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       Deliberate Practice
       May 07th, 2018
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       There's a fantastic article circulating on the typical nerd
       portals today regarding "deep work" and "deliberate practice" [0].
       Give it a read if you haven't already.
       
 (HTM) [0] The Importance of Deep Work
       
       One of the things I enjoyed most about the post was the summary of
       methods of deep work taken from a great book on the subject [1].
       
 (HTM) [1] Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
       
         Monastic: 
         "This philosophy attempts to maximize deep efforts by
         eliminating or radically minimizing shallow obligations."
         — isolate yourself for long periods of time without
         distractions; no shallow work allowed. 
       
         Bimodal: 
         "This philosophy asks that you divide your time, dedicating some
         clearly defined stretches to deep pursuits and leaving the rest
         open to everything else." – dedicate a few consecutive days
         (like weekends, or a Sunday, for example) for deep work only, at
         least one day a week.
       
         Rhythmic: 
         "This philosophy argues that the easiest way to consistently
         start deep work sessions is to transform them into a simple
         regular habit." – create a daily habit of three to four hours
         every day to perform deep work on your project.
       
         Journalistic: 
         "in which you fit deep work wherever you can into your
         schedule." — Not recommended to try out first, since you first
         need to accustom yourself to deep work.
       
       This put into words a struggle I've had with my own strategies.
       I've tried dedicating a set amount of time, sort of like "Rythmic"
       but that time hasn't been long enough to establish a deep work
       flow. I've set aside days of the week for it like Bimodal, but
       rarely with the isolation necessary to really dig in. Occasionally
       I'm successful, but I think it's more to do with luck, or
       a motivation I happened to find that day, than any deliberatet
       planning.
       
       In the past I've spoken about freezing up when an opportunity for
       exploration appears [2]. I'm combatting that with organization of
       lists so I can refer back to these projects I have moving and
       I don't waste time spinning my wheels. All of it is a part of the
       effort to get back the time that should belong to me that I give
       away out of a combination of laziness and poor planning [3].
       
 (DIR) [2] Stuck
 (DIR) [3] Resolution
       
       Ultimately, there are skills I want to improve. The top of that
       list are my writing craft and the Shakuhachi [4]. In reality the
       list is quite a bit longer. Even so, I have the ability, I have
       the time, and I have the necessary components to make a go of it.
       
 (DIR) [4] Shakuhachi (UTF-8)
       
       Deliberate practice, not just sitting around fiddling with crap,
       is the difference I'm missing. I've told it to my son a lot, and
       I'll continue to do so in the future. You can't just go along with
       things and expect to learn and grow. You need to do the hard
       things [5]. When I practice with the Shakuhachi, I can't just go
       sit on the porch and play improvisations for twenty minutes.
       I have specific things I need to improve: timing, embouchure,
       breathing dynamics. My writing is the same. I'm working on
       a writing exercise and I've given myself a specific goal to focus
       on brevity. This is good.
       
 (DIR) [5] Do the Hard Thing
       
       It's not just about doing things with my hobby time. It's work in
       itself and I need to commit to it, at least a significant portion
       of the time, if I want to improve.