Hey friends,

Hope you had a good weekend.

Here’s this week’s 1-1-1.

1 Doodle

This week's doodle, "The Detachment Detour," is about what happens when we hit a wall at work. When you are stuck inside a messy problem, trying to force your way straight through the chaos usually just leads to more overthinking. But as the doodle shows, taking a detour below that line of noise, into mental detachment, is often the quickest way to bypass the clutter and find a clear path forward.

You have probably experienced this before: you are working on a problem at work, and no matter how much you think or how many different approaches you try, you just feel stuck.

Recently, the exact same thing happened to me. I was trying to pull some data, but no matter how I tweaked my table joins, I could not get it right. I took a quick walk to clear my head, but I still could not figure it out. To make matters worse, the engineer who originally wrote the SQL code had left the company, so I was pretty much on my own.

The weekend rolled around, and since I was on call (yes, engineer on-call is definitely a thing here at Intel!), I had to stay close to home. I decided to spend some time doing a bit of backyard gardening.

While I was trimming our Japanese maple, my mind suddenly wandered back to the SQL problem, and an idea popped up out of nowhere. I immediately pulled out my phone and recorded a quick voice note so I would not lose the thought. Later, when I tested it out, it was not perfect, but it was a much better starting point.

That whole experience reminded me of the true power of mental detachment: intentionally stepping away from a problem to give your mind space to process it. You have probably been there too: you are taking a shower, riding a bike, or doing something completely unrelated, your brain suddenly connects the dots and hands you a solution.

1 Do

What is one thing that has helped you mentally detach from work and surprisingly led you to a solution? Reply to this email and let me know if you feel comfortable!

​
1 Direction

The solutions that come from mental detachment cannot be forced. I like to think of it like working out at the gym: rest days are when your muscles actually grow. Our minds need that same kind of rest to deliver good ideas! What usually surprises me most is that the solution born out of stepping away is often so much simpler than whatever my brain was trying to over-engineer in the moment. 😄

That’s all for this week.

Warmly,

- Ehsan /a-🌞/

P.S. If this newsletter made you think of someone, feel free to forward it to them. They can read all past newsletters here and subscribe if they like.

P.P.S. I recently made a video on 5 Things New Employees Should Do Immediately (Before It's Too Late). You can watch it here.

P.P.P.S. Feel free to reply and say hi. I always enjoy hearing from readers.

​YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn​