Cal Newport calls this being monastic. His book Deep Work talks about the different modes of deep work, monasticism, journalistic (any time, all hours, bits and pieces), rhythmic (Jerry Seinfeld writing for an hour a day, every day), and a hybrid. the hybrid is what he calls bimodal, which is pretty much monastic + one of the others.
I like your morning routine approach, but I still hold onto my morning. I'm definitely a morning person (wasn't always), but I like some time between waking and working. it just depends on the day.
Slow Productivity was good as well. I like his push / pull task assignment method for my design work. his work helped me organize my work a bit more so it wasn’t so overwhelming
have you read any David Goggins? he talks about how he goes into ghost mode and tells everyone he’ll be off grid for a couple weeks so his buddies and family don’t get frustrated when he completely ignores them
I got an email this morning, automatically generated, from someone saying they’re only checking email once per 1-2 weeks. that’s great! that’s clear. that’s kind. that’s communication, which is communing, which is sharing.
it’s not ignoring if you know that I’m busy doing something else and I’ll be back in touch when I come up for air. that kind of communication builds trust in a world where we’re expected to respond within the hour to several modes of communication. ridiculous.
which reminds me, Newport has another book on minimizing and streamlining comms. I don’t need to read that, but I still might
Yes i read “Can’t Hurt Me” too. I think his proactive approach to suffering is really inspiring. That said, I think there’s a degree of mania there too, as the fella has literally grinded through his ligaments, and then kept going. I understand that to overcome we have to steel ourselves sometimes; but equally when there’s a compulsive element you have to ask — running to or running from?
I don’t think it could be put any more concisely than that. I read the other one as well. Both multiple times. I think there’s a clear awareness of the power of human consciousness there. And he’s frustrated people don’t see that. He gets lumped in with the motivation crowd and he keeps trying to get the message out.
There’s also a fear of losing the edge. Stay hard means 2 things, it means stay strong, and there’s a negative side too. He talks about the fear of becoming a part time savage. That’s the mania not wanting the ego death to occur.
What people fear about becoming more of themselves is losing the productivity machine they’ve fought so hard to build.
Yet, somehow he keeps pushing past the limits that normally stop people, physically and psychologically. That’s what’s compelling about him. Ego or not, he appears to be an example of someone who is able to surpass the ego, but maybe he’s only using the Goggins by persona to do it.
He hasn’t found the balance. Not to compare him to Alan Watts (I’m not), but they are both examples of flawed humans who achieved much and don’t get it quite right. He inspires me to study the hard and soft, not just the hardness that leads to introspection and transformation.
Jim this is an absolutely incredible piece of writing and advice. I love the depths you’ve gone into this. In one of your podcasts I think you said to an interviewer that you tend to write a lot and part of your discussions were to be precise :) even though I get this point, nothing beats you expressing most authentically. I just want to let you know I appreciate your writing and paragraphs filled with deep contemplations.
Cal Newport calls this being monastic. His book Deep Work talks about the different modes of deep work, monasticism, journalistic (any time, all hours, bits and pieces), rhythmic (Jerry Seinfeld writing for an hour a day, every day), and a hybrid. the hybrid is what he calls bimodal, which is pretty much monastic + one of the others.
I like your morning routine approach, but I still hold onto my morning. I'm definitely a morning person (wasn't always), but I like some time between waking and working. it just depends on the day.
Great post, looking fwd to more.
I love “Deep Work” & really enjoyed Slow Productivity too
Hear you on the mornings pal!
I love these days to go to a cafe & read, write my diary currently
Heaven!
Thank you so much for your kind encouragement
Slow Productivity was good as well. I like his push / pull task assignment method for my design work. his work helped me organize my work a bit more so it wasn’t so overwhelming
have you read any David Goggins? he talks about how he goes into ghost mode and tells everyone he’ll be off grid for a couple weeks so his buddies and family don’t get frustrated when he completely ignores them
I got an email this morning, automatically generated, from someone saying they’re only checking email once per 1-2 weeks. that’s great! that’s clear. that’s kind. that’s communication, which is communing, which is sharing.
it’s not ignoring if you know that I’m busy doing something else and I’ll be back in touch when I come up for air. that kind of communication builds trust in a world where we’re expected to respond within the hour to several modes of communication. ridiculous.
which reminds me, Newport has another book on minimizing and streamlining comms. I don’t need to read that, but I still might
Yes i read “Can’t Hurt Me” too. I think his proactive approach to suffering is really inspiring. That said, I think there’s a degree of mania there too, as the fella has literally grinded through his ligaments, and then kept going. I understand that to overcome we have to steel ourselves sometimes; but equally when there’s a compulsive element you have to ask — running to or running from?
I don’t think it could be put any more concisely than that. I read the other one as well. Both multiple times. I think there’s a clear awareness of the power of human consciousness there. And he’s frustrated people don’t see that. He gets lumped in with the motivation crowd and he keeps trying to get the message out.
There’s also a fear of losing the edge. Stay hard means 2 things, it means stay strong, and there’s a negative side too. He talks about the fear of becoming a part time savage. That’s the mania not wanting the ego death to occur.
What people fear about becoming more of themselves is losing the productivity machine they’ve fought so hard to build.
Yet, somehow he keeps pushing past the limits that normally stop people, physically and psychologically. That’s what’s compelling about him. Ego or not, he appears to be an example of someone who is able to surpass the ego, but maybe he’s only using the Goggins by persona to do it.
He hasn’t found the balance. Not to compare him to Alan Watts (I’m not), but they are both examples of flawed humans who achieved much and don’t get it quite right. He inspires me to study the hard and soft, not just the hardness that leads to introspection and transformation.
Jim this is an absolutely incredible piece of writing and advice. I love the depths you’ve gone into this. In one of your podcasts I think you said to an interviewer that you tend to write a lot and part of your discussions were to be precise :) even though I get this point, nothing beats you expressing most authentically. I just want to let you know I appreciate your writing and paragraphs filled with deep contemplations.
Dear Win, i know mentioned this online, but I just to say again:
Thank you for lending me this extraordinarily helpful feedback and encouragement.
It came right in one of those moments when you need to hear it most.
It made me feel "heard" and elevated my spirit.
There is no reward that beats a reflection like this for me.
It means the world and I'm deeply grateful.
Thank you and with you!
Jim