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	Deliberate Practice
	May 07th, 2018
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	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.

	[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].

	[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].

	[2] Stuck
	[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.

	[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.

	[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.