“If you want to be a grocer, or a general, or a politician, or a judge, you will invariably become it; that is your punishment. If you never know what you want to be, if you live what some might call the dynamic life…what I will call the artistic life, if each day you are unsure of who you are and what you know you will never become anything, and that is your reward.” - Oscar Wilde

monk-mode

You’re here because I emailed you this link, which means I’m currently in monk-mode. As my YouTube channel has grown past 1M subscribers, the amount of inbound email and requests have simply exceeded my capacity to personally reply and I often retreat to monk-mode when I need to get things done.

You can go into monk-mode too if you’d like. Here’s how:

1. Set an email auto-reply to handle your incoming mail.

2. Remove all digital distractions (notifications, pings + dings).

3. Turn off your wifi (you won’t need the Internet or email in monk-mode).

4. Prime. Find the highest quality source material to inspire your work: read some Virgil or the poetic Edda, look at Zumthor, listen to Beethoven or Frahm. Curate to your taste, just make sure only the highest caliber material makes it past your filter.

5. Do the verb. Dig in and do the difficult work you’ve been avoiding; the important but not urgent work.

Without interruptions it’s just you and the work in front of you. If you don’t get it done now, you’ll know the thing that’s keeping you from doing the work is you (maybe you already knew that?) Or, you may find yourself drawn to something more interesting. Do that instead.

You may be surprised by all you’ll accomplish in monk mode. In fact, you may not want to leave it. But, staying there long-term can be harmful to those around you and those you care deeply about. So use it strategically.

See you on the other side.

/eric