Cal Newport

What you've identified then is like the exact level of radicalness or extremeness that you probably need to try to get unstuck.

You don't have to solve these problems completely, but this is just like an exercise you're going to do.

So you've kind of discovered for places you feel stuck, how radical or extreme do I really need to get to try to find a solution?

And sometimes it might be like, man, the only solution here is to quit and join the circus.

And other times there'll be a, man, this real little fix is going to make a huge difference.

This is a great exercise, but it takes time.

You need time.

You need a new context.

You need to get your normal stuff off your mind.

The final thing you want to write in your journal is for each of these, you've identified these solutions.

Write down what's next.

So if these are the things you think you might have to do for where you're stuck, what would be the things you have to do next?

You have to talk to this person.

You have to have a discussion with your spouse.

You have to gather some more information.

Are there something you want to sign up for?

Write those all down.

Put a big circle many times around those.

That is the outcome of this pause.

And it's what you're going to bring back with you into your normal life.