦）
Focus: What It Is and How it Works
第一段
First things first. What is focus, really? Experts define focus as the act of concentrating your interest or activity on something. That's a somewhat boring definition, but there is an important insight hiding inside that definition.
What is Focus?
第二段
In order to concentrate on one thing, you must, by default, ignore many other things. Here's a better way to put it:
第三段（精读）
Focus can only occur when we have said yes to one option and no to all other options. In other words, elimination is a prerequisite for focus. As Tim Ferriss says, “What you don’t do determines what you can do.”
第四段
Of course, focus doesn't require a permanent no, but it does require a present no. You always have the option to do something else later. But in the present moment, focus requires that you only do one thing. Focus is the key to productivity, because saying no to every other option unlocks your ability to accomplish the one thing that is left. Now for the important question: What can we do to focus on the things that matter and ignore the things that don't?
Why Can’t I Focus?
第五段
Most people don’t have trouble with focusing. They have trouble with deciding. What I mean is that most healthy humans have a brain that is capable of focusing if we get the distractions out of the way. Have you ever had a task that you absolutely had to get done? What happened? You got it done because the deadline made the decision for you. Maybe you procrastinated beforehand, but once things became urgent and you were forced to make a decision, you took action.
第六段
Instead of doing the difficult work of choosing one thing to focus on, we often convince ourselves that multitasking is a better option. This is ineffective. Here's why…
The Myth of Multitasking
第七段
Technically, we are capable of doing two things at the same time. It is possible, for example, to watch TV while cooking dinner or to answer an email while talking on the phone. What is impossible, however, is concentrating on two tasks at once. You're either listening to the TV, and the overflowing pot of pasta is background noise. Or you're tending to the pot of pasta, and the TV is background noise. During any single instant, you are concentrating on one or the other.
第八段
Multitasking forces your brain to switch your focus back and forth very quickly from one task to another. This wouldn't be a big deal if the human brain could transition seamlessly from one job to the next, but it can't.
第九段（精读）
Have you ever been in the middle of writing an email when someone interrupts you? When the conversation is over and you get back to the message, it takes you a few minutes to get your bearings, remember what you were writing, and get back on track. Something similar happens when you multitask. Multitasking forces you to pay a mental price each time you interrupt one task and jump to another. In psychology terms, this mental price is called the switching cost.
第十段
Switching cost is the disruption in performance that we experience when we switch our focus from one area to another. One study, published in the International Journal of Information Management in 2003, found that the typical person checks email once every five minutes and that, on average, it takes 64 seconds to resume the previous task after checking your email. In other words, because of email alone, we typically waste one out of every six minutes. （Note: What about WeChat?）
elimination [i,limi'neiʃən]
n. 消除；淘汰；除去
prerequisite ['pri:'rekwizit]
n. 先决条件/ adj. 首要必备的
permanent ['pə:mənənt]
adj. 永久的，永恒的；不变的
concentrate ['kɔnsəntreit]
vt. 集中；全神贯注/ vi. 集中
procrastinate [prəu'kræstineit]
vt. 拖延，耽搁
beforehand [bi'fɔ:hænd]
adv. 事先；预先/ adj. 提前的；预先准备好的
instant ['instənt]
adj. 立即的；紧急的；紧迫的/ n. 瞬间；立即；片刻
seamless ['si:mlis]
adj. 无缝的；无缝合线的；无伤痕的
interrupt [,intə'rʌpt]
vt. vi. 中断；打断；插嘴；妨碍
get your bearings
find out your position 找你的方位
in the middle of
正在（忙着）做某事
不要一时兴起，就要天天在一起
明天见！
下载音频
Focus: What It Is and How it Works
第一段
First things first. What is focus, really? Experts define focus as the act of concentrating your interest or activity on something. That's a somewhat boring definition, but there is an important insight hiding inside that definition.
What is Focus?
第二段
In order to concentrate on one thing, you must, by default, ignore many other things. Here's a better way to put it:
第三段（精读）
Focus can only occur when we have said yes to one option and no to all other options. In other words, elimination is a prerequisite for focus. As Tim Ferriss says, “What you don’t do determines what you can do.”
第四段
Of course, focus doesn't require a permanent no, but it does require a present no. You always have the option to do something else later. But in the present moment, focus requires that you only do one thing. Focus is the key to productivity, because saying no to every other option unlocks your ability to accomplish the one thing that is left. Now for the important question: What can we do to focus on the things that matter and ignore the things that don't?
Why Can’t I Focus?
第五段
Most people don’t have trouble with focusing. They have trouble with deciding. What I mean is that most healthy humans have a brain that is capable of focusing if we get the distractions out of the way. Have you ever had a task that you absolutely had to get done? What happened? You got it done because the deadline made the decision for you. Maybe you procrastinated beforehand, but once things became urgent and you were forced to make a decision, you took action.
第六段
Instead of doing the difficult work of choosing one thing to focus on, we often convince ourselves that multitasking is a better option. This is ineffective. Here's why…
The Myth of Multitasking
第七段
Technically, we are capable of doing two things at the same time. It is possible, for example, to watch TV while cooking dinner or to answer an email while talking on the phone. What is impossible, however, is concentrating on two tasks at once. You're either listening to the TV, and the overflowing pot of pasta is background noise. Or you're tending to the pot of pasta, and the TV is background noise. During any single instant, you are concentrating on one or the other.
第八段
Multitasking forces your brain to switch your focus back and forth very quickly from one task to another. This wouldn't be a big deal if the human brain could transition seamlessly from one job to the next, but it can't.
第九段（精读）
Have you ever been in the middle of writing an email when someone interrupts you? When the conversation is over and you get back to the message, it takes you a few minutes to get your bearings, remember what you were writing, and get back on track. Something similar happens when you multitask. Multitasking forces you to pay a mental price each time you interrupt one task and jump to another. In psychology terms, this mental price is called the switching cost.
第十段
Switching cost is the disruption in performance that we experience when we switch our focus from one area to another. One study, published in the International Journal of Information Management in 2003, found that the typical person checks email once every five minutes and that, on average, it takes 64 seconds to resume the previous task after checking your email. In other words, because of email alone, we typically waste one out of every six minutes. （Note: What about WeChat?）