Stop Talking About It And Just Build It

In: Advice|Productivity By: Brian Armstrong

22 Jul 2009

Saw this great video about Facebook’s development team today. Got me thinking…more companies need to think like this. Focused, uninterrupted work is the greatest gift you have…but how often do we really do it?

Generally speaking, if you are answering your phone, opening snail mail, chatting, emailing, even talking with other people at all…you are NOT working. Sorry to say it but you’re not. Work is when you are alone, by yourself in your room, with all communication devices turned off. 20 minutes later you’ll actually be in the zone and then you’re really working. That’s when you get real writing done. That’s when you can strategize about the next moves for your company. That’s when you can design great marketing. That’s when you can design great art or great engineering. That’s where breakthroughs happen. That’s when you see connections between completely different ideas and how they could be better together. That’s when you really produce instead of just reacting to things all day.

It’s a fragile state that you can be broken out of easily too with any sort of interruption. Doing this type of intense mental focus isn’t easy, and it’s quite rare to do it for 8 hours a day (it’s like sprinting for 8 hours a day – you’ll need a long recovery period). But it’s totally reasonable to do this for maybe 3 or 4 hours a day, staggered with periods of rest. Most people have huge mental routines to prepare themselves for these intense sessions, and we avoid them psychologically. Ok…first get coffee, then browse headlines, ok finally settling in for some work…put on favorite soundtrack…..avoid a dozen other temptations…and GO. And usually every 90 minutes or so you’ll have to break out of that state and take a mental breather for 20 minutes. You need the breaks to recover mentally and physically to keep blood sugar up etc. It’s a mental marathon. But it’s also the only way to get real work done.

Link to the video here.

Try to have more of these intense mental sessions every day on something you love and have the potential to one day be the best in the world at. It could be practicing guitar, or it could be building the next great web company. Stop talking about doing something and go do it today in an intense, focused session.

Share and Enjoy:

17 Responses

Robert Luth

July 22nd, 2009 at 10:36 pm

Definitely have to agree with you on this. It is amazing to watch the amount of time people waste not working then they wonder why they never seem to get anything done.

Brian Armstrong

July 23rd, 2009 at 8:45 am

Agreed! I got some good work done today. Have a new product/site coming out later this week, hopefully! :)

College Town Menus (CTM)

July 23rd, 2009 at 2:33 pm

I love these type of articles. Entrepreneurs are naturally a very distracted group of individuals, constantly thinking of new ideas and wanting to work on THOSE instead of what really matters – THEIR current idea. I find myself do this all the time, and it’s very frustrating realizing that I spent all this time on an awesome new idea, but realize that it doesn’t apply to my current overall strategy and mission. It’s also good hearing this from your best friends because they will support you and tell you point-blank when you’re being side tracked, because they want you to succeed! Thanks for the reminder Brian! Time to stop replying on your blog and get back to real work. =)

Brian Armstrong

July 23rd, 2009 at 5:44 pm

That’s true, it can be equally dangerous to go off and start working on something which is just going to be a distraction! I have this problem for sure at times.

Greg Moreno

July 23rd, 2009 at 4:26 pm

I definitely agree on getting in the zone. The unimportant stuff can easily be done anytime in any circumstances but the truly important ones can only be finished when it has your full attention.

I am fan of getting in the zone and actually written a piece on it: http://gregmoreno.ca/2009/02/04/interruption-is-your-enemy/

When I was still working in an office, I convinced management to give our developers a DND (Do Not Disturb) period of 3 hours. It’s a time where no meetings should be held, no interruptions, no phone calls and don’t expect any emails to be answered.

Brian Armstrong

July 23rd, 2009 at 5:53 pm

Nice Greg…impressive you got that idea past management! These things seem obvious but I imagine many big company cultures wouldn’t take to it kindly.

I subscribed to your blog too…I can see we have similar views programming wise. Keep in touch!

P.S. Why is the sub-title of your blog “working hard today so tomorrow I don’t have to”? Makes it sound like you don’t like your job. Shouldn’t it be “the search for work I’ll never want to retire from”? Or something :) Anyway, just a thought. Thanks!

Chris

July 23rd, 2009 at 9:12 pm

Cool post. Have been working on focused, uninterrupted chunks of time, devoted solely to work. Eben Pagan talks a lot about this in his Get Altitude Program, & is based off of Tony Schwartz’s book – Power of Full Engagement. Awesome!

Brian Armstrong

July 25th, 2009 at 8:51 pm

Yur right I forgot to mention that, Tony Schwartz book is great.

Gordie Rogers

July 24th, 2009 at 1:49 am

Hi guys,

Unfortunately I couldn’t see the video because I’m stuck behind the Great Firewall of China where Facebook book is blocked.

Anyway, I think this topic is great as I wrote a post a while back entitled “Thou Shalt Not Multi-task”, which was supporting the view here that you need to focus on one thing at a time and eliminate all distractions, or at least make her go in the other room. Lol!

I would say to those that like to listen to music when working, you may want to consider the type of music you’re listening to. Music with a very strong beat and singing can also be a distraction still. Accelerated learning experts warn people away from that kind of music and instead encourage people to listen to classical music, especially Mozart and Bach. I have found that you can find yourself singing along with a favourite song which means your brain is not 100% focused.

Anyway, thanks for the great post, Brian. I’ll tweet this one for you.

Cheers.

Brian Armstrong

July 25th, 2009 at 8:52 pm

Agreed Gordie, I find music without lyrics works best. (Trance/Electronic is another good option).

Dan

July 24th, 2009 at 6:28 am

Hey there Brian,

Nice post!

On a separate issue, I wanted to kindly ask you if you had a suggestion for a site to search for apartments in BA? I’ve searched craigslist but found the prices higher than I hoped.

Thanks and keep living the good life,
Dan

Brian Armstrong

July 25th, 2009 at 8:56 pm

I agree Dan, prices are higher than I expected too when i first got here. I’ve actually found the best deals on craigslist though. Check the rooms for rent section instead of apartments for rent. When renting an entire apartment it’s going to be more, whether on craigslist or one of the big sites like http://www.4rentargentina.com/.

The other option is to get a broker to negotiate on your behalf, you’ll pay him a fee but he can possibly negotiate a locals price for you. I know the guy behind this site personally and he seems good although I never used the service myself: http://basimplerent.com.ar/

You can tell him I referred you if you want.

Jamie Baker

July 26th, 2009 at 4:15 am

Thanks for the continued encouragement Brian. I have finally honed in on what it is I was meant to do. I waffled for awhile after reading your book, but I know now that I am a writer. Now that I can see it clearly, people are getting on board right and left. In the last 90 days, doing exactly what you say in this post, I have written about 30,000 words (posted on my website), I have started a book and am about 15% complete, and have written a children’s book that is currently being illustrated. Oh, and all while still working full time. I’m hoping that will be ending very soon. Focused, dedicated effort has made all the difference. I don’t go a day without writing, reading, continuing to educate myself, working on my business, and maintaining my physical health. Just wanted to let you know that there are those of us who got the message. Keep up the encouragement, because it is always a boost!

Jamie

Brian Armstrong

July 26th, 2009 at 9:24 am

That’s freakin awesome Jamie! I love that you’ve found it. It’s amazing what will start to happen when you get to spend time every day practicing something you are not only good at but love doing. It’ll open up new paths too. Let me know when the book is ready, would love to take a look.

Brian

Dan

July 26th, 2009 at 4:22 am

Thanks for the extra info Brian – much appreciated. I’ll keep searching.

Much thanks,
Dan