For some reason, I’ve found myself listening to less music and fewer podcasts. I’ll often just leave the house or office and just walk. When I eat lunch or dinner, I’m just eating.

While this can feel boring some days, it also feels like something is happening in my brain. I listen to the sounds of the city. A blog post idea or a turn of phrase comes to me. Someone can say hi or ask me a question without worrying about bothering me. 

To me, this feels the same as working with the metaphorical door open. 

P.S., Seth Godin on writing his blog every day: “If you know that tomorrow morning you have to start typing, tonight when you go to sleep or today when you’re walking around, you will be noticing things so that you have something to type. And I have enough in reserve that I don’t have to do it every day, but I do it every day because I eat lunch every day and because I take a shower every day.” I love Seth’s distinction between writing and typing.

P.P.S., Ryan Leslie has discussed preferring to ride in a car with silence because he hears music in his mind. I’ve misplaced the source for this, I’ll link to it once I find it.