Setting constraints
Hey friends, happy Sunday!
No videos or articles this week. I'm working on putting some systems in place to release videos on a consistent schedule - uploading every Tuesday. Once I nail down the consistency aspect I am going to really focus on improving my storytelling and videography.
Let's get into the filter!
Setting constraints
Over the last few weeks my attention has been scattered. I'm currently in a sprint phase of work making it really important that I focus on the right things. To help I've been re-reading Deep Work by Cal Newport.
In the book, Cal Newport refers to Deep Work as " Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit."
He then goes on to talk about how most work is performed to a shallow semi-distracted level and that in the developing economy (largely based around the internet) two core abilities will set people apart:
"1. The ability to quickly master hard things. 2. The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed."
To thrive in the developing economy you will need to become the best in the world at what you do.
Fortunately it's more than possible for everyone to be the best in the world at what they do.
That's because to become the best in the world you need to iterate and refine what you do until you develop a market of one. David Perell refers to this concept as building your own personal monopoly.
To find your personal monopoly and become the best in the world you need to hone your ability to go deep.
What makes it tricky for creators, freelancers and entrepreneurs to improve their ability to do deep work is a lack of constraints.
Controlling what you work on and when you work on it is liberating at first, but unless you set constraints you'll never be able to do your best work and hone your ability to go deep.
Great creators and makers often work like accountants. They focus on routine and discipline in their day to day actions unleashing the ability to produce great creative work consistently.
From the outside their schedules seem mundane and predictable but this consistency is precisely what enables them to perform at an elite level.
After thinking on these ideas for a couple of days I decided to design my days around ensuring that I get 2 - 3 sessions of deep focused work done every day.
I tweaked my already predictable routine to optimise for when I do my best work (in the early hours of the morning). Waking at 5am, getting to the first deep work block by 5.30, setting a timer (usually 90 minutes) then taking a break to either read or walk. Then I repeat the deep work blocks 2 - 3 times throughout the morning.
The first session is usually creative work (like this newsletter) then I focus on the more work type activities like client projects. If time I will try to squeeze in an hour of learning.
Once it gets to the afternoon most of my deep work will be done for the day. I then focus on the more shallow work like emails and meetings.
So far this focus on depth has helped me drastically improve my overall productivity whilst actually reducing the hours spent working.
So this week I wanted to leave you with a couple of questions:
- When do you do your best work?
- How can you set yourself up for more deep work & less shallow work?
Here are this week's finds:
📍 Be Yourself, Not a Niche​
(Article)
The idea that you need to pick a niche and double down is great for businesses but not ideal if you want to be a creator on the internet.
In this article Nat Eliason talks about how niches are easier and faster to build but have very little longevity.
Being yourself is harder, you won’t grow as fast but you will build an audience that evolves with you giving you the freedom to create what you want.
“So be yourself. Don’t play a character. Try to be a legitimately interesting person with all the varied things you find fascinating, and don’t worry if it takes longer than the growth you see from others.”
This approach to creating really resonates with me, I’d highly recommend checking out this short post if you’re interested in becoming a creator on the internet.
🎾 Inner Game of Tennis ​
(Video)
This video is a fascinating look at how the mind can be a hinderance to performance.
Allowing the body to naturally follow its rhythm and learn by doing is the way to unlock high performance.
When I used to play Tennis I'd always play my best when distracting my brain (usually humming to myself). Whenever I thought too much about what I was doing would be when my game started to drop off.
♦️ GameStop Drama Explained (with pokemon cards)​
(Video)
The whole GameStop story is incredible. But when I first heard about it I didn't really understand what shorting stocks meant and how the intricate details worked.
This is the best explanation I've seen for people not overly familiar with shorting stocks.
I'd also recommend checking out the other videos Johnny Harris has uploaded recently because it's refreshing to see great journalism on Youtube from an independent creator.
End Notes
If you enjoyed this edition of the Sunday Filter then I'd love it if you share it with a few friends. You can send them over here to sign up.​
Have a great Sunday,
- Stephen