Soaking in Silence

I read a book a while back — I’m known to do that — discussing how the plague of multitasking and numerous daily distractions kills productivity.

Crazy, right?! I thought multitasking was supposed to be the bomb!

NOPE

The book is Deep Work, by Cal Newport. I’m not here to give you a book review. What I will tell you is that the ideas presented in the book have been nothing short of powerfully transformative.

Separating oneself from distractions, freeing the mind to dive deep into the sea of thought, is a tall order. Modern life is filled with distractions. Even writing this post I’m tempted to click over to local weather, the news, what’s the best movie to watch on Netflix tonight?

Checking texts, changing the Sirius XM station to play…lo! And behold! Aldo Nova!

How many of you remember that blast from the past?

And there you have it. We’re off reminiscing about high school days…

Or at least I’m reminiscing; my brother gave me that album for my birthday.

And…we’re back on topic, which is breaking free from distractions. Even background music can be a distraction.

I struggled with this for years. Even my love of distance running could be a distraction from getting serious about my writing. My ability to focus, having come a long way, still requires constant, diligent attention. I need to focus on focusing.

I love music. There are days when I have music playing from the time I wake up until I go to bed. It’s not often a distraction, but I just demonstrated how it can be. Even now: Don Henley’s Boys of Summer reminding me strongly of a girl, a woman I once knew.

When I really want to focus, unfortunately even the music has to go.

Silence.

Have you tried it lately? What in your life prevents you from finding your corner away from distractions?

Silence is its own music. It’s powerful. When all of the demands on our attention are stripped away, we’re left with ourselves and the freedom to focus.

I’m not trying to tell you that you have to unplug from everything and shut yourself in a soundproof room. I have music in the background right now. Atmosphere.

But there are some tasks that demand uninterrupted trains of thought. My trains often derail for the slightest reason. For me, silence is sometimes the sweetest salve to heal a fractured attention span.

Last night is an example. I thought I was going to catch a couple of episodes of Tiny Beautiful Things on Hulu and then read before bed. I’d just finished dinner and loaded the dishwasher.

The house was silent. Bastet was rubbing against my leg; she always has to be with me when I’m in the kitchen.

No noise from the neighbors.

Perfect silence…well, my tinnitus notwithstanding.

I didn’t want to disturb that bastion of quietude. I could almost reach out and touch it. I decided against the plan for Hulu. I read for the rest of the night.

Let’s see how tonight goes. I like the show. It’s based on the book by Cheryl Strayed.