My parents, Janet and Doug, came and visited Rose, Edith and I in San Francisco earlier this month. They were with us for two weeks, which was terrific. To celebrate their visit, and to make the most of it, I took two weeks of annual leave. In that time, I disconnected from ‘work’ things and just focused on being in the moment as much as I could with my family. But a strange thing happened along the way. I got the urge to write here on this blog again. It felt good to be back.
And so, I connected again but in a different way. In coming back to work at Yammer early this week, I caught up with Matt Partovi to sync about a few projects we’re working on. In the early minutes of our catchup, I explained what I think is the difference. Whilst on vacation, I wasn’t focusing on ‘processing’ all of the various things that come at me each day. Don’t get me wrong – I love what I do – but the processing bit can consume me during the days. Whether it’s responding to yammer messages, emails, instant messages or calls there’s a lot to consume. Without that, I was more able to focus on doing some writing. I wouldn’t say the posts of the last week were particularly terrific, but there are a couple I am proud of and that have continued to give me pause for thought here and there. The difference is that you’re not writing, or spending keystrokes, on responding to stimuli but pausing and considering the world and producing something to try and explain that. To try and take what’s in your head and describe it for people. To create.
None of this is particularly earth shattering or new. Indeed, it’s mostly the same kind of thoughts that echo through the famous GTD series. Jason Shah also nailed today with this tweet.
We’re fast approaching the end of the year, which brings with it that special time when often our minds turn to thoughts of creation. What do you want to create in 2015?
The Squiggly Line 