diff --git a/src/content/blog/2023-05-11-deep-work.md b/src/content/blog/2023-05-11-deep-work.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..534b806 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/content/blog/2023-05-11-deep-work.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: Deep work is unnatural, real, and non-negotiable +date: 2023-05-11T20:48:10.313Z +slug: 2023-05-11-deep-work +author: Thomas Wilson + +--- +By nature I am very opinionated, so I try hard to make my opinions changeable. It's the least I can do for other people. + +There are a handful of beliefs that you shouldn't flex on. One such belief is that the kinds of problems I like working with demand deep work. + +I build software and (increasingly) teams that build software, I make clothes, I run/cycle. + +The quality of work that comes from uninterrupted, narrow, intense *thinking* needs to be treated as a particularly rare animal that you desperately want to live in the habitat of your life or your work. + +Unfortunately, deep work is not particularly natural, or urgent, or sturdy. The overgrown vines of life will push it out – a full calendar, messages/emails, an early appointment overrunning by five minutes. + +The cue for deep work is rarely self-evident or pressing, though we long dream of the empty calendar block. + +This means that culture, the people around you (who are not you), need to recognise deep work as a real and non-negotiable kind of work. + +I am trying to be that kind of colleague, that person who's pushing others re-prioritise (at least a little) deep work. I'm trying to pump up the Social Approval Dopamine, to counter the Replying To An Instant Message Dopamine that the deep work competes with. + +Because the deep work is so hard to attract, and then to keep around - I think having to convince others of its existence and benefits would be too much. It would be unwieldy, and twice the work. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/src/routes/+page.svelte b/src/routes/+page.svelte index 7f73d56..ad370a4 100644 --- a/src/routes/+page.svelte +++ b/src/routes/+page.svelte @@ -16,9 +16,10 @@

Thomas Wilson

- I'm a software engineer who loves the craft of leading teams, and building - software that is reliable and human-friendly. I build good things with - good people for good companies. + I'm a software engineer who loves the messy craft of leading teams and + building software. I like finding the tension between + minimal and complete. I build good things with good people + for good companies.

@@ -137,12 +138,16 @@ } section p { + padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: var(--spacing-md); + font-size: 1.3rem; + color: var(--gray-700); } - .strapline p { + .thomaswilson-strapline > p { padding-top: 4px; padding-bottom: 1rem; + font-size: 1.65rem; color: var(--gray-700); }