Producer vs. Consumer
09 Aug 2021
I keep thinking about Carl Newport's book Deep Work and how the most valuable people will be the ones who will be able to deep work and hence produce/ build things as opposed to being passive consumers (since they cannot focus their attention they cannot work for long hours to create something meaningful). The most scarce commodity right now is our "attention". It is completey fragmented. I can't even imagine what is going to happen to kids since the pandemic has acclelerated their online consumption to another level.
I am having a tough time writing this short piece as I am wondering if there are messages waiting to be answered on my phone. Or, did my wife call for something urgent. Sometimes, I just don't have the courage to put the phone away. But, its a habit to be cultivated. Tuck your phone away in a drawer (make sure it does not vibrate) for 15 minutes at first (and then increase this gradually). The beautiful thing about this is that eventually you will forget about it and be completely in the flow.
Just like exercise is for the body, this is exercise for the mind. Eventually, you'll be able to learn to live without the distractions and focus more on "producing" rather than "consuming".