---------------------------------------- Deliberate Practice May 07th, 2018 ---------------------------------------- There's a fantastic article circulating on the typical nerd portals today regarding "deep work" and "deliberate practice" [0]. Give it a read if you haven't already. (HTM) [0] The Importance of Deep Work One of the things I enjoyed most about the post was the summary of methods of deep work taken from a great book on the subject [1]. (HTM) [1] Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World Monastic: "This philosophy attempts to maximize deep efforts by eliminating or radically minimizing shallow obligations." — isolate yourself for long periods of time without distractions; no shallow work allowed. Bimodal: "This philosophy asks that you divide your time, dedicating some clearly defined stretches to deep pursuits and leaving the rest open to everything else." – dedicate a few consecutive days (like weekends, or a Sunday, for example) for deep work only, at least one day a week. Rhythmic: "This philosophy argues that the easiest way to consistently start deep work sessions is to transform them into a simple regular habit." – create a daily habit of three to four hours every day to perform deep work on your project. Journalistic: "in which you fit deep work wherever you can into your schedule." — Not recommended to try out first, since you first need to accustom yourself to deep work. This put into words a struggle I've had with my own strategies. I've tried dedicating a set amount of time, sort of like "Rythmic" but that time hasn't been long enough to establish a deep work flow. I've set aside days of the week for it like Bimodal, but rarely with the isolation necessary to really dig in. Occasionally I'm successful, but I think it's more to do with luck, or a motivation I happened to find that day, than any deliberatet planning. In the past I've spoken about freezing up when an opportunity for exploration appears [2]. I'm combatting that with organization of lists so I can refer back to these projects I have moving and I don't waste time spinning my wheels. All of it is a part of the effort to get back the time that should belong to me that I give away out of a combination of laziness and poor planning [3]. (DIR) [2] Stuck (DIR) [3] Resolution Ultimately, there are skills I want to improve. The top of that list are my writing craft and the Shakuhachi [4]. In reality the list is quite a bit longer. Even so, I have the ability, I have the time, and I have the necessary components to make a go of it. (DIR) [4] Shakuhachi (UTF-8) Deliberate practice, not just sitting around fiddling with crap, is the difference I'm missing. I've told it to my son a lot, and I'll continue to do so in the future. You can't just go along with things and expect to learn and grow. You need to do the hard things [5]. When I practice with the Shakuhachi, I can't just go sit on the porch and play improvisations for twenty minutes. I have specific things I need to improve: timing, embouchure, breathing dynamics. My writing is the same. I'm working on a writing exercise and I've given myself a specific goal to focus on brevity. This is good. (DIR) [5] Do the Hard Thing It's not just about doing things with my hobby time. It's work in itself and I need to commit to it, at least a significant portion of the time, if I want to improve.