![]() ![]() Since, all three of us have continued to refine and enhance our writing events and advice, and Katherine recently began showcasing her updates in a series of Second Edition blog posts in which she revisits and augments some of her tips, tricks and methods. “Knowledge workers-writers and researchers prominent among them-must engage in periods of sustained concentration to succeed in their highly competitive industries.” As I facilitated the Bristol Thesis Boot Camp, I started thinking about the way my own approach to ‘getting writing done’ has evolved over the past five years. I’m a firm believer in continuous improvement, so when I recently shifted from university institute manager and part-time consultant to full-time freelance, it was a great opportunity for a productivity health check. I started with a re-read of Cal Newport’s 2016 book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. ![]() Whether you agree with his ‘rules’ or not, Newport’s main message is powerful: knowledge workers-writers and researchers prominent among them-must engage in periods of sustained concentration to succeed in their highly competitive industries. In other words, they must spend significant amounts of time in a state of complete focus. Whatever you call it, you’ve got to go there. ![]() So how do you find your ‘zone’-that magical place of intense concentration where you unpick knotty problems make breakthroughs and produce, edit and polish significant amounts of written work? And how do you return there, again and again, without it being a battle or a roll of the dice? And you’ve got to be able to stay there long enough to make meaningful progress. Many of the anecdotes Newport shares could be read as rituals-performative sequences that signal to your body and mind that it’s time for some serious work. I used rituals while balancing full time work and writing up my PhD. I recommend them to RHD students who have attended a Thesis Boot Camp and want to later recreate the focus they experienced there. And now, a month into my new freelance routine, my ‘get in the zone’ ritual is working better than ever before-I can dive into deep work within a matter of minutes, and stay there for my daily target period. Last year alone, he added, state parks experienced a 20 percent jump in visits.What does my ritual involve? Other than commencing with a cup of something caffeinated, there’s three elements: eliminating temptation, blocking out distraction and pacing myself. He contended the "Mighty Five" ads already have produced double-digit visitation increases at state parks since they first appeared. State and local governments have collected almost $1 billion in tourism-generated taxes during that span, providing tax relief to Utahns.įred Hayes, director of the state parks and recreation department, welcomed the additional visitors who will be attracted by this new campaign. Since 2005, he said, tourism's economic impact has grown 53 percent from $5.2 billion to just under $8 billion. He applauded the results of the "Mighty Five" campaign, which has helped significantly to elevate tourism's contribution to Utah's economy. Gary Herbert said, calling the campaign a "great way to showcase the state" with its 43 "just gorgeous" state parks. In the meantime, "Mighty Five" ads are being shown nationwide until April 3. A social media advertising campaign is running through June 30. The "Road to Mighty" TV commercials will air through mid-April in the targeted markets, running concurrently with digital ads that will continue through the end of that month. "Maybe it's because I live here and know a lot of these places, but I still get goosebumps every time I see this ," said Nathan Rafferty, a member of the Office of Tourism board as president/CEO of Ski Utah, marketing arm of the state's 14 resorts. There are shots of Monument Valley, Boulder Mountain and the Hogback near Escalante, of people frolicking in Lower Calf Creek Falls, and Goblin Valley State Park and Little Wildhorse Canyon in the San Rafael Swell. Several are squeezed into a 30-second "Road to Mighty" television commercial that has been running for 10 days in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas markets and started Monday in Denver. "This campaign will position Utah as the home of the great American road trip," said Office of Tourism managing director Vicki Varela, noting her agency has identified more than two dozen routes people could take to observe Utah's many scenic wonders. The theme of the $4.6 million campaign picks up on the 3-year-old "Mighty Five" promotion highlighting Utah's five national parks - Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Arches - by emphasizing the beautiful terrain visitors encounter in other parts of the state while heading to or from those parks. ![]()
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