How to Get in the Groove: Work, Jason Fried, and Timothy Ferriss

The only way to stop this perpetual growth of an object without physical borders is for you to create your own borders. Those borders are discipline, self-control, an editor’s eye for “enough.” The ultimate border is one simple word: no. Someone in charge has to say no more than yes.

Jason Fried, How to Kill a Bad Idea

It’s Monday today. All across the web there is going to be a lot of talk about how to be productive, how to maintain your to-do list, and Get Things Done (GTD).

Few people out there write about the philosophy behind work, though. The emphasis is on how the individual performs, but it is equally important as to how the office is structured in order to allow people to do the things they need to do.

I think one of the best people that routinely writes and speaks about the philosophy behind work is Jason Fried, of 37 Signals (creators of Basecamp, Highrise, Backpack and Campfire, authors of ReWork). He gave a speech at TED last year titled Why work doesn’t happen at work. I finally got around to listening to it on the weekend, and I highly recommend you listening to it as well.

In his talk, Fried outlines some of the problems surrounding work in the office (namely anything that pulls you away from your work – meetings, phone calls, email). He also identifies the three things a person requires in order to actually work: a place, a time, and movement (and, I suppose, position as there is a move to work while standing up). I think he left out one important aspect that could possibly relate to the items he identifies: an aural environment.

Aural Environment as Muse

Timothy Ferriss (who was recently interviewed by 37Signals) has developed a definition of a muse as a “low-maintenance business that generates significant income.” A more traditional definition of a muse is “A guiding spirit or source of inspiration.” To me, the aural environment plays an important part in getting work done and in creating something new. Whether it is our favourite track of music, the hum of the espresso machines and crowd noise at a coffee shop, or complete silence, without the correct aural environment, we are not going to be able to create as much as we would normally would like.

If I add the aural environment to Fried’s list, here is how my ideal work environment would shape up:

Place: At home, either at the kitchen counter or in my Lazeboy recliner.

Time: Between 10pm and 3am.

Movement: Slightly rocking motion or spinning motion if at the kitchen counter.

Aural Environment: Techno music (Tiesto, Daft Punk, Digweed)

Without having all of those elements, I find the work I do do is sub-standard. This only applies to my writing, because I obviously could not have been blaring techno music while working at the front desk of a hotel or in my shared office space. I also find that music can be a great inspiration while working on something. Perhaps there is a dramatic shift in the tempo of the music that causes me to write a little slower and be more reflective, or maybe it is a pulsing track that propels me to just bang out the words and worry about being reflective afterwards.

Comfort Can Be a Dangerous Thing

After thinking about how the aural environment plays such a strong role in my productivity, I came across the interview with Tim Ferriss that includes this quote:

It’s worse to tolerate your job than to hate it because, if the pain is painful enough, you’ll make a change,” he says. “But if it’s tolerable mediocrity, and you’re like, ‘Well, you know it could be worse. At least I’m getting paid.’ Then you wind up in a job that is slowly killing your soul and you’re allowing that to happen. Comfort can be a very, very dangerous thing.

Although he is talking about your job, it can be important for your work environment, too.

When I find that my writing is less inspiring than usual, I look to my work environment first before I think about what is happening internally. People generally do not lose their touch for writing or art, barring a major accident. Work suffers primarily because of the environment – the music is not as inspiring, the books and authors you read are not inspiring ideas, or perhaps the window you keep looking out has become ordinary.

There is only one solution: change it.

The easiest way for me to do this is by reading a different blog. I find that spending even just 20 minutes reading some new blogs help me create some new ideas about what to possibly write about, or maybe it is their style of writing. Tristan Higbee, of The Blogging Bookshelf, recently published a list of the blogs he reads and comments on. Such lists used to be quite popular across the web, and I am putting together my own list of blogs I visit that influence me.

I also like discovering new music. This can be a bit more difficult depending on the genres you enjoy listening to, and also the friends you have. I rely on my friends posting up their favourite bands on Facebook to help me discover new music, or the YouTube videos they share. I also try to follow some music blogs which are a major help, even if some of their suggestions are hit and miss. I want to compile a list of these sources for people, too, but I will share one of my favourite new band’s song at the bottom of this post.

For other people, changing their physical environment may be more beneficial. Change the coffee shop you normally go to, or go to a coffee shop instead of your home office. Go to the library or other public space where you are comfortable.

Enough is Enough

With all this being said, there comes a point where you need to stop trying to identify your environment or tweaking it. Continually playing around with the environment is as dangerous as constantly changing your blog’s design: the more you play, the less work you get done.

It’s a trap I fall into all the time, but I try to put a time limit on myself. If I feel like I am in a rut with my writing, I keep an eye on the clock and spend no more than 20 minutes trying to improve the environment. First, change the music I’m listening to.

Second, read something in a different spot (take my laptop to the couch, read my Kindle in my chair).

Third, stretch, have something to drink, and get back to work.

As Seth Godin likes to say, you have to stop the lizard brain from working and start creating again.

Muses

M.I.A. “Paper Planes”

By James McCullough

James M

Related Posts: