First things first. I am starting up again.

And, I am taking the traditional route of starting up. Keep overheads low (or zero), deliver value, charge,  and make a profit. In the pursuit of these goals, I am working mostly from home, though I have access to offices if I need a meeting place. And, there are always coffee shops.

Sometime last year I figured that my experiments with corporate employment are going awry. I am by nature an entrepreneur, and need to carve my own path. When I finally took t he plunge, I did what a fair few people have done before me – filled up my day with activities that would keep me busy (and also help in my start up – or so I thought). When I would look at my outlook calendar – and I use this extensively to just schedule various activities – every single block would be accounted for. Every half an hour.  And, I would rush from meeting to meeting.

Once in 3-4 months, I take stock of things and activities. Been doing this for quite sometime. That part includes cleaning out my cupboard, and giving away unused stuff. Cleaning out my music, and giving up music I don’t hear anymore. And, my books too. This time, about a month ago,  while folding the umpteenth saree blouse (that I will never wear) and putting it in the ‘to give away’ pile – a thought struck me – clean cupboard but cluttered life. And I pretty much began doing the same with life. Cleaned out the metaphoric cupboard. Got out of assignments that were going nowhere; finished some assignments and said ‘see you soon’ but not just now, trimmed the, metaphorical, flab in my life.

While you know instinctively that It is not important to do 20 things, one thing done well is good enough; reality is different. You worry about lost opportunities. So, yesterday, I was wondering if I had gone wrong in saying no to some plum assignments. Assignments that I would have not just enjoyed, but would have gained me greater visibility, and earned me more than decent income, I serendipitously came across two articles, and one more today. Old articles that miraculously popped up in my stream of consciousness. I wasn’t even looking for them, and I stumbled on them.

The first is a HBR article on the Disciplined Pursuit of Less

By applying tougher criteria we can tap into our brain’s sophisticated search engine. If we search for “a good opportunity,” then we will find scores of pages for us to think about and work through. Instead, we can conduct an advanced search and ask three questions: “What am I deeply passionate about?” and “What taps my talent?” and “What meets a significant need in the world?” Naturally there won’t be as many pages to view, but that is the point of the exercise. We aren’t looking for a plethora of good things to do. We are looking for our absolute highest point of contribution.

The second was the Greek concept of time – Kairos, and this is especially needed for me, because I am often distracted in my current activity, by what I have to do next.

Kairos, on the other hand, has a spiritual implication, a sense of significance. It represents time “in the moment,” giving everything into that moment and receiving everything it has to offer. On Kairos time, you are truly present, not rushing toward the next thing.

The third and fourth article, appeared on my TL this morning.  Stop Spending So Much Time In Your Head

I know something about you without knowing you. I bet you spend A LOT of time in your head.

You know, thinking, worrying, stressing, freaking out — call it whatever you want. I call it a preoccupied mind. And with what?

99% of your thoughts are useless.

I wasn’t looking for these articles. They found me. It may sound strange, but this is not the first time it has happened. I have been deeply engrossed in a train of thought, with a few blockages – and bingo – a key appears on the internet.

Yeah. Decluttered, focused, action oriented me. I needed to read the four,  not because I didn’t know it, but because, right now, I do need reinforcement. This is like getting an intellectual hug. And, the readings gave me that.

And, now the next frontier – Deep Work.

“We have a growing amount of research which tells us that if you spend large portions of your day in a state of fragmented attention—where your regular workflow is constantly broken up by taking frequent breaks to just check in with social media—that this can permanently reduce your capacity for concentration,” said Newport.

This I have to learn to do. Working mostly from home, means distractions galore. I have already begun cutting back on Social media involvement, it needs to be more focussed usage – certain times of the day, rather than being there in the background.

So, yeah. stuff you know (or ought to know) – focus, focus, focus – comes back to you thro’ articles that reinforce what you are doing.

And, finally, my favorite story on focus, is from the Mahabharat – ‘what do you see ?” asks Drona of Arjuna. The test is for him to shoot the eye of the bird, hung on a tree at a distance. Every other brother and cousin had failed the test – they had spent a lot of time giving Drona elaborate descriptions of what they see. “The eye of the bird” said Arjuna. And, that is what made him the best archer of them all. Focus.