Two Awesome Hours

Hurrying through one decision point—in between tasks—might save five minutes. Starting on the wrong task may cost an hour. But the five minutes hurts more because we’re so aware of every second

ability to choose how you spend your time. These moments are when a task ends or is interrupted

our habits are necessary mental energy savers. We need to relieve our conscious minds so we can solve new problems as they come up

Once you start a task, you run largely on autopilot

be truly productive, our best bet may just be to ditch efficiency and create, instead, the conditions for two awesome hours of effectiveness each day.

memories are something you grow. It takes time for neurons to structurally change

Cognition—any kind of thinking—cannot be properly understood without referring to the body it serves.

There are consequences of being biological creatures on how we think. A number of people in the scientific community call these consequences “embodied cognition.”

we mistakenly assume that productivity depends on finding enough hours in the day

Every day he created the mental and biological conditions for peak effectiveness, and in those periods of effectiveness, he accomplished extraordinary things.