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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.
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