A Deep Life Monthly Matrix Experiment
So I have written about Cal Newport’s Deep Life buckets before, but as he works out the next evolution of his buckets, he had proposed these:
community (family, friends, etc.),
craft (work and quality leisure),
constitution (health), and
contemplation (matters of the soul).
I found a really interesting follow up post where he proposes to use them to form month-long sprints. Take a look at this example:
What I love about it is that it breaks down his older model of 4 buckets into actionable goals and habits that will both help amplify efforts that get him closer to his vision and reduce activities that get in the way.
Newport breaks it down this way:
To be more concrete, consider focusing on two things for each component of your life that you’re trying to improve:
A high-impact habit that will significantly amplify the value you’re deriving from this component.A commitment for reducing sources of distraction or unnecessary effort diverting your attention within this component.
He suggests trying to do these monthly. I love this because it’s not too long of a commitment — I don’t have to shoot for the moon! But it also feels like a tangible enough timeframe that if I hit these, I can make some traction.
Makes sense right? Now it’s my turn — I want to spend the next month trying my hand at my own Monthly Buckets exercise and I’ll report back on how I did.
Here’s a crack at one:
I’ll report back after a month and let you know how they went, and if it’s worth keeping this up as a practice.
Inspiration:
Cal Newport’s blog post on Cultivating a Deep Life: https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2020/04/20/cultivating-a-deep-life/
