Noise Lib/E: Living and Leading When Nobody Can Focus

by Joseph McCormack

With the advent of smartphones, tablets, and other devices which keep us constantly connect, keeping focus has become an ever-present problem in both business AND in life. When brains are bombarded by these "weapons of mass distraction," people are increasingly incapable of sustaining focus on what's important. This impacts learning, parenting, prioritizing and leading because nobody can sit still and pay attention.



In One Ear and Out the Other is a follow-up (and somewhat of a sequel) to McCormack's first book Brief (2014) which outlines McCormack's proven, step-by-step approach to clear, concise, and effective communication. But since 2014, technology has advanced further and been more integrated into our everyday lives. Managers are pulled in a dozen different directions every minute. As a result, attention spans have actually gotten shorter and business issues often go unaddressed because of a lack of time and a lack of ability to focus on everything that needs attention. In One Ear will tackle this issue by teaching managers and leaders how to help themselves and others how to hone their focusing skills.

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction, Business, Self Help, Personal Development, Productivity

Audio CD

First published November 26, 2019

Reviews

[Hamideh Azimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Summary:
1-Information overload is damaging our ability to think. Nowadays, we are suffering from excess of information. When we subject our mind to this nonstop informations, we prevent our minds from working at their full capacity. By distracting our minds constantly, we are wiring our mind in this way: expectation for novelty and superficial events, so our minds can not focus for a long time to finish a task.
2- Multitasking depleted IQ by 10 points.
3-Waldorf School in Silicon Valley: completely traditional.
4- A focused mind is like a luminous bright light, while a distracted mind is like a flickering old lamp.
What should we do: Make these points your habit:
1- Be aware of our activities: just do activities which are important and meaningful.
2- To remain focused, start writing your goals, "to do list" and "not to do list".
3- Through away anything you do not need in your life.
4- Occupy your mind with thoughts which are related to you, your goals and your business. Stop
thinking about and judging others.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A continuation of McCormack's book Brief. The focus in this volume is on the noise that surrounds us through technology. We're always connected. He offers tips and guidance to find a balance as more technology comes into play. Practical advice with solid information to back it up. It reads quickly though I took my time to think about the information provided.

[Brandon Ames · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this about a year after I read “Brief”, and I honestly wish I had read them back to back. “Noise” is an eye opening look at technology, it’s impact on us, and provides tools to maintain focus and attention.

[Jeff Burket · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about a really important topic: how to find more quiet and focus in our personal and professional environments as we live in a world that is hyper-connected with ubiquitous and instant communication and noise.

I almost went with 2 stars on this one because the author (surprisingly) gets very repetitive throughout the chapters, application principles are somewhat vague, and the anecdotes/stories are too short and nonspecific to be as helpful as they could be. That being said, its still getting 3 starts because its about a really important topic and has a lot of really helpful guidance on what you can do about it. If you've never really spent time reflecting on how hectic, unhelpful, and anxiety-provoking your electronically always connected life is...there are tons of good ideas in here, to both work better and live with more sanity; also with some good ideas about raising our kids in such an environment.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just too drawn out without enough substantive content to fight the noise. I love the concept of addressing this topic and the self-control we must exert to combat it, but it wasn’t enough to fill a book of this length and therefore it felt contrary to the purpose of reducing the over-explained and extraneous, and contrary to McCormack’s “Brief” which was a game changer for me.

The extended case scenarios and stories created more noise - the author could have cut them in half and been equally effective. Maybe he was demonstrating the “added noise” we need to guard against?

Perhaps this would have held more value for me if I hadn’t expected the book to follow the structure of “Brief” and hadn’t already known the aspects he introduced in his earlier book.

[Aaron Mikulsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book and his other book Brief. However, there was not a lot new that I learned from it. I did like the terms Focus Management (FM 101) and "Infobesity." Reference to the Cerebrum (part of the brain responsible for our ability to focus and remember things) as well as the 3 types of memory were good reminders. Our 3 pound brains, with around 100B nerve cells, like RAM (Working Memory), can decline when over-tasked. It appeared that David Allen's book Getting Things Done was used as the foundation for this book. This is yet another book about us being too easily distracted and having ADD and FOMO.

[Quinns Pheh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book points out that this era of excess information makes it much easier to be distracted. Therefore, we have raised our awareness of how technology occupies our minds to remain focused and productive. One of the habits mentioned in the book is the 7-to-7 rule. Cultivate a routine where you don't use your phone for any reason before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:0p.m. That will provide you with the downtime you need to disengage from digital distractions or meditate and focus.

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

- Our brain craves for over instant stimulation, thus social media grants such reward instantly

- However, instant stimulation serves very little nutrition on our lives. Digesting only over complicates our limited attention span

- The author suggests to cut out all these distractions. Ask, "are this information useful to me?", if such information does not have direct impact on "me", the author suggest throw away such information immediately

- Less, is more

[Ardeeach · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author makes a great point that all these extras becomes noise. However, I grew increasingly frustrated by his insistence that the only way to fix it is to get rid of it. Rather like a Luddite. I was hoping for a sensible method to utilize the tech that is at hand without allowing it to control our lives where it becomes an intrusion and not a help. Look, technology is here to stay and will be growing more prevalent. Sorry, that ship has sailed. Note, we have too learn how to control it.

[Michelle Reyes Navas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gusta que es rápido de leer, un lenguaje súper digerible. Un tema que perdemos de vista porque cae en la creencia que lo esperado y normal sea estar en el contante bombardeo de información. Explica muy bien cierras circunstancias que nos pasan y que creemos que también es normal sin darnos cuenta que mantener un comportamiento así como un ambiente repleto de información nos drena.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an unexpected delight. I truly enjoyed this book and appreciated the perspective of the author, coupled with his actionable/realistic steps for managing focus and drowning out the everyday noise in our lives. Highly recommend!

[Alper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Azalan dikkat süreleri ve bölünmüş odak çağında, bize doğal konsantrasyon gücümüzü nasıl geri kazanacağımızı anlatıyor. Zihnimizi nasıl meşgul ettiğimizin daha fazla farkına varmamız ve bazı yeni yararlı alışkanlıklar geliştirmemiz gerektiğinden bahsediyor.

[Bora Eresici · Rating 3 out of 5]

0-~100 tanım ve kitabın ilgi çekici kısmı buradan sonra yavaşlıyor 100-~200 arasi sıkıcı ornekler sonrası da yapilabik3cek tekrarli yöntemler. %100 kisqlacak ve 150sayfada azami ozetlenebikecek bir konu.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perspective on how to focus in a noise world.

[Paula]

Good noise canceling strategies to thrive in our highly technical society. Good idea: adopt the 7 to 7 rule. Don’t use your phone before 7 am and after 7 pm.

[Marlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

A smattering of advice to reduce the demand signal.

[Alex Holt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing new but highlights “noise” I have gotten used to and gave back the power to limit it.

[Zhivko Kabaivanov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noise (2019) is an antidote to our distracted times.

In an age of shrinking attention spans and divided focus, it shows us how to reclaim our natural powers of concentration.

[Giuliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lectura, fácil y ligera. Lo más importante es que no se queda en la teoría y comparte técnicas para poder enfocarse

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skimmed some and read some. Easy to read, includes visuals.

[Dale · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of repackaging going on here with recommendations to read the original works. Some self promotion of a previous book.

[Deniz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too dark future visions

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extension of his first book "Brief", McCormack expands on how to block out excess noise: 1) set sights on what matters most (essentialism), 2) schedule quiet time, 3) tech time out, 4) ignore useless thoughts, 5) use do not disturb signs, 6) use rules to manage e-mail, 7) demand agendas for meetings, 8) schedule social media, 9) listen more, and 10) be brief.

[Douglas Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief and enjoyable read that provides practical steps for operating in an always-on-always-loud world. This book serves more as a primer on some more substantive research and writing on the topic.

[Burcin simsek · Rating 5 out of 5]

çok ihtiyacım varmış bu kitaba şahane bir ayılma bilinenleri güzelce tekrarladı ama olsun notification ları kapatttırdı oh be