[017] Absent Attention
Biweekly Articles Sending Positive Messages Into Negative Spaces
Marumarum is a publication focused on sending Positive Messages Into Negative Spaces.
We share biweekly, brief articles on a variety of topics aiming to shed light on a new aspect of life.
-Parker at Marum
[017] Absent Attention
No lyrical music. No TV shows or movies. No conversations in the background. No words. No sentences. No talking.
While writing I have one requirement: no words.
When I think about organizing and creating ideas through words I have found that any other words I hear greatly disrupt my line of thinking.
While I need no words for writing when I execute a design idea I find music, podcasts, TV, movies, or conversations to be beneficial. For others, different types of content are needed to work effectively.
We all have preferred forms of content that we can or cannot use for certain tasks, so knowing what works best for us to get our desired task done is essential. Working distracted leaves me frustrated, less productive, and more stressed. What about you?
Whether intentional or not, we all have experienced when our productivity crashes because we are situated in a position that works against the type of attention we require to succeed. When approaching my work, tasks, or to-do’s, I typically break it down into two primary categories: light or deep thinking.
Deep thinking is the type of action where we need all the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual focus we can muster. Light thinking typically ranges from a very low usage of mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual focus to a medium amount of focus in a given area.
Deep thinking requires me to find a groove, a rhythm, or a certain pace that needs a higher amount of energy to enter, leave and re-enter this type of focus. On the other hand, light thinking requires less of a groove where I can span days between working on a thought or idea to progress it.
Approaching any house chores, research, work, reading, school work, or any action with the ability to place a general label of deep or light thinking creates the groundwork for distraction-free action. By approaching our work and to-do’s with this labeling, we are able to add different forms of content like music or location, or lighting. Below we have a free growthsheet that can help you take the next step in understanding what types of content work best for the situations you may find yourself in.
🌱 Growthsheet [Free Download Here]
If you want to practice giving light to how you think and the types of content that can accompany it, try out our free growthsheet.
🥀 Thanks, Nature: Night Walks
If you need to clear your head and reset before resting, taking a short walk at night might just do that for you. Teens driving by blasting their music, familiar trees in unfamiliar ways lit by street lamps and headlights, and families opening their windows to share the smells of dinner. Night walks expand on our familiar surroundings by revealing new perspectives and sensations. It might just be us, but the newness of nighttime welcomes some sort of expansive hopefulness at night.
🪨 Weekly Rocks
Weekly Rocks are reminders of significance meant to support and build the foundation of who we are becoming and being. In this space, you will find quotes, articles, links, ideas, and more.
[+] Quote: “We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps.” from Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse.
[+] Article: The Art of Doing by Tobias Van Schneider here.
[+] Take a different route. Take something you do every day, every week, and try it with a twist. Add, subtract, or rearrange. Afterward, ask yourself how this went, did you enjoy it, and what can be learned from this.
🎨 Creative Resources
[+] Looking for music? Find and Add a playlist to our Are.na channel here
[+] Untools: A collection of thinking tools and frameworks to help you solve problems, make decisions, and understand systems here.
[+] Book: The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life by Twyla Tharp. Read at a local library or purchase online. Learn more here.
Marum Resources:
[+] Projects on Are.na
[+] Information on Instagram
[+] Freebies on Gumroad
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[016] Seeing Semiotics
![[016] Seeing Semiotics](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1300,h_650,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82b0d05e-b6d9-4ea4-81ad-bcf2bdb33a0c_1456x1040.png)
Marumarum is a publication focused on sending Positive Messages Into Negative Spaces. We share biweekly, brief articles on a variety of topics aiming to shed light on a new aspect of life. -Parker at Marum [016] Seeing Semiotics What colors and shapes do you see right now? Whether in our homes, at work, at school, or in common social places, we are surroun…
I’m just starting to recognize what kind of environment/noise/content I need to be productive and learning how to categorize the different tasks I do into “deeper” or “lighter” focus! Awesome to see that concept put into concrete words and to know that I’m not alone in trying to find the balance.