Last month I had the opportunity to produce an audiobook. It was a learning process that resulted in a product to be proud of for sure. Software like GarageBand is great for keeping all the recorded files organized, as well as editing — and we got to know each other pretty intimately last month, as the editing process takes many hours.

There is a function in recording software called “soloing”. This is when you take one or two individual tracks and separate them from all the other tracks. When recording a song this is a helpful feature because the elimination of other tracks helps the ear to focus on specific sound waves - a single soloed track, ready for editing to perfection.

The soloing feature is particularly critical when it comes to audiobook creation. When recording a song, the goal is to play each track together to produce a solitary whole. A song. For audiobook recording, each chapter needs to be its own track. If you forget to “solo” the output sounds like a room full of voices.

There’s too much input.

Too much noise.
Nothing to focus on because there’s too much stimulation.

Sometimes I think we live with this sound in our heads. We are inside the sound. Consistently. Constantly. Relentlessly. We assume this is normal and instead of turning the volume down, we turn it up. More is always better, right? The fear of missing something means we end up missing everything.

I’ve been thinking a lot about noise, input, and quietness after reading Ryan Holiday’s book “Stillness is the Key.” And now that COVID-19 is a global thing. Stillness is a reality for many, whether they want it to be or not.

Even with COVID-19 isolation, we still have a problem being still. The problem with input is that we often don’t know how to place limits. We don’t know how to put ourselves in a place of mindfulness which allows for fruitfulness and productivity. When I think of my input as a literal sound, the noise is unbearable. And even under quarantine, it’s too much.
We don’t know how to solo.

On the one hand, it seems super simple. Limit inputs. Stop looking at the newsfeeds and the unnecessary. Turn off notifications. Shut down your Facebook account. It’s not hard. Here’s the problem.

Tips and tricks are not all that helpful in the real-life work environment of 2020. Sure, you might be able to limit some input. As we should. But there is more to this story.

Limiting input is not enough. Stillness may be the key. But the key to stillness is mindfulness.

What does it mean to solo?

I’m currently writing thoughts that may become a blog post or it may become a podcast (or both). I won’t know until I edit this. But right now. At this very moment, I am completely into what I am writing. The noise is temporarily turned down. I am in this moment of keyboard clicks and words, thoughts, and ideas. There is nothing else at this moment. I’m soloing.

When I finish here, I won’t intentionally turn up the volume. That would be foolish. The volume will turn up on its own. There is a more important question to consider.

How do we turn the volume down in the first place?
In Garageband it’s easy. With a couple of clicks I’m soloing and it’s great. Our brains are more complex than Garageband. How do we live in and with what’s happening in our own headspace?

I have five habits of mindfulness I recommend to you. COVID-19 lockdown is a fantastic opportunity to practice these five things. Give it a shot. Learn to solo.

Journal.

Not everyone gets excited about this. But I’ve found it to be an important habit over the years. Sure. Write down the big things. The trip to the Grand Canyon. Baby’s first steps.

But it’s even more critical to write down the little things. I’m tired today. I’m worried today. I’m deliriously happy today. Something is bothering me and I don’t know what it is. What’s needling at my conscience? What’s under the surface of my heart and soul?

I’m a fan of Julia Cameron’s “morning pages” method of journaling. I read “The Artist’s Way” back in 1999 and found this practice to be most helpful. Start your day with a time of free-writing. Do it for 15-minutes. Do it for three pages, as she recommends. True confessions, I cheat occasionally and will only do a page or two. It still accomplished the same purpose. The only rule is to put pen to paper and write whatever is there. Write without thought or distraction. Write without stopping, editing, changing the spelling, fixing the grammar. What comes out is sometimes a mess. Other times it’s profound. That’s not the point. What you write is for your eyes only. Morning pages unblock a fuzzy mind and put one in the moment. This moment. This is my head-space. I recommend trying this for a month. It might just become a daily habit.
It’s a great tool for mindfulness.

Breathe.

Yoga focusses on breathing. So does running and performance magic and acting, musical performance and meditation. It’s an app on the Apple Watch.

Breathing is a miracle of human life that happens without our awareness. Yet, it’s a different function than digestion or circulation. We can control our breathing, at least to some level. I can slow down my breathing. I can speed up my breathing. I can breathe deeply or keep it shallow. Sure, we breathe without thinking — but self-awareness is sometimes found in breath-awareness.

It’s not about woo-woo. It’s about taking a moment to solo.

Sit. Be still. Breathe in through your nose, pushing fresh oxygen deep into your diaphragm. Exhale until the lungs are empty. Do this for a minute a couple of times a day. There is nothing more present tense than your current breath. Take a couple of minutes per day to use your breathing as a means to self-awareness.

The great thing about this is you can do this anywhere. Sitting at a desk. A moment in the car. Waiting in the carpool line while picking kids up from school. While there’s life, there’s breath. So breathe. It’s the most present thing you’re doing.

Gratitude.

The world is in the middle of an unusual situation at the moment. Pandemics are not the norm for our generation.
There are a lot of reasons to join in “2020 Sucks” meme parade. But there is always a reason to be grateful. Make the choice that allows gratitude to trump despair and cynicism. This requires mindfulness. Make a daily “3-thing gratitude list.” List three different things you are honestly grateful for. In the worst of times, you can find them. You may just have to look a little harder. Monsters don’t hide under the bed. Most of the time that’s where you’ll find the things for which you can be grateful.
Look for gratitude.
You’ll be surprised by what you find.

Reflection.

Western culture is generally bad at this. We tend to react, rather than reflect. COVID-19 is the perfect opportunity to be intentionally reflective.
Reflection requires time and space. There are no short-cuts or hurry-ups for this. I use a paper planner that has weekly questions for reflection. That’s a good place to start. Take a walk and ask yourself these kinds of questions:

What were my biggest wins this week?
Did I accomplish what I set out to accomplish this week?
How far did I get with my goals?
What worked? What didn’t work?
What will I keep? What will I improve? What will I stop doing?

Reflection is an art that takes time and discipline to learn. But it’s also a game-changer. Reflection before reaction exponentially increases the value of your input. It requires you to be alone with your thoughts. It’s a part of soloing that takes you to a higher level. Learn the discipline of reflection.

Focus.

Of the five of soloing, this might be the most difficult. Especially in a day and age when “multitasking” is considered not only a virtue but a job-qualification. Employers may think they want a multitasker. Multitasking is fake work and makes distraction a commodity. Today’s economy needs people with the ability to focus. Many of us need to relearn how to do one thing at a time. We’ve become distraction dependent, and this re-wired our brains to the point that the ability to focus is a rare commodity. Soloing is unlearning distraction dependence and learning how to focus. There are entire libraries about neural science and learning how to focus. For me, the best primer on the subject is “Deep Work” by Cal Newport. I recommend starting there.
Purchase a physical copy of the book.
Put your phone in another room.
Grab a highlighter and read without distraction or interruption.

Relearn how to focus. This will be a long journey for some. Not only will you make yourself more productive and valuable at work, but you will also find soloing a much easier task than you first thought.

I’d love to hear from you! How do you solo? What lessons are you learning about mindfulness during your COVID-19 quarantine?

Stay healthy.
Be safe.
Go and make.