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Focus on the Need for Focus
“All of my time and attention are spoken for — several times over. Please do not ask for them.”
I took my advice and decided to finish Cal Newport’s Deep Work, which I had started twice but abandoned because it’s written at a sophomoric reading level.
I’m glad I did. I’m almost halfway through it and learning a lot.
Perhaps the biggest thing: It’s necessary to carve out time for yourself.
Newport writes about the ways people engage in deep work. Some go to extremes, like the science fiction writer who wrote an essay that explained why he doesn’t engage in customary human interaction, at one point saying:
Persons who wish to interfere with my concentration are politely requested not to do so, and warned that I don’t answer e-mail . . . All of my time and attention are spoken for — several times over. Please do not ask for them.
That dude employs what Newport calls the “monastic” approach to focus, which is basically, “all focus, all the time,” and Newport emphasizes that it’s not for most people.
Me? I like that monastic approach, but I have to admit it’s not for me either. My station in life and temperament don’t fit it.
