Getting ‘Unstuck’

/ Deepak Sharma
Getting Unstuck

Getting ‘Unstuck’

What do you do when you get stuck?

Let’s look at what famous people used to do, when faced with such situations.

Before that, I would like to talk a little bit about Cal Newport’s bestseller, ‘Deep Work’.

Deep Work is an amazing book, built on solid anecdotes and examples. 

The author, speaks in favor of working without distraction for long periods of time to enable you to produce your best work.

Whenever we are exposed to any distraction especially social media, mobile and emails, we tend to lose focus and consequently produce work which is shallow and at times lack quality.

He opens the book by mentioning how Carl Jung, built a house for himself in Swiss countryside to evade distractions and it helped him produce some great work.

He gives various examples to support his claim and it makes sense too, as initially though a bit difficult to practice, as we follow it, we tend to get better at what we are doing and come out with ideas and outcome far superior than when we are in a constant state of distractions and chaos.

Now, coming back to my first question, what some of the famous people used to do when they would get stuck;

Albert Einstein

  • He used to work long hours and believed only with constant practice and work can one get better. He used to put in 10 hours a day, sometime more for 6 days a week and this went in for years.
  • Playing violin was one of his favorite past time and that helped him a great deal in putting his mind to a different use, stimulating it to think novel and creative
  • He also believed epiphany is just a manifestation of your previous hard work, the long hours you have put in to get better at what you are doing. 

“A new idea comes suddenly and in a rather intuitive way…but intuition is nothing but the outcome of earlier intellectual experience.”

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs for most people is an embodiment of creativity and he used to go for long walks or indulge in a radically different pursuit, like once he enrolled for calligraphy class, although he later confessed it helped him in his work later.

  • He also indulged in meditation to refresh his mind and clear mental blocks.

We all though, will have to find our own solutions to issues which catch us off guard, not allowing us to move forward. 

Avoiding distractions, though works well with almost everyone including Einstein and Jobs. 

Also, there is universal acceptance to pursue something else apart from a job to keep oneself motivated and creative.

I personally like to read and juggle football, what’s your way of coming out of a block?

16 thoughts on “Getting ‘Unstuck’”

  3. Very interesting post my friend. When I am blocked I say a prayer for God to work through me to touch even one person and put on a movie soundtrack like Last Samurai, The Gladiator or Amistad.
    I also observe the beauty of nature. When I pray I think I write my best stuff.

    Have a truly blessed day. Love to you and your loved ones. ❤️💕🤗

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  5. Pingback: Attention Restoration Theory – How Nature Helps Us in Concentrating better | deepak sharma writes

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