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I recently started reading "Deep Work" by Cal Newport and this is one of the points highlighted in the book. I'd recommend it (even though I haven't finished it

by _hao 7y ago

I recently started reading "Deep Work" by Cal Newport and this is one of the points highlighted in the book. I'd recommend it (even though I haven't finished it yet). I'm trying to be mindful during my day and I walk to and from work every day which is around 9km total. The beneficial effects (on attention, memory etc.) are twofold. In the morning it wakes me up and by the time I'm in the office I'm ready to dive into my work straight away. I see a lot of people that arrive drowsy or sleepy in the office and they need at least an hour to actually start doing anything meaningful. In the evening I use the walk as a "shutdown" ritual after which I don't think about work anymore. I also take a 30-40 minute walk during lunch time. It's a good point during midday to relax a little bit and be refreshed for the second half of the day. Overall for the day I walk around 11-12km. Health benefits of walking aside I really see how it's making me more focused and I do better work because of it.

ehnto 7y ago
My walking schedule evolved somewhat naturally once I started. I had always been active, but normally sports or weightlifting. So when I started walking I didn't expect to gain much, I figured I was already fit. I was wrong, I gained so much cognitive clarity that I drifted toward walking more and more until I could easily be walking 3+ hours a day. It works incredibly as a clarifier, even if I don't figure anything out on the walk, when I come back to it later things tend to seem much simpler.
nswest23 7y ago
I started that book but never finished it. I got about half way thru and quit b/c I never found anything that revolutionary. A lot of it seemed to be rehashing studies that other people did. The gist of it seemed to be: if you need to do work that is mentally challenging, block off large chunks of time to do that work b/c interruptions are more disruptive that you think they are. It would make a good blog post and I'm sure there are hundreds of them on the topic but I don't get why it needs to be a book other than he convinced someone to publish it for him.
- _hao 7y ago
  I see your point and I agree - the book is not groundbreaking or revolutionary. Me walking to work is something I've done for a couple of years and not an idea I discovered because of the book. With that said I think it's a well written and researched piece. I'll finish it because even though I'm already using some of the techniques provided inside, it's good to reinforce the things you know but it's also good to see things from another perspective. Like for example I've never really given thought to the monastic or bi-modal style of deep work although they are reality for a lot of people. Small things like that are valuable (at least to me).

by _hao 7y ago

ehnto 7y ago

My walking schedule evolved somewhat naturally once I started. I had always been active, but normally sports or weightlifting. So when I started walking I didn't expect to gain much, I figured I was already fit. I was wrong, I gained so much cognitive clarity that I drifted toward walking more and more until I could easily be walking 3+ hours a day. It works incredibly as a clarifier, even if I don't figure anything out on the walk, when I come back to it later things tend to seem much simpler.

nswest23 7y ago

I started that book but never finished it. I got about half way thru and quit b/c I never found anything that revolutionary. A lot of it seemed to be rehashing studies that other people did. The gist of it seemed to be: if you need to do work that is mentally challenging, block off large chunks of time to do that work b/c interruptions are more disruptive that you think they are. It would make a good blog post and I'm sure there are hundreds of them on the topic but I don't get why it needs to be a book other than he convinced someone to publish it for him.

_hao 7y ago
I see your point and I agree - the book is not groundbreaking or revolutionary. Me walking to work is something I've done for a couple of years and not an idea I discovered because of the book. With that said I think it's a well written and researched piece. I'll finish it because even though I'm already using some of the techniques provided inside, it's good to reinforce the things you know but it's also good to see things from another perspective. Like for example I've never really given thought to the monastic or bi-modal style of deep work although they are reality for a lot of people. Small things like that are valuable (at least to me).