A Mindful Week 37: The "Deep Work" Issue
Hi, I am Nikolas. This is “A Mindful Week”, my "inspiration letter" on creativity, awareness and leadership.
A Guide to deep work: How to Produce at an Elite Level
You are drowning in a sea of distractions.
Emails, social media, and constant interruptions keep you from doing your best work.
While you are busy, you are not getting stuff done.
You are stuck in “being busy” land. But you are not making real progress on your goals.
Enter deep work, your secret weapon to getting shit done.
Deep work leads to better productivity, higher-quality output, and increased learning.
Here are the four rules to have more deep work in your life (by deep work expert Cal Newport):
1. Work Deeply
Schedule specific blocks of time for focused, distraction-free work.
Focus on the wildly Important
Set an ambitious goal.
2. Embrace Boredom
Allow yourself to be bored to train your mind to resist distractions.
Don’t Take Breaks from Distraction.
Instead, Take Breaks from Focus.
3. Unfriend Social Media
Minimize time spent on social media to regain focus and mental clarity.
Quit your favorite Social Media Service for 30 days
Revisit this decision and continue if helpful
4. Stop the Shallow Stuff
Limit shallow work by optimizing tasks and commitments to free up time for deep work.
Quantify the depth of every activity
Become hard to reach
Deep work helps you to push your cognitive capabilities to their limit.
Get my "Deep Work" playbook here or here for a deeper dive.
A talk that will blow your mind: Planet Critical
Only by understanding the actual cause of the planetary crisis will we be able to resolve it. Rachel Donald has an unrivaled capacity for delivering facts and connecting the dots whilst being eloquent, engaging, compassionate, and witty.
The prep talk you need to hear: Pharell Williams on being unique
Pharell Williams why it pays off to be yourself: “You're doing your own thing. It's singular. It's like when the Wu-Tang Clan came out—no one could really judge it. You either liked it, or you didn't, but you couldn't compare it to anything else.”
The mental model to understand now: Understand Trickster Energy
My recent intellectual crush is writer Bayo Akomolafe. Why do I love him? Bayu’s philosophy and writing are imbued with Yoruba healer-trickster energy. It is dawning on me. Whenever a society is getting complacent – a trickster arrives on the map. And he will shatter what you held dearly. This podcast explains why tricksters will come up whenever we need them. Thanks to Carolin Goethel for sharing it with me.
Playlist: Summer Jam
Reggaeton, water fountains, the scent of gasoline and burning streets, booties shaking
一 Mind Travel I:
I can’t wait to be in workshops with you again. The following two workshops in the beautiful OHIA studios are open as of now:
The Secret to Compassion (Oct 07 2023)
A workshop on Compassion together with renowned Prof. Isabel Dziobek. Drawing from the latest research and thousand-year-old wisdom traditions, we will introduce you to actionable ways to understand and cultivate a compassionate life.
The Art of Meditation (Oct 08 2023)
Understand meditation through the lens of science, contemplative wisdom, and leadership awareness. This workshop introduces you to the different styles of meditation and how to train them.
If that resonates with you, I would book relatively soon, as many places are filled already.
に Timetravel:
If you are the nostalgic type, or if you are new - here you find the last „Mindful Week“ inspiration letters. Let me know what you think.
三 Mind travel II:
Application for next year’s meditation retreat (probably March) is open. As usual, it will be an intimate group of fewer than 12 participants, which is unusual and rare in meditation retreats.
I wish to create a space of care, nature, food, science, and deep training for you to cultivate your beautiful mind. If you want to join write me a message about why you should be the one joining.
Quote, I’m reflecting on:
Once I saw a bee drown in honey. And I understand
Nikos Katzianakis
About
A Mindful Week is an almost punctual newsletter about living a reflected life curated by executive coach & meditation teacher Nikolas . If you like what you read share it with a friend.
Instagram | LinkedIn | Website | Organisation
This monthly mail is available online or you can subscribe to it here: