Scheduled Incubation

“Deep work".” It sounds so serious, so important, so heavy, so adult. When we hear others say they are entering into, in the middle of, or just coming out of deep work, we look at them like a hibernating bear: a little nervous, and a little curious. Deep work is time set aside to work on one thing and one thing only. It’s usually something that takes lots of mental energy but provides great relief on the other side.

The truth is, our naiveté about deep work is probably just jealousy. Jealous that they were somehow able to carve out the time to make such strides on a project or vision that we wish we had the time for.

Like most everything else in life, I always say,

“If it doesn’t get scheduled, it doesn’t get done.”

If you desire a deep work or deep thinking time, put it on the schedule and be relentless about it. You need time to plan, to dream, to flesh out, so make time for it. Deep work is less hibernation and more incubation. In incubation, there is a sense of development undergoing beneath the surface. A little “scheduled incubation” is where that breakthrough idea may be hiding. Go get it.