Simon Sinek, Your Phone And Deep Work

You would be right if you were thinking I leapt into the 12 Week Year with HUGE success goals, money goals and I-need-a-new-iPad-Pro goals.

I ended up with less money than I started, but I carved a solid path out as a freelance writer and know what I need to do daily.

Time spent on courses in Fizzle, Creative Class, Collaboration Superpowers and Rainmaker deeply helped define this.

Where To Start?

Have you ever thought about something so much that when the time comes you are paralysed?

It’s called decision fatigue and I think it’s happening right now so I will write like this.

If you have ever been a bit worried, anxious or depressed you will know that deciding between tea and coffee can knock you out for the day, seriously!

While I was engaged being depressed a couple of years ago I wouldn’t wash up for three days because I couldn’t decide where to begin, of course, the pile of washing up only added to the torture of being on my own at home, #Supercoolwife and #Babybernie sought sanctuary at friend’s house for a few days because I was like a Dementor from Harry Potter, actually, I am sure they are more chirpy than a depressed Bernie.

This sounds a bit of a ramble Mitchell….

Ah, sorry.

You will have noticed it’s November and Christmas is coming fast.

Given the chance, we like to flee to Poland or Argentina at this time of year.

I hate Christmas in the UK I hate Christmas full stop. But this year my mood is stable, I am almost uncomfortable with how ‘un-pissed-off’ I am at this moment in time.

Mitchell, the title of this post had Simon Sinek in, I don’t see much Simon….

Ok mood vs focus is where I am going with this.

You will have heard our tribe ranting about Deep Work and 12 Week Year (s) and this is where we have ended up.

We sit down and focus support each other as we do, most of this year I have spent doing a daily meeting with Emily, Phil or Nils to keep going and this week started a Working Out Loud group here @WorkHubs so all get to follow a 12 step program, sorry 12-week programs.

I had to stop some things to make room for all the other good bits.

Being a victim

Like a monk I read 12 Week Year daily, one of the lines is ‘stop being the victim’ as you can imagine this isn’t the first time I have heard this.

I am ashamed at how much of my life is other people’s fault, particularly Kenneth Baker who was the Secretary of Education in the UK when I was a child, my Grandmother for not letting me watch Rent-a-ghost because she thought the guy with the beard was Kenny Everett. Both these people affect my ability to function 30 years later, even if they were here now I wouldn’t let them apologise.

So no more victim. Ever.

Podcasts.

Yes, Yes I gave up podcasts, and inserted courses.

I have to learn a few skills at a deep level. I listened to podcasts by people I know personally because I enjoyed them, not because they were helping me hone a skill.

I couldn’t decide what to listen to so I cut them all out, yes even yours.

My Phone – this is the Simon Sinek bit…

Bernie, you gave up your phone?

No, I have gone cold turkey on pressing the buttons on it every 10 minutes. I took off ALL the social media apps, restricted email and now use it to track my progress and listen to books.

In Simon Sinek’s RSA talk from last week and the presentation talk that you can watch below, there’s a theme of connectedness and dropping your phone, this theme is also strong in both the ‘Deep Work‘ and ‘12 Week Year‘ books.

What Is Easier Than Quitting Your Phone?

I found it easier quitting smoking, drinking and cocaine than I have leaving my phone alone. You would ask me a question and I’d look in my phone instead of thinking or asking you a clarification question.

#Babybernie would look out the window on the bus and I’d check my phone or type something in – that I’d never look at again.

I leave it off most of the day now, a small amount of people who would need to call me know how to get to me or an SMS comes to my computer, I am actually a bit dejected at how unessential I am.

Result? I am doing less work, in less time and it’s much better.

This week is 12 Week Year number two AND we have a Working Out Loud group in our coworking space, and I am looking forward to my new found career.

So that is the link between Simon Sinek, Your Phone And Deep Work – but you knew that.

This Weeks Links

To Work Better, Work Less

Between 1853 and 1870, Baron Haussmann ordered much of Paris to be destroyed. Slums were razed and converted to bourgeois neighbourhoods, and the formerly labyrinthine city became a place of order, full of wide boulevards (think Saint-Germain) and angular avenues (the Champs-Élysées).

Poor Parisians tried to put up a fight but were eventually forced to flee, their homes knocked down with minimal notice and little or no recompense. The city underwent a full transformation—from working-class and medieval to bourgeois and modern—in less than two decades’ time. Read The Full Article Here

You would be right if you were thinking I leapt into the 12 Week Year with HUGE success goals, money goals and I-need-a-new-iPad-Pro goals.

Where To Start?

This sounds a bit of a ramble Mitchell….

Mitchell, the title of this post had Simon Sinek in, I don’t see much Simon….

I had to stop some things to make room for all the other good bits.

Simon Sinek | Together is Better | RSA Replay

Content Curation With Trello And Publicate #LLBS 92

A focused weekly club for writers to engage in “deep work”