Finding Stronger Roots
It can be so difficult to describe a thing we do, particularly if it’s what we live and breathe.
Recently, I put out a Rhythms of Focus episode in which I attempted to describe the nature of the Waves of Focus, what is quite likely my life’s work. Wouldn’t that be a nice thing to put out there?
I’ve got a mind that wanders. It appears, so do others.
You’d think it would be easy to say,
Nope.
I wrote and re-wrote. Edited and re-edited. I’m reminded of the quote:
Beyond writing for the podcast though, I found an interesting phenomenon develop. As I tried to summarize the course I could sense something like a tree better resting in its roots. A confidence perhaps? I’m not sure what word is, but it feels stronger.
Consider as a takeaway,
- Could you summarize what you do? What’s meaningful to you?
- What if you did that over the course of several days, editing and re-writing as you went?
PS Doors for the Waves of Focus are closing soon (November 2nd to be exact). If you’re at all interested in moving away from Force-based work to Trust-based work, this is the course. I don’t believe you’ll find anything like it. In fact, I dare you and email me if you do!
[1]: Does anyone know who actually said this? I found attributions to Blaise Pascal and Mark Twain, and likely there are others.
Join the Weekly Wind Down Newsletter
Get a weekly letter about getting to play and meaningful work. Start getting where you want to be with calm focus. You’ll receive free samples of:
- Creating Flow with OmniFocus
- Taking Smart Notes with DEVONthink
- Workflow Mastery
- PDF on beating deadlines with ease using the Touching the Keys Technique
Recent Posts
The Visit and the Waves of Focus
Many people feel that they have to "force" themselves to work. Examples include: Waiting for deadlines to pressure themselves Faking deadlines Hoping for a muse or interest to strike before approaching Shaming yourself with past failures in hopes you’d feel bad enough...
When There’s No Time to Read Books
Every book is an entire world, waiting to be explored.
But, “Who has the time?” and “making time” frankly doesn’t make sense.
What do you do? Read on…
“I just don’t wanna” and the Power of a Visit
If you haven't caught it already, I had the pleasure and opportunity to write about the Force vs Visit approach to work that I've been talking a lot about lately as a guest blogger on Neurodivergent Insights. “I just don’t wanna” and the Power of a Visit The...
A Fever of Lists
When a list overwhelms, you might think the trouble is the work itself. But that's not always the case. On my first days as a resident physician, I worked on the inpatient medical floor. It was a terribly overwhelming experience. Something goes wrong somewhere, all...
One Thing, Then the Next
What do you do when everything around you is making your decisions for you?
Searching for A Key to Meaningful Productivity
The Seductive Power of Tools Tools are powerful. They help us bring our visions to reality. Turn a key, and a lock opens. Press play on a music app, and lovely noises come out. Ask an AI to write something, and words flow onto the screen. As I write now with...
Waiting for a Deadline to Begin…
Whether preparing taxes, preparing a report, or taking out the garbage, we might find ourselves waiting “until it’s really important.”
Why do something that’s not important now? It’ll be important later.
The logic seems fairly solid. The trouble is most things are not about straight logic…
3 Major Components of a Working Task System
We cannot do everything we wish. Such is the human condition. But we can create structures, whether in words, lists, gadgets, and more, to hold things aside while we focus on the moment. Any system we use to manage our work or play should be able to reliably hold the...
The Seduction of Goals, the Strength of Guides
When writing a list of things to do, we look into the future. We write things like: "Do report" "Clean gutters" ... The implication is that if we make it through our list, we will have completed the report and cleaned the gutters. Obvious, no? Tasks can Create a...