GET A GRIP

When it comes to the topic of focus, there is certainly no shortage of advice: just get in the flow and stop multitasking — but it's not so easy, even more so if one is working from home, and a lot of advice is simply wrong. In his new book cognitive psychologist Stefan van der Stigchel discards the most common concentration myths and shares the “missing link:” 50 super practical tips to help a person stay focused and boost their concentration, at the office or working remotely. All tips are based on scientific research. Van der Stigchel starts with the basics: what's an ideal daily routine, the importance of rituals, and proven ways to recharge one's internal batteries during a break. Once those have been mastered, one can move to the boosters to start improving and optimizing concentration efforts: how to best deal with social media, how to entertain an effective caffeine-strategy for boosting productivity and which tasks to combine. Moreover, one can find specific productivity tips for the (shared and open) office, especially for working at home, and clever tricks to command an audience's attention. In short, this book helps the reader keep her attention focused at home, at work and even in her head.

Stefan van der Stigchel, an attention expert and professor in Cognitive Psychology in the department of Experimental Psychology at Utrecht University and Director of the AttentionLab. He is a much sought-after speaker to both businesses and in the media, and is also a member of De Jonge Akademie, a dynamic and innovative group of young scientists and scholars.
Lotte Elbrink is a journalist in the Netherlands.