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I'm currently bingeing on Cal Newport's podcasts on YouTube - my form of distraction, if you like... but my excuse is that I listen to them while I cook or do housework, without disturbing my workflow...
In Deep Work, Newport argues that there are two abilities for thriving in the new economy (i.e. the economy based on knowledge production):
- The ability to quickly master hard things.
- The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed.
The "modern" world rarely encourages patience and perseverance: "I want it all and I want it now"... Freddy Mercury's lyrics echo in my head.
But what if you can train yourself to do hard things?
In the sustainability circle, many of us are already doing lots of hard things: resisting the temptation of fashion sales, walking instead of driving, switching to local holidays and giving up meat.
What if you could apply the same discipline based on your principles to your work and to your goals?
You always wanted to write "that" book. Can you wake up consistently at 5:00 am to clock a couple of hours of writing before the rest of the household gets up?
Surprisingly, if in those two hours you wrote 750 words, in around three months you'd have a full draft.
What about quality?
If you want your work to be of high quality, compared to the shallow content floating around the Internet, try blocking 2 x two-hour sessions a week in your calendar with no distractions (no pings, dings and so on) to plunge in and give your brain a chance to deep focus and produce brilliant work.
You'll notice not only how your work is of higher quality, but also how much you can get done in a relatively short space of time when you don't content-switch constantly.
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