Goal for 2022: Deep Work
A goal I have for my business for 2022 is to do more deep work. I am so scattered these days. Jumping from one meme or one story or one tweet to the next. I want to focus on one non-fiction book at a time. Immerse myself in a topic. Learn and share, learn and share, learn and share. This is how I operate best. When the learning is in small tasters like memes and tweets, I don’t really absorb the information. I don’t find its depth. It’s a great dopamine rush, but it disappears as quickly as it came.
But this is harder than it seems. I recently started a nonfiction book with this goal in mind and it is so hard to focus. I get distracted. I want to check my phone, daydream, I even get excited to go check if the laundry is done. Anything to help with the challenge of focusing on one thing. It’s like I have to retrain my brain.
Clearly this is a muscle that needs to be strengthened. I need to play around with ways to build it back up. Picking the right time of day to read. Finding the right setting. Figuring out an acceptable time frame before taking a break. Determining the right breaks and how long they should be. Perhaps finding a partner to read with would be supportive.
And then there is picking which book to read. This is tough. Each time I consider a book I freak myself out. Like it’s this huge commitment. I need to take the B-minus approach here and just pick the book that calls to me in that moment and run with it. In the end, how I read the book is much more important than what I read at this point.
Deep work is slow work, methodical work, committed work and sometimes, let’s face it, boring work. But what I need to remind myself is that boring doesn't necessarily make it less valuable. And, for me, this is one of the most dangerous consequences of our fast paced culture. Boring work can lead to nuggets of truth, aha moments, appreciating the nuance and creating new pathways in the brain. Of course if the book is only boring, then it is time to find another one. But I need to remind myself that I will be bored during this process and I need to lean into rather than distract myself from it. Oof just writing those words reminds me how hard that is going to be.
So wish me luck in my adventure into the unknown of deep work. I hope I learn new things, slow down my nervous system and integrate the knowledge to make me a better parent, friend, coach and writer. I will keep you updated and welcome you to join this challenge as well.
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Photo by Cristian Palmer on Unsplash
