Rabbit holes
🌞
In 1865, a girl called Alice went down one and got lost in a somewhat different world. I’m sure it’s always happened, but that’s when it got the catchy name. I’ve been down my own rabbit hole recently, a tech version, in case you wondered why I’ve been avoiding your inbox 😊
What I (re)discovered, was this:
It’s very addictive. Specifically allowing myself to get lost in a new technology, finding and solving one problem after another; like whack-a-mole, delivering a constant stream of dopamine hits as each minor challenge gets vanquished. It wasn’t long before the hours slipped by unnoticed, as somewhat mindless task completion became my sole focus.
It lessened my capacity to be a more complete human being. This was a surprise, but I’ve been through it so many times over the years, so it really shouldn’t be. In swapping the complexity of projects and people for the simplicity of one man against the world, I became that ‘one man’ so completely, that I let connections with others drop away. I love a difficult conversation, but here I was pushing them away, so I could write more code!
Truth be told, in case you spend more time with me than most and hadn’t noticed me being less present, I was only ‘lost’ in there for a couple of days – after that I managed to operate quite normally from rabbit town, inviting complexity into the burrow and setting aside the mole whacker, to listen and discover. What pulled me out of the game was my mindfulness practice – it’s so useful in reminding me when I’m not present – perhaps the only thing I’m actually getting faster at with age 🤣
The value I got from bringing introspection into my Salvidor Dali-esque subterranean world, was perspective. It reminded me how I got here and where I’ve been along the way. It reminded me why good productive work matters, both simple and complex, how essential it is that we make time for both. It helped me live the principle of ‘productive not busy’ – allowing myself to put down some things, rather than some people (which is why I took a break from being here).
My challenge for you in the coming week is twofold (or for some even three):
If you sometimes feel like you don’t get much done, perhaps you’ve become mired in complexity. Put some of those difficult conversations and long-term projects to one side for a day or two. Find some small set of tasks that might make you feel instantly useful. Do one thing that is simple and adds value.
If you always get a lot done, but can’t remember the last time you knocked off early, sat down with someone, and really listened to what is happening in their world – do it now!
While you’re doing one or both of those things, listen to your body, think about how you feel, and afterwards ask yourself about balance – do you have enough of it?
An observation from me on figurative moles, reinforced by my recent endeavours:
You can never whack all of the moles. No matter how fast you whack them, or how long you play, the moles just keep coming.
Some things I’ve read in the last week or so that helped me think about balance:
“It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested.” – Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
“The part of life we really live is small. For all the rest of existence is not life, but merely time.” – Seneca, On the Shortness of Life
“No one is sure what they’re capable of until they are tested…but life will test all of us.” – Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic
“We all make mistakes. That's why your pencil has an eraser.” ― Chris Grabenstein, Whack A Mole
Finally, I hope that you remember to make time for yourself, try to take care of others, and search for joy in whatever you’re doing. Don’t worry if you don’t find it every day; just keep looking, just do the work – it’ll come.
Cheers,
Kyle
An AI take on playing whack-a-mole while down a rabbit hole (it’s a little darker than I expected 😨)