PRODUCTIVITY & POSITIVITY
Deep Work Expedition Style
Leverage how to get disconnected and succeed like on an expedition.
Two things…
1. Adventurers are people who go on intense expeditions to push the boundaries of human exploration and human capabilities. People like Gertrude Bell (climber in early 1900’s with a Swiss Alp mountain named after her) to Ernest Shakleton (British explorer who led 3 expeditions in Antarctica) to modern day Ben Saunders (first to the South pole and back… on foot).
2. Deep work is the ability to focus intensely with unbroken concentration, and in doing so, get into the productivity “zone.” Cal Newport’s book, imaginatively titled Deep Work, asserts that the ability to do deep work is the key to success in today’s fast-paced world.
In this series, I’ll be exploring the connection between long duration expeditions and deep work. Let’s learn how the great adventurers succeed in intense environments, for months or years, and see if we can apply those same techniques to push our productivity to new limits.
The inspiration for this came from listening to Dave Roberts Limits of the Known, where he, “reflects on humanity’s — and his own — relationship to exploration and extreme risk.” Listening to him describe how famed British explorer Shackleton left his family of 3 kids behind to go venture into the unknown was wild! I guess it’s not much different than the modern day astronauts, especially when we begin to launch Mars missions, which will be at least 2 years in duration.
But then came the kicker. Back then, there’s no radio or satellite communication, no news from back home, and your family may never know what happened to you if you didn’t come back. To me, that sounded like the most intense session of deep work ever!
Imagine a deep work session that lasts not hours or days, but in months and years! This level of extended isolation and focus demands the best in us. We’re going to learn what the best adventurers can teach us to then become better productivitist. Pretty sure that’s not a word but we’re going bold.
1. Problem Focused, Emotion Focused
“Imagine you’re in…
