4 ways to use Exploration to achieve Full Focus

Exploration gives you the raw material for creative productivity. Anyone who does creative work can think of times when wandering aimlessly brought them a creative breakthrough.

But, breakthroughs from Exploration seem to come at random. Since this brings you variable rewards from Exploration, it can be easy to use it as an excuse to procrastinate: Sometimes I find something valuable scanning Facebook. Watching this Netflix series in the middle of the day is research for my novel.

You don’t want to quash Exploration out of your life—that would be counterproductive. But, you don’t want Exploration to interfere with your prime creative productivity.

Exploration is when you take in potential sources of inspiration, but without a clear objective. Taking random coffee meetings, reading books about which you’re curious, or checking out Reddit are all Exploration activities.

When you Explore, there’s always a chance of serendipity. Your coffee meeting may have a contact that would be a perfect research source for your project, or the book you’re reading may have an anecdote you can use to illustrate a concept.

It’s incredibly exciting when serendipity happens. For a moment, the world seems mystical and magical. It blows a circuit in your brain to think what are the chances?!

The trick, then, is to allow serendipity to happen, without getting sidetracked by this essential component of Full Focus. Here are some ways to optimize Exploration in your work.

1. Beware The Resistance. The Pressfieldian Resistance will lead you toward Exploration when things get tough. You may fool yourself into thinking it’s productive to be scanning Facebook, watching Netflix, or starting a new project, when you should be making work happen. Watch out for where The Resistance fools you.
2. Designate Exploration times. Designating time for Exploration will keep The Resistance from fooling you. You want to Explore during a time that won’t interfere with your prime creative time. I don’t take meetings before Thursday in the week, and I usually save reading for after business hours. It depends upon how close I think the particular Exploration is to solving a creative problem I have.
3. Let curiosity be your guide. The more curious you are about something, the harder you can work on it. When you Explore, pick things you’re truly curious about, and give yourself permission to pursue them at least a small amount, even if they seem to have no chance whatsoever of leading to a breakthrough. You might be surprised what happens.
4. Prioritize Exploration on occasion. If you do all of the above, your Exploration time won’t always come when you have your prime energy. This usually works fine, because Exploration helps you Recharge. But, sometimes—only sometimes—you have to give yourself permission to Explore with your prime mental energy. I’ll sometimes give myself an entire “Week of Want,” which has reinvigorated me, and lead to some of my best ideas, including reinventing Google Calendar.

Exploration can be the best friend of creative work, or it can be its worst enemy. Learn to recognize where Exploration can lead you astray, and keep it at bay. If you’re diligent at giving yourself just the right amount of Exploration, you can be fully-focused in the moment, and give yourself the breakthroughs you need to be creatively productive.

Need ideas? Here are 10 unconventional ways I achieve Full Focus.