Alright, I managed to read it. I guess that makes me a hero in this thread.<p>The professor uses mediation to hone focus, then hyperfocusing on a task. It sounds a lot like a fancy description of the Pomodoro technique, except that the argument is that meditation can extend the amount of time we can give to a task. The other central argument is that we can't actually multitask, and it does more damage to try. The point of not being able to read a whole book seems like bunk to me, though, since I read for recreation, and it takes the amount of time it takes. I can't sit and read a whole book, just like I can't sit and watch a whole season of a television show.<p>I don't buy in to Pomodoro since I think it hurts to force a time limit in either direction, but I do believe that hyperfocus helps get tasks done. I notice this most of all when coding. I will fall in to a deep zone and just go. Eventually, something will bring me out of it (either hitting a wall, or finishing a block of functionality, etc), and that's it for a while. I will toggle out to Facebook or something and recover. Eventually, I'll go back. This cycle has been successful enough for me, just not forced to 25 minute blocks.<p>The one big point I did agree with is that, in a way, I have become a slave to my phone. I react when it dings, without much respect for what I'm doing. Just last week I disabled notifications for my work email, and have been much happier. I still see the badge count, but that's under my control to check, and I just don't. Same for desktop notifications - they're off. As important as I like to think I am, my email can wait, and I'm starting to think the same way about social notifications, although they are still more sparse and don't really hurt my focus.