Friends,

I’m proud to announce that the hardcover version of the book is now available. Thank you for the amazing feedback, support and insight. You made this book possible.

About the Book:

How to Get Focused is a 270 page book that teaches you how to become a more purposeful, productive and focused person. The lessons in the book will enable you to become a more peaceful person, a more productive person, you’ll get more done in less time and you’ll gain the freedom you deserve.

The book contains six parts:

1. The Elements of Focus
2. The Daily Foundation
3. Building Long-term Focus
4. Social Media and Focus
5. “The Sage”
6. Digital Detoxing

Where You Can Purchase The Book:

1) Purchase Hardcover version of the book here:

Click here to buy the hardback version – $25.95

2) Purchase eBook version here:

Click here to buy the eBook version – $9.95

3) Purchase the Kindle version here:

Click here to buy the Kindle version – $9.99

Again, thank you for all of the support in making this book possible. I’m sure you’ll love it!

Best,

Scott

5 Productivity Applications That Rock:

1. MindMeister

MindMeister acts like an online whiteboard. Ever find yourself knee-deep in a project to only forget the big picture? MindMeister solves this all-too-common dilemma.

As described by Mindmeister, “MindMeister brings the concept of mind mapping to the web, using its facilities for real-time collaboration to allow truly global brainstorming sessions. Users can create, manage and share mind maps online and access them anytime, from anywhere. In brainstorming mode, fellow MindMeisters from around the world (or just in different rooms) can simultaneously work on the same mind map and see each other’s changes as they happen.”

Click here to check out MindMeister

2. GoalScape

GoalScape allows users to set goals in a way that doesn’t intimidate you. How? Through cutting edge visualizations and innovative ways to display goals, the user is less likely to feel overwhelmed, and more likely to actually crank out his or her goals. This is a wonderful supplement to the goal setting tactics that we talk about in the book.

Not only is this application useful for goal-setting, it’s useful for project management, and anything required to get things done.

According to GoalScape, “Goalscape is the revolutionary new way to set goals and motivate, prioritize and progress to achieve whatever you are passionate about. Unlike other program and project management software and task tracking tools, Goalscape is so easy and fun to use that goal setting becomes a quick everyday process and your goals themselves evolve as your personal goal setting skills improve. So you will be better organized, more focused and less stressed! And it works equally well for business and personal goal setting.”

Click here to try out GoalScape

3. Rescuetime

Rescuetime runs in the background and analyzes your browsing activity. It shows you where you’re spending time and where you’re wasting time. In essence, it rescues your time.

On average, Rescuetime recovers 3 hours and 54 minutes of time that you’d otherwise get distracted by.

In their words, RescueTime is a web-based time management and analytics tool for knowledge workers who want to be more efficient and productive. The best way to get a sense of how it works for you or your team is to sign up (for free!). You’ll be up and running in a minute or two. Not yet ready to give it a try? View one of the tour videos or scroll down for some feature screen shots.

4. Concentrate Application

With the Concentrate application, you can literally block out distractions by limiting what you can and can’t do while undertaking a specific action. For instance, if you need to write a paper, you tick it off on the Concentrate Application, and it will virtually bar you from doing anything but writing a paper.

In their words: To start, create an activity (design, study, write, etc) and choose actions (shown below) to run every time you concentrate. When ready, just click “concentrate.” All your distractions will disappear and a timer will appear to help you stay focused.

Check out Concentrate here.

5. FocusList

If you’re tired of complex to-do lists, then check out Faction3′s first productivity application, FocusList.

Faction3 represents a movement towards common sense, simplicity and effectiveness. This movement is embodied in our applications that help you get things done.

The simple to-do list application “FocusList” is a downloadable desktop to-do list that keeps you focused on important items.

You can check out FocusList by clicking here.

5 That Don’t Rock:

1. SugarCRM

SugarCRM is an open source customer relationship management tool (“CRM”). While it’s a novel idea, the features are way too robust to actually be useful. Most companies end up moving to Salesforce, or if they’re smart, they’ll move to a less feature-rich tool such as HighRise.

2. Jott

Jott is a to do list that has some cool features; specifically, text-to-speech. The only problem with that centers on the fact that getting things done does not revolve around how many features are present within one’s to do list. Jott’s competitive edge centers on text-to-speech to do items; if you actually use the service, it could be quite useful; however, most people end up distracting themselves with features instead of concerning themselves with getting things done.

3. Evernote

Evernote is an application that allows you to take pictures of objects that you wish to remember, and then search for that object later. Guess what else does this? A camera. Evernote’s greatest competitive edge is their marketing, as there’s nothing revolutionary about their product (in terms of productivity).

4. Remember the Milk

Remember the Milk is a to list on steroids. This to do list is the exact opposite of minimalism and productivity. RSS to do items, Google Maps mashup to do items, twitter to do items–you name it, they’ve got it. Good luck getting anything done.

Bottom line: If you’re into web-based to do lists, go with Google Tasks (within Gmail).

5. Twitter

Twitter and productivity do not go together.

5 That are Underrated:

1. Moleskine

We live in a digital age. One that’s concerned with how to sync to do lists across RSS, iPads, iPhones and Android Tablets. Yet, when it comes time to actually getting things done, nothing beats Moleskine’s weekly to do planner.

In their words, Moleskine is a brand that identifies a family of notebooks, diaries, and city guides: flexible and brilliantly simple tools for use both in everyday and extraordinary circumstances, ultimately becoming an integral part of one’s personality.

Moleskine was created as a brand in 1997, bringing back to life the legendary notebook used by artists and thinkers over the past two century: among them Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Bruce Chatwin. A trusted and handy travel companion, the nameless black notebook held invaluable sketches, notes, stories, and ideas that would one day become famous paintings or the pages of beloved books.

2. Google Docs

Google Docs offers users a minimalistic, web-based set of office applications (Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Forms).

Many still overlook the power of collaborating with these tools–specifically Google Docs version of excel. It works great for not only calculating and organizing data, but also for project management. When managing a project, try using a Google Docs workbook with the following columns: Name, To-Do Item, Note. That’s it. You don’t have to even set a date next to each item if you hold the people that you work with accountable.

3. Tungle.Me

Tired of going back and forth between email in order to set up a call? Tungle.me solves this issue eloquently.

In their words, you can use Tungle.Me to Eliminate double-bookings, time zone mishaps and the back-and-forth of finding a time to meet. Easily schedule meetings, inside or outside your organization, and invite others to schedule with you, without having to sign up.

It even integrates with Google Calendar, Google Apps and more.

4. Calculator

So often we lose sight of what’s really important in business: money.

You can take that any way you want. Bottom line, the game of business centers on one principle: Revenue – Cost = Cash

If you’re not in business for that reason, then you’re not in business–you’re in a hobby, dream or venture-backed startup

On every device I own, I use the standard calculator. It keeps me in check and allows me to do simple math that calculates whether or not a specific opportunity is worth the time or investment. If you want to get productive, start using the calculator more.

5. Kindle

“What you will become in five years depends on the people you meet and the books you read.”

You really don’t understand how great the Kindle is until you purchase one. It’s hard to explain the value until you’ve owned one. It’s a device that, much like a book, is easy to get lost in. The value of reading seems to be underrated. You can check out the Kindle here.

“What? You are insane.”

Those were the words my wife spoke to me when I told her I didn’t want a cell phone. Actually, I’ll be completely honest, I’m one of those d-bags that had their iPhone drown in a pool (in order to save this ugly/cute thing). Though, to my credit, I didn’t create a Facebook group for it.

My wife was shocked when I told her I no longer even wanted a phone. And, who could blame her? A cell phone is something everyone–seriously–everyone uses in this day and age. You’ve gotta be a whack job to ditch your cell phone, right? Heck yes (in Napoleon Dynamite voice).

And that’s what I did.

“How are people going to get a hold of you?” she asked.

“That’s the whole point. I don’t want people to get a hold of me.”

[Pause]

“I want to get a hold of you.”

“That’s fine,” I compromised. “You and family will be the only ones that will be able to reach me. The rest of the calls will go straight to voice-mail and email. I’ll call people back on a house phone, or send them a thought-out response via email.”

It’s been over a month since I’ve given up my cell phone. The difference isn’t as astonishing as you may think. The day definitely seems calmer and more focused; but more than anything, the best part about not having a cell phone centers on the reliance on one’s own self.

When I had an iPhone in my pocket, I never had to prepare for anything. That thing was my escape–and, oh, what a beautiful escape it was. When I would travel, I’d simply use the iPhone’s GPS for mapping out directions. I’d use Yelp in order to find great restaurants around me. I’d take a wizz while reading tech buzz through Google Reader. I’d avoid people standing in line at a starbucks while checking email.

It was a great device. It was a horrible device.

In the next five years, you’ll see a major shift in our society where everyone is connected always. It’s already begun, some people are always connected. In the future, everyone will be connected. It’s almost like a movie if you stop to think about it. Big brands are feeding us devices that are constantly monitoring us; constantly distracting us, and constantly allowing people to stare into the abyss of the internet wherever they may be.

Really, people will be living two-lives: one real; one virtual. We are moving towards a half-life society. A moving cloud that syncs your online life with your mobile life and disguises itself in beautiful hardware.

At the end of the day, there’s no point in fighting the surge of mobile technology. We are all going to be connected. We’re going to be watched. We’re going to be tweeting our lives away until we’re six feet under.

From my perspective, the best thing to do is to become aware of this shift. In my mind, there’s three options you can take regarding mobile devices:

I. Go all in

Get an iPhone, download a ton of apps, tack on a $100 phone bill and escape into the world of constant connectivity in the cloud.With the rise of android phones, you can obviously go that route, as well.

II. The balance act

Get a phone that does one thing: acts like a phone and doesn’t connect to the internet. A phone that simply makes phone calls.

III. Ditch the phone

This one’s simple: ditch your phone.

I’ve ditched my phone; however, in the case of emergency, I have a phone that I can break open like a fire extinguisher. I never turn it on. It’s essentially an emergency phone.

People

Why have I elected to do this? Because of one thing: people. Life revolves around people. However, it does not revolve around me getting interrupted or distracted by people–or more importantly, by the internet and apps. One gets distracted by the internet already on the computer; why bring this distraction with them everywhere? My objective in giving up the cell phone is to become closer to people. If you called me today, you’d think my phone was disconnected. It has an annoying disconnect beep and no answering machine. I don’t get missed calls and I don’t get voice-mails. And it feels great.

When Google Voice comes out, I’ll have messages forward to my email. And if it makes sense for us to meet, we’ll meet up face-to-face for coffee.

Different tools, for different fools

If I told my mom to ditch her phone in order to get more productive, she’d laugh at me. “How will I be able to chat with my friends and take clothes back at Nordstroms?” she’d say.

Sorry mom, you’re right. And a lot of people don’t have a problem using their cell phone as a cell phone.

Some people use the phone and achieve it’s core purpose: to speak with people.

In my specific case, giving up the phone was geared towards disconnecting from the internet. I wanted to extinguish constant email checking, tweet checking, new app downloads and finding retarded blog posts to kill time.

The future is less

I’m writing this the day of the anticipated Apple tablet release. I expect that it will blow away all preconceived expectations. It’s going to be amazing. It’s going to accomplish many objectives. Yet, it’s going to be outdated. Why? Because as a society, we’ll be moving towards an age of constant connectivity. It’s only a matter of time until one discovers that being constantly connected isn’t healthy for focus–for getting things done. It’s a prevents focus.

Paul Graham, a modern day polymath, is the founder of Y-Combinator. He’s an investor, entrepreneur, programmer and artist. On the subject of devices and distractions, he writes:

I now leave wifi turned off on my main computer except when I need to transfer a file or edit a web page, and I have a separate laptop on the other side of the room that I use to check mail or browse the web. (Irony of ironies, it’s the computer Steve Huffman wrote Reddit on. When Steve and Alexis auctioned off their old laptops for charity, I bought them for the Y Combinator museum.)

My rule is that I can spend as much time online as I want, as long as I do it on that computer. And this turns out to be enough. When I have to sit on the other side of the room to check email or browse the web, I become much more aware of it. Sufficiently aware, in my case at least, that it’s hard to spend more than about an hour a day online.

And my main computer is now freed for work. If you try this trick, you’ll probably be struck by how different it feels when your computer is disconnected from the Internet. It was alarming to me how foreign it felt to sit in front of a computer that could only be used for work, because that showed how much time I must have been wasting.

The concept of disconnecting from devices that have the internet is becoming a common theme for successful developers, designers and programmers. After experiencing the iPhone’s multi-use power, I also came face-to-face with the innate ability it wields to distract one from getting work done. It’s my thesis and my belief that the future of success rests on devices that have one function–not many. The future is less. I’ll be elaborating on this in the next chapter and will be conducting various interviews with those that actually get work done online. What you’ll find will surprise you. Paul Graham’s technique is a lot more common than you may have thought.

In the next chapter, I’ll be showing you how to audit your devices and prune those that hurt you more than they help you.

Today I arose refreshed and ready for the work-week. I believe the feeling stemmed from two events: (i) I went to bed early, (ii) and I exercised yesterday.

Unfortunately, I didn’t exercise today; however, I’m optimistic because I’m starting to associate exercise with pleasure. After researching and writing about exercise (a chapter that I released yesterday), I’m beginning to buy into the positive effects exercise has on the brain.

Today I’ll be fleshing out my organization system, as well as my contact management system. I’ve been reading up recently about leading business people, politicians and celebrities. They all know a lot of people. The best ones have a focused system for getting to know people. Being that life centers around people, it’s my goal to improve my system in meeting more people. I’ll be applying focused habits to not only networking, but also getting to actually know people.

Bill Clinton. Love him or hate him, he’s known for one thing: he’s a charmer. The people he comes across are typically awed by how he remembers personal details about their lives. I remember a person I worked with telling me a story of how he met Bill briefly at a charity function. Two years later he ran into him again and Bill remembered not only his name, but their entire conversation. My colleague recalled, “He picked up the conversation as if a half-hour had passed between the meeting.” I’ll be experimenting with basic notecards as a contact management system, as well as some online contact management solutions.

There’s another tale of young Bill Clinton, where he was at a social gathering, and while talking to an individual, he pulled out a notecard and started writing down bits of their conversation. The person Bill was speaking with asked him what he was doing, and Bill told him, “I’m taking notes about you and our conversation.”

The year 2009 was both phenomenal and challenging for me personally.

Most importantly, I learned how different life is from college. It’s been almost two years since I’ve graduated. I’m beginning to come to the conclusion that universities excel in providing context for life; but do not teach one how to succeed in life. And that shouldn’t be an expectation. Nothing but actually living life can teach one how to excel in life. Specifically, items like handling interruption, reacting to life’s curveball and keeping focus in a land of constant distraction.

During my college days, I was the only one involved in the daily agenda. I could hit the books on my own schedule. When you’re in the real-world and married, you have to hit the books on your family’s schedule–whether you want to, or not.

Distraction:

The year 2009 will be remembered for distraction. The year of Twitter, Michael Jackson’s death, Tiger Woods, gadgets and Facebook. For me, I was distracted, as well.

How? I got an iPhone.

Good news: My iPhone was destroyed when I jumped in a pool to save my pug, Winston.

The iPhone was great for distracting me. Waiting in line was wasted reading news stories on the iPhone, instead of observing my surroundings. The iPhone did help me find the latest tech stories via my google reader. However, what I’ve found is that blogs and books are different beasts.

Broadly speaking, the purpose of tech/news blogs are to glitter up interesting story titles so that more eyeballs will observe advertisements.

The purpose of books are to communicate stories, wisdom and lessons. They’re not a substitute good.

My Forecast: Those who succeed in 2010 will be the ones who succeed in battling constant distraction. The distraction of twitter, facebook, myspace and the TMZ’s of the world.

My 2010 Plan to Battle Distraction:

In 2009, my device for getting email, phone calls, book reading and blog reading:

iPhone

In 2010, I plan on breaking these up into different functions so that I won’t end up surfing football scores when I intend to read:

• email and blog reading: laptop
• phone calls: a phone
• book reading: Amazon Kindle