I’ve started on a new book by Cal Newport, Deep Work. One of my first takeaways is this: Fewer distracting inputs plus intentional focus will likely lead to greater meaningful output. This leads to a competitive advantage for focused work going forward. In an ever-increasing distracted economy, the simple ability to focus is going to […]
Posts
The music of your audience
Mike plays his saxophone at the entrance to the parking garage at the Perot museum of nature and science. For the past year, he’s been there just about every time I visit. How he interacts with his product (music) changes depending on who is approaching. For example, when a group with small kids goes by, they […]
Are there any changes?
A recurring theme in live production is this question: Are there any changes? In every phase, there might be small tweaks or substitutions and additions that need to be made. This awareness seems to be a common trait in many other fields as well. Specifically, I’m thinking about most projects, productivity systems, events, economies, etc. […]
Eventually, over time
The last week or so, I’ve been trying this experiment of posting something to this site daily. A couple few thoughts: It’s easier than I thought. It’s harder than I thought. I’m consistently making it one of the last things I do in the day. It has forced me to be ok with pushing out my-best-in-the-moment instead of […]
Doing what’s indicated
I really like this approach that Brian Clark takes on goals. Read his article here. An excerpt: That’s because pursuit of a planned outcome subverts smarter paths, bigger opportunities, and even clear signs of disaster. A preferable focus is on process rather than particular goals or benefits. In my company, we call this doing […]
A quick intro to Cal Newport and Deep Work
Cal Newport is a professor of computer science and a writer. I appreciate his no-frills approach to doing hard work. His new book, Deep Work, is a handbook for creating a deliberate practice of focused time of work. I pre-ordered the audio book and will be studying it soon. This is an approach and skill I want […]
No Excuses
This post is a years-later re-post of an article I wrote on a syndicate that’s been discontinued. I updated a couple phrases, but mostly left it the same. Some things that could be expanded on is how things have changed with the huge improvements in music creation capability on mobile devices. The original post was circa […]
Beginners Mind
That elusive place between not knowing and hoping-knowing. The joyous struggle of wrestling with the process in figuring it out. When we “already know” it closes doors and makes choices narrower. And it’s good to have some things already set, choices made. Then we get to spend more focused time on discovering possibilities in the […]
The smallest habits
Starting anything can be daunting. Even just the idea of taking the first step can be enough to give pause or allow an excuse to creep up. BJ Fogg says to start by committing to an action so small that it is almost ridiculous how easy it would be to actually do. “Ridiculous” is how I think […]