Your Focus Zone ::: Lucy Jo Palladino



			Additional Books written by Lucy Jo Palladino, PhD Dreamers, Discoverers & Dynamos \| formerly titled The Edison Trait

	Table of Contents Read Chapter 1		Find Your Focus Zone: An Effective New Plan to Defeat Distraction and Overload (Hardcover) by Lucy Jo Palladino, PhD When you discover your personal focus zone—neither bored nor in overdrive – you’ll be able to • Concentrate while under pressure • Do more in less time • Tune out distractions • Stop procrastinating • Succeed at your goals "Lucy Jo Palladino has done it again! This is a truly remarkable, insightful, and useful guide to optimizing both your life and your performance. Buy several copies, as you'll keep thinking of people you want to share it with while you're reading it!" — Thom Hartmann, author of Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception "Find Your Focus Zone is a roadmap for eliminating the bombardment of daily distractions and focusing on the things that matter most to you, whether that be running a marathon, running a business, running a family, or just plain running your life." — Dean Karnazes, author of Ultramarathon Man Dr. Lucy Jo Palladino's book offers help in a book that is both insightful and accessible. I highly recommend Find Your Focus Zone. — Neil Fiore, PhD, author of The Now Habit "Lucy Jo Palladino gives practical tools to help us deal with the the constant overloaded state in which we find ourselves immersed." — John Ratey, MD, author of A User's Guide to the Brain and co-author of Driven to Distraction "Find Your Focus Zone is a fun, entertaining, energetic, and great resource, that you won't want to put down once you start turning the pages. It is jam-packed with simple. ready-to-use perspectives that help us understand our increasingly fast-paced world. In reality, not many of us are effectively managing the pace set by the electronics industry. Dr. Palladino's eight sets of cognitive strategies are surefire ways to focus your attention and find personal performance at levels not previously experienced. It makes my top ten list of 'be sure to read' . . . and 'be sure to apply.'" — Jim Bauman, PhD, U.S. Olympic Committee Sports Psychologist More about Find Your Focus Zone



	Table of Contents Read Chapter 1		Dreamers, Discoverers & Dynamos: How to Help the Child Who Is Bright, Bored, and Having Problems in School (Paperback) (formerly titled The Edison Trait) by Lucy Jo Palladino, PhD Is your child inventive, headstrong, and self-determined? Are you puzzled by a fiercely imaginative child who is often inattentive in class? A growing number of children today have nonconforming personalities that collide with school, social norms, and family rules. The heart of their problem is a grating conflict between their inherent style and the demands they face every day. They are the dreamers, discoverers, and dynamos of our world, and they are divergent thinkers. They clash with teachers and parents who think convergently. "Parents and educators alike will find this compelling reading." — Publishers Weekly "A satisfying blend of information and guidance that will greatly assist parents. Sound, well-researched, and fun to read." — Robert Ornstein, PhD, author of The Amazing Brain and The Psychology of Consciousness "An exciting and important book for all parents who want their child to develop his or her potential as an intelligent, creative, and happy individual. It is full of proven, practical ideas you can use immediately to bring our the very best in your child." — Brian Tracy, author of The Psychology of Achievement and Eat That Frog "One of the top three parenting books of the year" — Amazon.com Winner of the • Best Self-Help Book Award, San Diego • Journalism Award, San Diego Press Club • Outstanding Non-Fiction Award, Southern California Writers Conference More about Dreamers, Discoverers & Dynamos



			The Edison Trait: Saving the Spirit of Your Nonconforming Child (hardcover) by Lucy Jo Palladino, PhD The Edison Trait is now available in paperback with a new title: Dreamers, Discoverers & Dynamos. (It is the same book.)

	Find Your Focus Zone: continued You’ll Benefit at Work and at Home The solutions in Find Your Focus Zone will help you stay productive when the phone rings, the fax hums, and you’ve got mail. Imagine having the confidence that digital-age temptations can surround you and impulses pop into your brain, but you’ll finish your work on time and feel proud of the work that you do. Picture the people you care about building their trust in you, because you listen attentively and follow through on your promises. The skills you learn will help you • Stick with a job you need to complete, even if it’s boring • Overcome obstacles that have stopped or slowed you down in the past • Conquer avoidance and get results • Persevere, even when you make mistakes • Achieve more of want you want in life Your Kids Will Benefit Too Are you a parent or a teacher? The techniques in Find Your Focus Zone help children, teens, and college students, too. Plus you'll become the role model they need to focus, prioritize, and cut through distraction. Through a brain mechanism called mirror neurons, kids imitate the important adults in their lives. Your child or student will do what you do, not what you say. Your own actions can teach them to direct, not divide, their attention. Learn About Your Focus Zone In Find Your Focus Zone, you’ll learn about the upside-down U curve – a simple graph that shows when you’re understimulated, overstimulated, or have just the right amount of stimulation for success. The upside-down U is the result of a century of research on the link between arousal level and attention. Elite athletes use it to gauge their level of adrenaline, so they can psych up during long boring hours of training, and calm down to concentrate in high-pressure moments at world-class events. In the digital age, our adrenaline spikes and slows every day. Attention swings are on the rise. In Find Your Focus Zone, you’ll see how we all need adrenaline, but just the right amount. You’ll learn skills, such as mindful multitasking, so you can pump adrenaline in an even, sustainable way. When you stay in your focus zone as a habit, you strengthen the pathways in your brain that maintain your attention. In Find Your Focus Zone, Dr. Palladino shares • Engaging stories and easy-to-use exercises • Ten lists of tips to control technology, so technology doesn't control you • Five specific steps to teach children to pay attention The Eight Keychains With warmth and clarity, Dr. Palladino teaches you all the key concepts and methods you need to sharpen your awareness and stay on track. You’ll learn cognitive strategies – highly effective tools backed by solid research findings and the success of the high-achievers who use them. These strategies are organized into eight keychains, with three keys on each chain. You’ll learn to face inner fears, such as FOMO – the fear of missing out. You’ll practice replacing unhelpful thoughts with helpful ones, and reframing or shifting your perspective to see things in a new light. In Find Your Focus Zone, you’ll discover ways to quickly change your state of mind so you can fully focus. You’ll learn the keys to • Beat procrastination and finish what you start • Manage anger, frustration, and intensity • Sustain your motivation and focus • Set limits and strengthen your self-control • Reduce anxiety, especially performance and test anxiety With engaging, interactive exercises, you’ll choose which keys you want on your own personal keychain to unlock success in your life. Digital Age Strategies for Success Dr. Palladino’s advice translates easily into results. She shows you how your new keys will solve many common problems in the workplace and at home. You’ll discover how to • Make interruptions work in your favor • Stop information overload before it starts • Defeat the distractions that come with working at home or on the road If you have attention deficit disorder (ADD), you’ll learn to spotlight your strengths while you build your skills. If your child has ADD, you’ll learn to appreciate the pluses and deal with the minuses, while staying centered on your child’s strengths. Your Focus Zone Makes Life Better Attention is how we create. What we ignore withers and what we pay attention to grows. With effective attention management, you can bring more of what you want into your life, including more cooperation in your relationships and better behavior in your children. When information is plentiful, attention becomes scarce. We live in an attention economy, where attention is the currency you need to get what you want most in life. Find Your Focus Zone is the first book to put this currency – the power of attention – into everyone’s hands. Back to top

	Dreamers, Discoverers & Dynamos: continued Divergent Thinkers in Distress Dreamers, discoverers and dynamos are divergent thinkers. They float in a sea of wonder, or they overflow with many different ideas. Meanwhile, schools, team sports, and most organized activities reward convergent thinkers – those who focus more naturally on one idea at a time in a linear way. Divergent thinkers have to exert a much greater effort to stay focused on most classwork and homework assignments, especially repetitive tasks. They frustrate in a flash and refuse to try. They use distraction, arguing, and escapism to get out of tasks that don’t match their strengths and interests. They excel at avoidance and procrastination. And the more they avoid, the less they succeed. A Strength-Centered Solution Divergent thinkers have a distinct personality profile called the Edison trait. This profile is named for Thomas Edison, the quintessential divergent thinker. Edison flunked out of school twice, but he went on to become a prolific, world famous inventor. What caused this tremendous turnaround? His mother, Nancy Edison, identified her son's passion for science and used it as a basis to motivate him to succeed. She made a deliberate decision to define her child by his strengths, not his problems. Inside Dreamers, Discoverers & Dynamos Dreamers, Discoverers & Dynamos shows parents and teachers how to turn things around for their spirited, free-thinking children, just as Nancy Edison reversed the cycle of failure for Thomas. You’ll learn to make the same powerful choice to define your children by their strengths, not their problems. Dreamers, Discoverers & Dynamos is a treasury of practical advice, filled with real-life stories and helpful, instructive exercises. You’ll learn • The three Edison-trait personality types: dreamers, discoverers, and dynamos • The eight steps to understand, reach, and teach your unique child • The connection between the Edison trait and ADD (or AD/HD) The Edison Trait This book was first published in hardcover with the title The Edison Trait: Saving the Spirit of Your Nonconforming Child. The paperback edition has a new title: Dreamers, Discoverers & Dynamos: How To Help the Child Who Is Bright, Bored, and Having Problems in School. It’s the same book — called “convincing, reassuring, and accessible” by Amazon.com, who named it an Editor's Choice. To Parents and Teachers When I consult at schools, I often hear experienced teachers say, “Students today are not like those we taught twenty years ago – or even ten years ago.” It’s time to understand what has changed, and what we need to do to connect with our new, divergent-thinking students. In my practice, I’ve counseled hundreds of families who have lived with the disappointment and conflict that stems from misunderstanding a child with an Edison-trait style. If you’re the frustrated parent of a dreamer, discoverer, or dynamo, rest assured, you are not alone. And remember: while the challenge you face is substantial, so are the rewards. Here’s one of my favorite passages from the book: Bridges, Not Fences Pretend for a moment that when babies are born, they already know how to talk. Right from the cradle: "Hello Mother. Hello Father. Please feed me. I'm hungry." Now let's say 80 percent of the babies in the United States are born speaking English, but you're a parent of one of the 20 percent who speak a foreign language. You know you must help him to learn English somehow, so he can get along with everybody else. But it's clear your little guy likes his language better than yours. He learns just enough English to get by, but no more. He prefers the sound and flow and feel of his own tongue. He doesn't know how much of your language he can learn, even if he tries. And why should he try, when everyone acts as if he already should speak English fluently, and people make a bigger deal over his failures than his efforts? At first, you forbid your child to speak his language. That doesn't work. Next, you reward him when he speaks only English. That works some, but it's a strain on everyone. Finally, you make a commitment to learn and appreciate the language he speaks. You enter his world - through his sounds, his words, his expressions. You don't insult his language; you find what is beautiful and useful about it. At the same time, you acknowledge every attempt he makes to learn English - regardless of whether he succeeds or not. You let him know you recognize his efforts and his desire to communicate with you. You tell him that you see his courage and hard work. And then a funny thing happens. The more good you see in his world, the more good he sees in yours. You build bridges, not fences. You become enriched by your knowledge of his language. And he grows in his motivation to learn yours. Back to top