Immerse Yourself

I’ve come to appreciate a very rewarding way to work and live, and that is to find the one thing I want to do, over a period of several months (or more), and then to immerse myself in it.

What is it like to be immersed? I’ll get books and subscribe to dozens of blogs and podcasts on the topic, so I’m always reading, listening to, and learning more about it. To the degree possible, I’ll surround myself with people who are experts in the topic, so I can see what they do and how they think. I’ll use my spare time to get practical experience doing that thing, whatever that thing is.

And most importantly, I say no to everything else*.

When you’re immersed like this, it’s hard not to make progress really quickly, which is really exciting. There’s nothing as fun as seeing results.

Of course, other ideas will try to distract me, but I’ll just add them to my idea list, where they’ll be waiting for me when I’m done. There’s pretty much no downside to this. The passing of time makes a great filter for good ideas.

I immerse myself, because it’s the best way to prevent my work from being mediocre. Anything that’s worth doing, is worth doing well.

* Within reason, of course. I take care of my health and my family first.