Minimize input to maximize output
Josh Waitzkin is, among other things, one of the best chess players in history, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, Tai-Chi push hands world champion, writer of the best-selling book The Art of learning and, nowadays, advisor of the top-of-the-game players on fields such as finance and athletics.
What most strikes me, however, are the deep and unconventional insights he transmits and deconstructs in his, otherwise extremely limited, media appearances.
One of those strategies has been crossing my mind several times lately and, its continuous ponder, has resulted in the appreciation of its real value: Deliberately limiting inputs and building space into the system to create quality output.
That approach, if you think about it, completely goes against the flow of how we actually function and our societal operative system: People eagerly looking to fill your calendar slots at the minimum chance, your constant juggle between tasks during work time and open search for new shows on Netflix to catch up on. More clients to take on, more projects to engage in, more meetings to attend to and more interesting Twitter accounts to follow.
And yet, to create any type of deep work, Waitzkin argues. To think, to prepare, to structure, to advise, to design, to present, to produce… space is necessary, assuming you want to develop anything worth making.
On creating space
Attention has become the most limited asset in the so-called developed world. But if attention is limited, actually going deep in any field or topic, is almost inexistent and would, therefore be, wildly rewarded.
Josh has gone to great lengths to deliberately cultivate space to allow the learning creative process to unfold: He has a very limited number of high-profile clients, maintains no social media accounts, does no speaking gigs, nor writing requests or media interviews (with one exception though). This selective ignorance, allows him to deepen in the few things he chooses to do.
We don’t have (or need) to be at that extreme. But you also don’t need to attend to every single meeting that pops up. Don’t need to take on another project while not crafting your current one. You don’t have to take that call just because your phone rings, nor need to read, listen or watch the news. You also don’t need to scroll to the end on your social media accounts every day or, for that matter, take on another blog or web article.
Building slack into your schedule will allow for the most scarce and demanded thing: quality and deepness.
On limiting input
I will not advise you to disable notifications, not to watch TV or stop scrolling through your Instagram feed. You do NOT have to quit anything you enjoy doing. That is material for other articles and folks like Gary Vaynerchuk and the like.
However, there is real value in setting constraints to simplify your decision making and allow time by design. Selective ignorance and self-imposed scarcity are two useful frameworks to set in order to establish space for the development of ideas, learning and the creation of deep work.
Too many choices = less or no productivity
Too many choices = less or no appreciation
Too many choices = sense of overwhelm
— Tim Ferriss
Think about it:
- Could you limit your daily reading to books and, maybe, Medium articles? (most of what you read is pointless anyway)
- Could you work 4 quality hours in one and one thing only?
- Could you constrain your social media input to one network and/or a defined time slot?
- Could you, instead of consuming compulsively, select a good movie or series and really enjoy it?
Similar questions might apply to podcasts, chores, conversations, meetings, calls, conferences, networking events, seminars…(the list goes on and on).
I cannot stretch it enough: you have not to stop doing anything that works for you or that you genuinely enjoy. Please don’t.
However, selectively cutting inputs down, can be one of the more counterintuitive yet effective tools to cultivate presence and a receptive state for deepness. Do not strive for variety, multiplicity or productivity over efficacy and quality.
