keyssetr.blogg.se - Sea of solitude focus

The prolific letter-writer and Trappist monk Thomas Merton noticed this was happening to him during his college years at Columbia University. I need time to think about it, too, to make mistakes and recognize them, to make false starts and correct them, to outlast my impulses, to defeat my desire to declare the job done and move on to the next thing. And often even that idea doesn’t turn out to be very good. By giving my brain a chance to make associations, draw connections, take me by surprise. It’s only by concentrating, sticking to the question, being patient, letting all the parts of my mind come into play, that I arrive at an original idea. My first thought is always someone else’s it’s always what I’ve already heard about the subject, always the conventional wisdom. I find for myself that my first thought is never my best thought.

Usually accept at most one meeting per day, in a consistent afternoon slot, to protect my big working blocksĭeresiewicz, W.

Answer email in batches, usually in the evening or when feeling low-energy.

The block ends in the evenings, so I tend to do my meandering then, but I don’t know if that’s too rigid.

I’m not sure this is a great practice: A rigid fixation on “focus” can harm creative work.

Focus.app runs from 7AM to 5PM, blocking Mail, the Twitter timeline, distracting web sites, etc.

Twitter, Mail, etc are not installed on my phone.

Forest.app running on my phone while I work.

Weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual reflection and planning exercises.

My notes (at least the important ones) contain mostly my own words ( Literature notes are secondary and separate).

Lots of long walks, usually without audiobooks or podcasts.

Reminding myself that The high-order bit for my productivity is whether I complete a deeply-focused morning creative block, recording/tracking whether that happens and the main blockers / helpers.Deep research requires a slower pace than tech industry workĮxhortations which help: Get curious Get bored Get playful Partial list of practices meant to produce deliberateness, receptivity.Literature notes are secondary and separate.Conversation with others often emphasizes the most well-understood elements of an idea.Many people find difficult creative work mostly unpleasant in the moment.Culturally default behaviors fill spare time with others’ ideas.