In the summer of 1930, William Faulkner lived and worked on his family’s country estate. The house was severely dilapidated and broken down, which forced Faulkner to spend the majority of his afternoons doing small construction and fix-it jobs around the house.
In the mornings though, Faulkner focussed on his real work of writing great american novels. He rose early and did his best to barricade himself inside the library. His attempts often failed however, because the old door had no lock. This made interruptions from visitors or family members a common occurrence, leaving him open to distraction and therefore extremely frustrated. So Faulkner resolved to remove the door knob completely and take it with him to his writing desk. I find this solution both hilarious and highly profound.
The minute we sit down to work is the same minute we come up with a thousand other things we could, no should, be doing. These are not reasonable things like attending a child’s soccer game or dealing with a family health emergency. More often than not, these are unreasonable excuses like the sudden urge to organize our sock drawer, check our email inbox (again), or my personal favorite, defrost some chicken. Defeating these unreasonable excuses often requires taking unreasonable action. Sometimes we need to remove the door knob completely, leaving ourselves with no excuses, and therefore no escape from the actual work of creating.
In the end, it comes down to a question of commitment.
How serious are you about the work you do?
Serious enough to remove all excuses, distractions, and loopholes that may keep you from actually making what you make?
Serious enough to take the door knob with you?
In the mornings though, Faulkner focussed on his real work of writing great american novels. He rose early and did his best to barricade himself inside the library. His attempts often failed however, because the old door had no lock. This made interruptions from visitors or family members a common occurrence, leaving him open to distraction and therefore extremely frustrated. So Faulkner resolved to remove the door knob completely and take it with him to his writing desk. I find this solution both hilarious and highly profound.
The minute we sit down to work is the same minute we come up with a thousand other things we could, no should, be doing. These are not reasonable things like attending a child’s soccer game or dealing with a family health emergency. More often than not, these are unreasonable excuses like the sudden urge to organize our sock drawer, check our email inbox (again), or my personal favorite, defrost some chicken. Defeating these unreasonable excuses often requires taking unreasonable action. Sometimes we need to remove the door knob completely, leaving ourselves with no excuses, and therefore no escape from the actual work of creating.
In the end, it comes down to a question of commitment.
How serious are you about the work you do?
Serious enough to remove all excuses, distractions, and loopholes that may keep you from actually making what you make?
Serious enough to take the door knob with you?
