Branching out with my writing
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:
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!
My first foray into Dabble Hour went fairly well. I only allowed myself that 60 minutes to follow peripheral projects, including writing for animation. Problem: I planted myself in Distraction Central, our public library. Good place to sit and work, but all those books…
No, I didn’t pick all these up in one trip. But still…someone here needs therapy.
Don’t you love the irony of my having a copy of Deep Work?
In his book Turning Pro, Steven Pressfield says “The amateur prizes shallowness and shuns depth.”
Seems I have a way to go with this…
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