Dabble Hour [Giving in to attention deficit]

A while back, I explored the possibility of Dabble Hour, a 60-minute foray [well short of a leap] into projects that continue to interest me.

So here’s a quick rundown of today’s Dabble Hour…a list of a few of my sidetracks over the last couple of hours. [Yes, it’s true, I cannot seem to stop at 60 minutes and this session sank beneath projects that interested me.]

The irony of this post is I started my day by reading/tweeting about Srini Rao’s piece about his productivity strategies despite his attention deficit. Before I go on, my favorite takeaway from the article was this–Ask yourself:

“If the only thing I got done today was this, would I be satisfied?”

I could now interject with a ‘Ooh! Squirrel!’, but that’s soooo played. [See Dabble #1.]

Here goes…

Dabble #1: [I liked this one because it sent me into ScreenFlow to do some video editing.]

 

Dabble #2: Text chat with my friend over the end of the Giants-Dodgers game.

Dabble #3 : Signing up for digitaldeepak.com. Frankly, I was too distracted to take note that it offered what I’m only marginally interested in. {Yep, I think I do have a problem.}

Dabble #4 :Reading the email offer to join LOVE 101 about optimizing my relationship. [Okay, then, I guess I won’t be giving into every distraction thrown my way.]

Time out: back to the text chat…We’re now reveling in the solid performance from a S.F. Giants rookie. Okay, chat complete.

Dabble #5 :Okay, I’ve just been assured in an email that I can make a living from my writing. Cool. I’m impressed that these reassuring people continue to invite me to their webinars. I do have to say–these sessions do offer valuable content. [Pretty sure they would be less than impressed with my ‘Wandering-Wednesday-on-Tuesday’ approach to writing success, however. Then again, maybe they would pay me to be their ‘don’t be like this guy’ guy. Now that’s a distraction I can get behind.]

I did go ahead and sign up for The 3 Most Profitable Ways to Making a Living Writing Today. I know I’ll show up. But will I stay with it? Jeff Goins presents well, is down-to-earth, and offers solid content and guidance. So, yep. I’ll be there for the whole session.

Conclusion: Thank God my boss is understanding about this. He thinks it’s time for lunch. He’s even buying!

 

A five-minute writing pep talk…

One that I revisit regularly. Give the audio version a try. [SoundCloud link on the page.]

Patrick McLean’s Five-Minute Writing Pep Talk

In the survey below, feel free to let me know which points settled into your writing ethic. Thanks.

Rearranging your sock drawer. It’s actually therapeutic…

 

I subscribe to Srini Rao’s Unmistakable Media weekly emails.

Today’s topic:

How Making Micro Changes Can Help You Start a New Chapter of Your Life

My apologies to those who previously visited and got a bad link.

This one really resonated with me and I have a feeling may well do the same for some of you.

His main point:  “We struggle to change our behavior because our environments are designed to be a constant reminder of who we once were, as opposed to who we want to be.” 

clutter

photo courtesy of Pixabay, though my garage? Not much different.

And now, for me, it’s time for a little digital decluttering.

I’ll save my sock drawer for a slow Saturday night.

 

 

Five takeaways from Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss

This book was also overdue at the library and I was darn tired of checking out and not gleaning at least something from each item. (Plus, this is one honkin’ big book and while I got a good workout from carrying it around, I wanted something more. ;->] )

Tons more wisdom and knowledge in this book.

  1. “It doesn’t matter how many people don’t get it. What matters is how many people do.” Tim Ferriss, Rule #1 for dealing with haters.
  2. “When 99% of people doubt you, you’re either gravely wrong or about to make history.” Quote from Scott Belsky, founder of Behance. [Noted by Peter Diamandis, author of Bold and Abundance.]
  3. “Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.” Benjamin Disraeli, former British Prime Minister.
  4. “The big question I ask is, ‘When I had the opportunity, did I choose courage over comfort?’” Brené Brown, author of Daring Greatly, The Gifts of Imperfection, and Rising Strong.
  5. “Free education is abundant, all over the Internet. It’s the desire to learn that’s scarce.” Tweet from Naval Ravikant, CEO and founder of AngelList. Co-founder of Vast.com and Epinions.

Five takeaways from ‘What To Do When It’s Your Turn’ by Seth Godin

This book was overdue and I figured if I created a post from its collective wisdom, it would force me to read it before I returned it.

Tons more wisdom and knowledge in this book, and with Tools of Titans [my next post].

Page 84 “Write until you are not afraid to write….How about this: Write until you are able to write words you are proud enough to share.”

Page 84 “…trying to will away our anxiety or to wait until we’re in the mood to do our best is an invitation to frustration.”

Page 63 “In just a few generations, we’ve gone from ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself’ to ‘The fear we feel is the fear of freedom.’”

Page 43 “What what about getting in the mood? What about the motivation you’ll need to engage in this life? Our need for motivation is due to our need for reassurance. We are paralyzed by our fear that it might not work, and we let the fear demotivate us, giving us the perfect excuse to not create.”

Page 38 “The rule is simple: the person who fails the most will win. If I fail more than you do, I will win. Because in order to keep failing, you’ve got to be good enough to keep playing. So, if you fail cataclysmically and never play again, you only fail once. But if you are always there shipping, putting your work into the world, creating and starting things, you will learn endless things.”

My take: Yep…I’ve currently failed, period. Why? Because I’m not completing the multitude of products I want to put in my store. [That isn’t built yet either…shocker, right?]