Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Like many Americans, I spent the past few weeks constantly checking the news. The drama unfolding in the Senate was gripping, and I felt compelled to follow along as often as I could. But, now that it’s over and I’ve had a few days to reflect, I’m questioning the wisdom of trying to stay on top of this or any other news story.
All my news-checking certainly didn’t change the outcome of the Kavanaugh confirmation. And it certainly didn’t make me any happier. I would be just as well-informed if I had only checked the news once per day. And every time I checked the news, it interrupted my focus, hurting my productivity and my social interactions. The constant news-checking interfered with my creative work, increased my anxiety, and, like the outcome itself, left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.
Thinking about this reminded me of a piece of wisdom from Stanford computer science professor Donald E. Knuth. He wrote about the difference between trying to stay “on top of things” and trying to get to “the bottom of things,” and he argued that you can orient your life toward one goal or the other, but not both. Staying on top of things could mean constantly checking the news, keeping up with social media, or, as he explained, responding to email:
“I have been a happy man ever since January 1, 1990, when I no longer had an email address. I’d used email since about 1975, and it seems to me that 15 years of email is plenty for one lifetime.
Email is a wonderful thing for people whose role in life is to be on top of things. But not for me; my role is to be on the bottom of things. What I do takes long hours of studying and uninterruptible concentration. I try to learn certain areas of computer science exhaustively; then I try to digest that knowledge into a form that is accessible to people who don’t have time for such study.”1
Knuth’s point is that the less you try to stay on top of things, the more you’ll be able to get to the bottom of things. In other words, the less energy you put into keeping up with email, social media, and the news, the more energy you’ll be able to put toward solving problems in your work, understanding difficult concepts, sorting out challenges in your relationships, and truly figuring out your life.
Go Deep
Knuth’s wisdom is echoed by another computer science professor, Cal Newport, who implores us to pursue “deep work.”2 Deep work refers to the practice of setting aside time blocks in which you eliminate all distractions and truly focus on important, cognitively demanding work.2 This practice is essential for learning anything difficult and having creative insights about complicated problems.2
In her book, A Mind For Numbers, learning expert and engineering professor Dr. Barbara Oakley explains why the practice of going deep extends beyond the time periods in which we’re actually working. Learning and creativity arise from a back-and-forth interplay between two types of thinking: focused mode and diffuse mode.3 Focused mode refers to times when you’re actively trying to figure something out, and diffuse mode refers to times when you stop working and relax.3 When we constantly try to stay on top of things, we interrupt both our focused work and our downtime, thus interfering with both modes of thinking.
So what can you do about it?
If you currently check the news 20 times per day, it will be hard to drop that to just one or two. But keep in mind that any step in the right direction is worthwhile; everything counts. Every moment of downtime is an opportunity to embrace boredom and tap into the power of diffuse mode.
You could also apply The 20-Second Rule and make it harder to impulsively stay on top of things: Remove news apps from your phone and don’t let social media save your passwords. You’ll also find it easier to go deep if you spend more time in airplane mode.
As a starting point, consider eliminating just one time-block in which you’re tempted to check things: the morning. My morning routine includes many positive behaviors – actions I take to become healthier and happier – but it also includes actions I don’t take: email, social media, and checking the news. Start your day by taking care of yourself instead of trying to stay on top of things. It will give you much-needed energy for the hard work of getting to the bottom of things.
We all need to get to the bottom of things.
Maybe you’re a student, trying to understand the content you’re learning.
Maybe you’re an academic, trying to unravel one of the puzzles within your field.
Maybe you’re an artist, trying to delve deeply into your craft.
Maybe you’re an entrepreneur, trying to create an effective marketing strategy.
Or maybe you’re wrestling with behavioral change, and you’re trying to understand what’s driving your choices.
Or maybe you’re trying to figure out how to cultivate a deeper relationship with your family.
Or maybe you’re going through a hard time, and you need to sort out the relationship between your thoughts, actions, and your feelings.
Whatever your project, whatever your purpose, it probably entails getting to the bottom of things, and it’s probably something more meaningful and more important than staying on top of things. The choice is yours.
1 https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/email.html
2 Newport, Cal. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. Grand Central Publishing, 2016.
3 Oakley, Barbara. A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even if you Flunked Algebra). Penguin, 2014.