I’m currently on a theme with these last posts of getting yourself to do stuff.
We started with the difference between dreamers and doers
Last week I covered limits that were in our minds.
This week I’m going into our environments.
Why do I care about doing stuff lately?
I’ve been on ADHD medication for three months now in the pursuit of making me do stuff. I’ve also had possibly one of the most difficult three months of my life. The medication wasn’t a failure. I would say it is ‘calming’ slightly to the noise in my mind.
Simply put, the problem was much more… my life.
The last few topics were things I was getting caught up with, as is this weeks. I find my environment has a much bigger impact on me than any medication.
Sam - No one cares
Whether you’re more neurodiverse than a rainforest or not, environment matters.
Our thought processes replicate our environment more than we notice.
We all have tasks we are good at and those that challenge us. We also have environments we excel in and those that hamper us.
We expect ourselves to be able to complete our work when we need to do it.
It’s easy to blame ourselves or our inabilities when we fail, yet often our environment is the issue.
Here are some of my biggest realisations from peer-reviewed research and self-experimentation.
The Cathedral Effect
The cathedral effect is a phenomenon related to the styles of thinking demonstrated in a cathedral (or any building with a high ceiling).
Experimenters found that test subjects with a high ceiling find it easier to complete creative tasks that required expansive thinking.
Conversely, in low-ceiling rooms, test subjects found it easier to concentrate on simple tasks and complete dull work.
You can utilise this for your work habits:
If you want to think big, go big.
If you don’t have a handy cathedral, try outdoors or a roomy cafe, library or co-working space.
When you need to put your head down and just do some admin.
Work in a basement or a cupboard (or rent an apartment in London)
The Movement Effect
Moving our bodies creates a ‘movement effect’ that also transcends into our thinking. The constant feeling of progression can make us feel less blocked or anxious. This makes problems solving easier because we feel less inhibited or stuck.
When our bodies are moving, subliminally so is our situation. We feel the momentum. Our goals aren’t blocked behind a wall, they become something that move towards us.
Productive Conversation
This makes walking a perfect opportunity for meetings. It’s also a great time to tackle difficult conversations with a partner or colleague.
Solutions don’t seem so overwhelmingly far away when you’re walking. You can be open to things that might need consistent work to make consistent progress.
Master Plans
A great time to make life plans or work plans is whilst running or exercising (cycling, swimming, rollerblading - some speed but you won’t have accidents). You can become more ambitious with a faster sense of movement.
Exercise also helps you stay healthy and think healthy. So more reason to invest in that cycling desk or walking desk. Your mind and body deserve it.
(Of course being outdoors as much as possible helps increase your daylight exposure and vitamin D. Bonus you have no ceiling outdoors so you’re open to creative brainwaves as discussed above.)
Intentional Laptoping
If you haven’t heard of this it’s a game changer.
We know that having a room full of clutter is distracting. It’s no surprise that it’s the same on your laptop.
A spring clean of your file systems etc… to make work smoother is never a bad thing. But we can go much further in the pursuit of flow.
“Intentional laptoping” is where you only use your laptop with purpose. You work on one task at a time with nothing else open. That means closing all tabs and all other programs except the one program you need. (Toby or TooManyTabs are good extensions to save tabs for specific sessions).
Keep wifi off if it isn’t essential. Only use wifi with purpose to find or send the one thing you need to do (having every tab closed means you won’t get lost in a million other things when you do use internet).
At the end of each, day turn your laptop off completely.
I haven’t read a study on this. It’s common sense. In the wise words of Gold medal Olympian, Ben Hunt-Davis OBE.
“Common sense, isn’t common practice.”
Bonus tips:
Forced time limit - Take your laptop to a cafe or somewhere out the house without your charger. It gives you a time limit to get that task done (Thank Beta Lucca for this one)
Read off laptop - Read on a kindle or real book, print off papers and research to spend time without distraction. It will feel like a treat instead of work.
Pair work - For code development I found pair-programming a great way of eliminating distraction and learning. I’m against lots of meetings for no reason but sitting down to tackle a task with someone else is really rewarding.
Flow
These things all sound simple but it’s surprising that most people don’t use any of them to improve their environment. Acknowledging how sensitive I am to my environment and treating myself like a child is genuinely an act of self-love.
It is much more rewarding than just expecting myself to do things and failing repeatedly.
Take home,
Our thought processes replicate our environment.
I encourage you to get as metaphorical as you like on this fact:
Want your thoughts to flow like a river? —> Move to a river!
Want to feel on top of the world? —> Live on a mountain
Want to feel like a forgettable speck in the crush of humanity? —> Live in London (okay I’ll stop hating on London, it’s not that bad…)
In the last posts, I nudged you to pursue your dreams with intention and examine your blockers.
Here I showed how your thoughts are being influenced by where and how you choose to work. I’m not saying it’s easy to change everything but it is rewarding if you take the challenge.
What I’m doing
Taking all my lessons above seriously I’m going cycle touring for a while. I get to spend a lot of time outdoors moving and thinking creatively. I can only use my laptop with intention and focus because I don’t have much battery.
Expect lots of writing. 🙃
Next week I’m going under the surface of how people affect you.
If you enjoyed this I’d recommend DeepWork by Cal Newport.