The Power Of Deep Diving
How to boost your idea creation abilities.
While this blog is for everyone, it is optimised for DAO community managers.
Before you dive into the contents of this blog, I’d like to ask that you hide and mute all technological distractions (except the one you’re reading this on, duh). The art of deep diving requires a clear and focused mind.
What is deep diving?
Deep diving can simply be defined as an in-depth analysis of either a problem or a subject. Unsurprisingly, there is a much deeper level than simply doing research or analysis. To me, the biggest benefit of deep diving comes from self-studying and a willingness to improve. In this blog, I will cover the various inhibitors that could hold you back as well as the tips I’ve used to overcome inefficiency.
Read on to find out how I’ve streamlined the art of deep diving in order to boost my ability to create more ideas.
Personal Thoughts
I like adding an account that details some form of personal experience to my blogs. I find that personal context makes content so much more engaging and relatable. Let me know if you agree.
I was homeschooled from the age of 10 and completed my AS Cambridge levels. I had tutors, attended classes, wrote exams and socialised violently, like any other teen. I didn’t particularly enjoy school though. It bored me. My creative and entrepreneurial mind didn’t gel well with the confines of a classroom. I was also a tad too lazy to pursue things that didn’t interest me. There was, however, one key benefit of being homeschooled: the endless drive of self studying.
The younger you learn the ability of self-studying, the quicker you’ll master the art of deep diving.
Although it boasts some benefits, the traditional school system is inherently flawed in its ability to teach young students the art of self studying — a skill which is vital in grown-up life.
I’m not here to bash anyone’s schooling, all I am saying is that more can be done to introduce teens to the essential skills required for adult life.
How To Improve Your Deep Diving Skills
Most people participate in the great deep dive without knowing it. My purpose with this blog is to create awareness within your mind and assist you in streamlining that awareness. Through this process, I also seek to help you rewire your mind to optimise for idea creation. This blog also represents part of my own quest to dive as deeply into this mindset as possible. In a way, I am writing out the formula of my very own deep dive quest and I’d like to share the recipe with you.
A conscious effort to enhance a skill you already posses is the foundation of mastery.
Research, writing and engaging are core parts of my responsibility as the Foundry DAO community manager. The position requires a lot of upskilling (so does life in general, really). Through this, a natural hunger to deep dive into relevant topics developed. Here is an in depth breakdown of thoughts and tips on how you can become better at deep diving.
You don’t need to be interested in anything in order to get started.
If you think that you can only optimise your ability to dive into the world of thought and knowledge if you’re already interested in something, you’re wrong. I know this may seem absurd. But, if you’re a procrastinator, putting your finger on a topic that you truly value might be difficult, if not impossible. I know this to be true because for a long time the only thing I could spend meaningful time doing was social media scrolling. I was that procrastinator who had a completely false sense of ambition. The, I’ll do it tomorrow mentality, is a killer of great minds. I always claimed wanting to achieve greatness, but hardly ever backed it up.
Goodness, how I dread the dreary life of a social scroller. Being consumed by Facebook scrolling or Instagram-reel-watching is one of the worst and most inefficient things you can do with your time. It inspires no real thought and does far more harm than good.
As a community manager, these struggles are quite dangerous. It is your role to guide and empower people. If your own motivation and work ethic isn’t streamlined, you cannot be in charge of managing a community. I’ll provide more personal insight on how you can overcome this hurdle.
People only spend time on things that are worth it. This is one of the biggest challenges in creating an engaged community. My best advice for those who struggle finding interests or motivation is igniting the flame within. We all have the right materials, finding a way to ignite the spark is all that’s needed. The exciting thing about finding the spark is that it doesn’t have to be big in order to ignite the fully fledged fire of inspiration.
Damn, I’ve digressed deeply. Yes, you can become a deep diver even though you have no real immediate direction. Here’s a long solution to a common problem. Pay close attention to the logic, as it is a blueprint which can be tailored to that which holds you back.
The problem:
You’re a social media manager who, through their job, has been locked in the consumption of content. You do your job well enough — but barely — in order to retain a monthly salary. However, you’re dreadfully aware of the fact that your anchor client’s biggest competitor has upped their social channels. The visuals are fantastic and their social media manager is clearly innovative and energized. You know this, but you don’t do anything about it. You promise yourself that, tomorrow, you’ll buy that course on marketing. You might even write down a couple of cool ideas. But, ultimately, your paper is blank. There is no bigger picture other than the instant gratification at your finger tips. You slowly descend into a deep and regretting space of inefficiency.
The solution:
If the above problem sounds too realistic to be a hypothetical, it’s because it is for the most part (I might have added a dramatic flair for a more impactful effect). I used to be that guy. If you face the same struggles, whatever the context, try out the following tips.
Scarcity Is More Satisfying
The first thing you should implement is limit for app screen time. To the addicted social media browsee, this might be wildly scary. But do it. At first, allow yourself to extend the limit— unless you’re ready to respect it completely. Be wary though. The goal here isn’t to dismiss the prompt, it’s to train your mind to get used to the fact that instant gratification has a fast approaching expiry date. From here, remind yourself of the satisfaction of scarcity instead of the false pleasure of instant gratification.
As the old saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
I don’t want your heart to grow fonder of social media browsing though. I want you to retrain your mind to deeply appreciate scarcity.
Challenge and Overcome
The human mind loves a challenge and finds immense gratification in achieving the end-goal. I’ll bring you back to the previous paragraph. To me, one of the best things of setting an app limited was seeing by how much I can beat the limit. Here’s a fun game you can play:
For the purpose of this game, let’s assume your daily allowed Facebook browsing limit is 30 minutes. Facebook is the antagonist and you’re the hero. You get a head start of 15 points but the more you browse, the more points you lose. For every minute of content consumption, you lose a point and Facebook gains one. At the end of the game, you only win if you can browse for less than 15 minutes. At first, Facebook will win, but eventually you’ll start beating the bully. And let me tell you, elementary as it may seem, the feeling is truly freeing.
This beauty of this game is that it not only distracts you from the 30-minute, it accustoms you to want to spend even less time on meaningless browsing.
Accountability and Trust Foster Commitment
Find a close person whom you trust and tell them about your struggle and the fact that you’re working on a solution. If you struggle with shyness, mention it casually. But, try to make short and powerful statements. “Hey, I want to tell you about a problem I’m faced with. I spend way too much time on Facebook. It’s killing my workflow!” Back this problem up with a commitment. “I’m totally sick of being a social media platform’s slave. I’m going to be more conscious of my screen time.” Finish by asking for accountability and invite them to join. “Do you mind keeping an eye on me? In fact, are you keen to join me on this for a month?” At the very minimum, the outcome of this question will at least be that someone will keep you accountable to your commitment.
Joining forces with a loved-one will establish accountability. What you lack in self-motivation is a struggle that is likely to be mitigated by the responsibility of not letting your new team member down.
The Sudden Joy of Time
The problem above will apply to many people, but not all. But, as mentioned, it’s a blue print. You can apply the logic to any situation you experience. All you need to do is get yourself far enough to spot the efficiency blocker — sometimes over working might even represent such a blocker. Whatever it may be, implementing reminders and accountability to a situation that holds you back will allow you to build the bridge towards overcoming such hurdles.
Self-attained insights are lasting insights. The best way of changing a bad habit comes from within.
Boosting Idea Creation
Out of personal experience, you should already have new ideas based purely on the newfound free time. Our brains are naturally curious and hungry for information. Laziness and self-control are the greatest inhibitors of that fact. There are ways of boosting your ability to come up with new ideas. Here are my tips.
Be Daring: The man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there. That man also risked a lot in order to get to the top. What you should understand about these statements is that it won’t be easy and a level of risk is involved. Don’t be afraid of coming up with risky ideas. What’s the worst that can happen? If death or imprisonment aren’t present in your answer, it’s probably okay.
Document Your Thoughts. There’s no use in thinking outside of the box if you do not document it — that would literally be like pouring water into a glass and never drinking it. Documenting ideas assists with refinement. A technique I always use is to capture my ideas in their most raw form. From there, I try to refine as much as possible. Via this process of refinement, I’ve often discovered my best new ideas. Being more articulate with your thoughts actually stimulates a dedicated creative mindset — a state where you’ll be at your optimum ability to come up with new thoughts.
Understand Yourself. Pay close attention to your goals. Don’t operate too far outside of the realm that best captures your thoughts. Your ideas have align with who you are as person, before you can change perspective. Failing to do so will be confusing. You’ll spend more time justifying thoughts as apposed to confirming them.
Break Away. Routine is great, but I can definitely recommend breaking it in strategic ways. However, never form a bad habit by breaking a good one. For example, I decided to work towards waking up at 5 am in the morning in order to be more efficient (even though I did meet all of my deadlines already). I started by waking up earlier in increments. It took me 3-weeks to comfortably wake up at 5 am. The new routine has placed me within two spectrums of idea creation. I now dedicate early mornings to work — by arriving at the office around 6am. The process stimulates my mind in the sense that there are very few distractions during early hours. Secondly, going to bed earlier in order to sustain my new habit has resulted in a more streamlined mindset. For some reason, encouraging my brain to switch off at a set time has also help me to be more switched on at key times (especially right before bed for some reason).
Apply Convenience. This is a quick tip. But something that has helped me is to implement tools that assist me. I work the best when I write my thoughts down on a notebook. For some reason, this little ritual helps me to better communicate and capture thoughts. I also keep the book on me at — almost — all times.
The Final Key. The final tip is to pay close attention to your surroundings and the world you operate in. A brilliant way of encouraging thought-creation comes from asking questions. The best way of asking questions is to pay close attention. These questions might be inner monologue or actual conversations. Either way, this curiosity to find answers will help greatly.
