Chapter 11The Value in Disconnecting

When I speak to groups, I have them freewrite at their seats. I ask questions like “How could you quadruple your productivity in a week?” and “What things would you like to do but haven’t yet done in life?” They answer with pad and pen, and we discuss their responses.

For most of the day, I keep the writing periods short, five to fifteen minutes. Near day’s end, though, I ask them to go all out and write for thirty minutes nonstop. Believe me, my request sends a charge through the audience.

They realize that no one, except maybe a mystic, writes for thirty minutes straight, and the thing you haven’t done is almost always worth doing (at least if it’s not dangerous). Who knows what will happen? Hand cramps? ...

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