The best way to walk down the path is with long, uninterrupted sessions. What Cal Newport calls Deep work. Practice sessions that involve zero distraction, which can be enhanced with ambient music.
As society progresses, there are more demands for your attention because attention is how corporations continue to survive. Forces in the world do not want you to be focused on your path, because that means you aren’t giving value to another group or individual, instead you are refining value in yourself.
Notifications work to keep you distracted from your life. Corporations say they want to keep you updated; that’s because they want your money, which you earn with time, which they want to take away from you.
In a 2015 survey of college students, phone use in class for non-class purposes averaged 11.7 times per day, or 21% of class time. Another survey showed that 92% ofcollege students reported using their phones to text during class[1]
Fulfillment is found walking the path and following The Way; Not following distractions, no matter how they are rationalized. Living distracted is lost potential. Focused work goes forward, while unfocused, distracted work is uncertain.
Author of Jurassic Park, and other books, Michael Crichton, would finish his books in a few months, spending nearly every hour of every day writing. Usually 16 hours a day of writing. Before being a writer, he was a medical doctor. before he passed away, he showed a clear commitment to his paths.
Time spent on the path is where life is fulfilling. Most of your life should be spent on the path. Ideally, an average day involves 13 hours or more on the path.
Below are tips for having a successful 13-hour working session.
13 Tips for Having a 13-hour Work Session
1. Turn your phone on silent
You need to create defenses against distractions. One of those is turning your phone on silent and without vibrate turned on. Any other kind of notification must be silenced, and should be considered for permanent removal. If you are working at the desk and have messaging apps, those need to be silenced. You may also need to use a website blocker to train yourself to avoid distracting websites.
You want to remain in your workspace as much as possible. Deal with anything outside of your workspace that could pull you away from it before you begin.
2. Walk different paths
A 13-hour grind is not supposed to be on one path entirely. You want to spend 13 hours a day touching each path from Body, Mind, Spirit. If you work too much in one pillar, others will be neglected and you will suffer for it. You cannot thrive being entirely committed to one. If you’re overcommitted to mind, your body will wither or accumulate too much mass, and rust from disuse. If you aren’t caring for your spirit, you won’t have the drive to engage physically or mentally.
When you hit a point of slowing progress down the path because of accumulated fatigue, pivot to another pillar because each have their own fatigue.
3. Eat
Eat at the right time to enhance your working sessions. For some, it’s difficult to concentrate on the mind pillar after eating a meal full of carbs. A meal full of carbs can enhance the body pillar when eaten before or after training. You need to eat to support what pillar you plan to engage.
You may need to spend the first part of your day walking down a mental path in a fasted state, have your first meal and work your body, then end with something that touches spirit.
4. Take 10-minute activity breaks during mental work
Take ten-minute breaks for physical activity when you’re working intensely on a mental path. Alternatively you can do a longer body session once you are done with mental work for the day. You cannot neglect the body; all of the pillars are equal in importance.
You can keep a kettlebell in your office. Reflex balls are fun. TRX Straps can be hung on any door. You can always go for a walk.
You can take breaks for physical activity on a schedule or when you need it. Ideally you take breaks for physical activity when you are NOT flowing in mental work. The physical activity breaks are meant to allow you to flow more, by getting a little break. You should never interrupt strong flow.
5. Proper Micronutrients
Having exceptional nutrition habits will help you in all things. More nutrition will allow you to demand more from your Body, Mind, and Spirit.
Everyone should take Vitamin D3. It’s cheap, literal sunshine in a pill, that is sometimes referred to as a hormone.
A multivitamin is a good base. If it won’t hurt you and could provide a benefit, it’s worth it. Take all the benefits you can find. Most people don’t eat enough vegetables, and almost everyone can benefit from eating more of them. So a green powder supplement is a good addition to a health stack.
ZMA is Zinc Magnesium Aspartate, which is shown to increase testosterone and improve sleep. Women can take it too. ZMA will help you sleep, giving more energy, making you more rested.
6. Light therapy
We spend more of our time indoors and less time in the sun, which is why we need to supplement with vitamin D3. Ideally you get real sunlight each day, starting in the morning, and throughout the day. Having a light therapy lamp mimics being outdoors. It is a great addition to a desk. Tanning provides similar benefits.
7. The right audio
Don’t listen to songs with words while you’re working. People forget music is entertainment. It’s distracting. It’s meant to hook you.
You don’t want to focus on the music, you want to focus on the work.
Instead of music, listen to mixes, loops, or songs without words. Classical music is good too.
8. Create a working environment you actually ENJOY
Your workspace needs to be an inspirational place you enjoy being in. Steven Pressfield has a lucky cannon on his desk that shoots inspiration into him. Place inspiration around you in your workplace.
A comfortable chair that allows for proper posture makes all the difference. A standing desk is better than a desk that only allows sitting.
Get something lucky in there with you. A Neko Cat can work.
9. Meditate often
If you’re playing the mindfulness game, you understand that meditation can happen many times a day. Instead of taking a break and looking at your phone, you can look at nothing and meditate for 10-360 seconds.
You need to quiet your mind while on the path.
Clear your mind with meditation before you start. That could involve taking care of a few outstanding chores that are loud in your mind, or meditating directly. Breathing methods are good before you start, too.
Put your short-term and urgent affairs in order before you go deep.
10. Be alone
You need to be alone on the island and away from outsiders. If the project requires two of you, you two should be the only ones there. When you’re on the path and need to focus, you cannot be with outsiders because it is not outsiders’ business.
If you’re working in a public space and it’s loud, you can get noise cancelling headphones.
You want to be alone so other people are not occupying your mind. This is why you also need to turn off your phone notifications. We only want to think about the work.
11. Plants
The benefits of having plants in our workspaces cannot be denied. We want to be outside. Plants make us feel more like we’re outdoors, and they clean the air. You should have as many plants as it makes sense for you to properly take care of.
Get plants from a local nursery first, instead of buying from a corporation if you can avoid it. We need to take more power from them by not giving them money.
You can get plants that are low maintenance. Go support your local asian market and buy some lucky bamboo.
The plants NASA tested for their space stations are surprisingly low-maintenance.
12. A visual reminder of why
Why are you doing what you’re doing? A visual reminder of a goal or a philosophy can be a strong reminder to keep going. You could keep The Book of Five Rings within reach.
Why are you doing what you are doing? A visual reminder of a goal, a mission, or a philosophy can be a nice reminder to keep going. Or a picture of someone who love who you can’t wait to come home to. That could also be a distraction.
13. Find The Meaning
If you find the meaning you will keep going until you have nothing left. If you cannot find the meaning, try and get away from that task. Life demands we do things we don’t want to do, and we try to minimize them understanding we can never make them go away entirely.
Meaning is deeper than fun. You will experience higher levels of fun by having less of it and having more meaningful pursuits. Too much fun is like too much sugar. If it goes down easy and burns bright, there is always a negative attached.
Summation
You should spend most of your time working on your paths. This does not mean focusing entirely on one pillar, but touching each pillar of Body, Mind, Spirit daily and thoroughly.