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I finished reading my first book on a Nook last week–the weighty 642-page biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. (I want to re-thank Tessa McGovern for inviting me to her echook event at Barnes & Noble a few months back. It was there that I won the raffle for a color Nook.) I was riveted to every word about this genius–the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let me tell you, there was plenty of ugly. But that’s for another blog post.
One of the neat things about the Nook is that you can write notes and highlight sections. I didn’t use that capability until I hit page 464 where Tim Cook, whom Jobs tapped to replace him at Apple, stated “There is no one better at turning off the noise that is going on around him…That allows him to focus on a few things and say no to many things. Few people are really good at that.”
With the you-know-what approaching (that “h” word), I’m noticing increasing frenzy and a lack of focus wherever I go. Some of the questions I get from clients and webinar participants are based around too many goals and choices. These are good questions, and I’m sympathetic. I, too, can put way too much on my plate.
But, I’m with Steve Jobs on this one. Pick one or two projects to put all of your focus on, knowing that good ideas will be there when you’re ready for them.
At a writing workshop I attended years ago, one participant told the instructor that she had hundreds of ideas for book titles. I felt jealousy surge up in me as I sat next to this prolific idea person. The teacher’s response surprised and satisfied me. I’m paraphrasing, but she said something like, “It’s a cop-out to keep thinking of ideas. The hard work is to sit down with just ONE and commit to it. Writing is about writing, not about thinking of titles.” Ouch, and aha!
My advice for when you’re feeling scattered? Choose one thing to focus on for a few hours until it’s complete. Turn off the phone. Don’t look at email or social media, and commit your time to the work in front of you. Complete that one thing, whether it’s wrapping gifts, planning your goals for 2012 or re-writing your homepage. It’s better to complete one thing than to get 1/2 way through a dozen things.
Like this:
I just left my Remarkable Women’s Network event, checked my BlackBerry and saw the NYTimes news alert that Steve Jobs had passed away. My heart did a little dive and my stomach feels jittery. I’m sad.
An era has ended. We have lost a major contributor to life as we know it. Wow, what a loss.
This is a story we’ve been waiting for, but the finality of it is still sobering. I feel privileged to have lived at this time of stunning innovation and creativity. As it said in the Seattle Times–
“I sort of look at us as two of the luckiest guys on the planet,” Jobs said to Gates. “We found what we love to do, and we were at the right place at the right time.”
To me, it’s like we’ve lived during the invention of the Gutenberg press. Everything in our lives has been radically altered by the birth and development of the desktop, then laptop, now pocket-sized computers. How amazing to watch this transformation and its impact on our society. Breath-taking!
I’m sorry for Steve Jobs’ ill health. I wish him well as he leaves Apple.
I had a personal brush with him before I knew who he was. My eggs appeared on the cover of the FLAX Art & Design catalog in the early 90′s. One day my phone rang. It was Steve Jobs, although his name meant nothing to me back then. He ordered four of my eggs. Pretty cool. I always hoped to meet him and introduce myself. I still hope to.
