Business Book Club: The Art of Noticing
I've set myself a goal to read one self-development book per month. To make sure I truly reflect on what I'm reading, I will extract the wisdom from the best business and personal development books and share it with you.
This time, I've been reading The Art of Noticing (rediscover what really matters to you) by Rob Walker
The Book
I’m not much of an impulse shopper but I can’t walk past an interesting-looking book. On holiday in the Lake District, I picked up the Art of Noticing is an art gallery in Grasmere. I am a big fan of slowing down and taking time to be in the moment so this book immediately caught my eye. I was wondering how many ways there are to notice and it turns out there a LOT! 131 in this book alone.
The book is divided into 5 sections:
Looking
Sensing
Going Places
Connecting with Others
Being Alone
In each section, there are many different techniques for tuning into your surroundings and noticing things you may otherwise miss. Each technique is given a difficulty rating from ‘So Easy’ to ‘Advanced’. Some are beautiful in their simplicity, others are a little eccentric, but all help you look at the world around you differently, even in the most familiar settings.
What Did I Learn?
When we walk a familiar route or look out of the same window every day, we take the view for granted and stop giving the things we see our focused attention. It is easy to move through the world on autopilot missing out on interesting details about the world around us. Noticing requires us to really pay attention, see the world through different eyes, and tune into our surroundings.
This book encourages you to challenge yourself to practice noticing by tuning into things you previously missed, or looking at the same things in a different way. Each exercise is inspired by a great thinker or artist, and the concept, directions, and benefits are explained, often with links to relevant articles or websites.
When you actively notice new things, that puts you in the present…As you’re noticing new things, it’s engaging, and it turns out… it’s literally. not just figuratively, enlivening.
Ellen J. Langer
In a world where we are constantly distracted, the art of noticing is a skill worth honing. Here are just a few of the noticing exercises from the book:
Looking
This is by far my favourite section of the book. As the title suggests, it lists different ways of looking at familiar surroundings with fresh eyes such as:
Count numbers or letters on signs and objects when out walking. Look for a different number on each sign or location and see if you can count to 100 or work your way through the alphabet from A to Z.
Look for a new object every day. Like CCTV cameras, traffic cones, stray shopping trolleys etc. Set yourself a challenge to count them. How many can you see in one walk? I do this with species of birds. My record is 13 in a 5km route.
Look out for broken objects and imagine how you would turn them into street art (Banksy style). What would you draw coming out of that broken lampost? How would you fill that pot hole? Get creative.
Look out of a window you use every day for 10 minutes. Notice what happens when you pay close attention? Can you spot anything new? What can you learn?
Take up the same vantage point every day (a park bench for example). What do you see? What is the same or different each day?
Look up. What do you fail to notice each day by looking straight ahead or at the ground?
Create a story from the people and objects you see. Imagine a heist story. Who would be the villain? Is that lady with her shopping basket an undercover detective? Is there more than meets the eye with the man stood outside the newsagents?
Sensing
Make an auditory inventory. Either at your desk or on your daily walk, make an inventory of the sounds you hear. Describe them. If you had to rate them (Trip Advisor style), what would you say? Record the sounds. Can your friends or family guess what they are?
Start walking and go in the quietest direction. Keep walking, following the quiet, until you are at the quietest spot of all. Spend a few minutes listening to the quiet.
Observe a period of digital silence. A week is suggested in the book. How soon do you notice the need to connect? When you reconnect, do you find yourself being more selective with what you share?
Create a sensory map. There are variations of this idea in the chapter. This can be done by making a map of sounds, smells, experiences of physically touching objects, emotions you experience, or even by mapping out what tastes you associate with particular locations.
Hunt for infrathin. Infrathin is a concept coined by Marcel Duchamp. When asked for a conceptual definition of the term, Marcel Duchamp replied that the notion is impossible to define, "one can only give examples of it: the warmth of a seat which has just been left”. Look for these ‘states between states’ such as the smell of a mouth that has just released tobacco, the swoosh sound of an email that has just been sent, or the sensation of something approaching that hasn’t yet touched you.
Going Places
Look for ‘ruins’. Is there a battered old phone box? Why has no one removed it? What about an abandoned bike? How did it get there? Also, look for old buildings alongside new ones. What does that tell you about the development of the area? The same goes for trees? Can you spot where replanting has taken place?
Do a photo walk with no camera. Walk around looking for a photo-worthy view and stand in that spot until the ideal picture is ready. Perhaps someone needs to move into position? Maybe you need to get closer? When you have your picture, imagine pressing the shutter button then move on and look for your next picture.
Walk with an expert. You could walk around your town with a tourist guide, if you have never done this before, or simply with a knowledgeable friend. Let them tell you about the area or their personal landmarks. I’ve done this with walking route leaflets I’ve picked up in my local heritage centre and I only live in a small town. Even here, there is a rich history that could so easily be missed.
Randomise your route. This could be by taking a different route or doing it the hard way by walking rather than cycling for example. If you want to be really random why not let the toss of a coin decide where you go next? Wander through your town or a new neighbourhood.
Turn a space into play. Children are great at this. Remember when you were a child and you had to say “White Rabbit” 3 times if you stepped on crack? Why not do that as an adult? Are there square tiles on a floor? Try moving around like a chess piece. How can you play in your environment?
Connecting with Others
Use the SLANT method to be a better listener: Sit up. Lean Forward. Ask and answer questions. Nod your head. Track (look at) the speaker
Talk to a stranger. Not something that comes easily to a lot of people but in reality, it’s not that scary either. It’s amazing what you learn by speaking to new people. If you can’t face talking to a stranger how about interviewing an older member of your family or a neighbour? What can you learn that you never knew before?
Gamify a stranger by trying to walk in sync with them, or perhaps you could have a walking race with them that only you know about? One of the more bizarre suggestions in the book is to follow a stranger. Obviously not in a way that makes anyone feel uncomfortable but to let them determine where you end up.
Conduct an ideological Turing test. Are there subjects on which you hold strong opinions? Have you ever tried making the case for the opposite point of view? Conduct an ideological Turing test by talking to someone on your topic but from the other perspective. Can you do it so convincingly that they can’t detect your true feelings on the topic?
Being Alone
Spend time alone in public. Have you ever been to a restaurant by yourself (without looking at your smartphone)? What about the cinema. Most people feel self-conscious being alone in public but it is an opportunity to be completely free of anyone else’s expectations.
Exhaust a place. Especially, if you find yourself in the same place on a regular basis. Try noticing everything about it. Ignore the spectacular or exciting and note down everything you see. Even the everyday stuff. Perhaps reflect on these things more than you usually would. Keep noting what you see until you have truly exhausted the place.
Ask: ”How did it get that way?”. We often take what we see for granted, but everything has a back story from a skyscraper to a simple doorknocker. Take Stop signs for example. Have you ever wondered why they have 8 sides and aren’t round (there is a reason)? Pay closer attention and ask: “How did it get that way?”.
Study a rock (intently). This one is a mindfulness exercise. Find a quiet place, sit comfortably with a small rock or stone, and see how much you can notice when you really pay attention to it. Notice the shape. Are there any lines? Colours? How does it feel? When you think you have captured everything, challenge yourself to find what else you can notice. Another suggestion in the book is to interview an object. What would you ask it? What if it could tell you how it was formed? What would it say about its back story?
Make an appointment with yourself. Most of us are happy to make appointments with others and when we do, we usually make sure to keep them. How about making an appointment with yourself? This can be used for getting done the things that are a priority to you, or even better, it can be used for doing nothing at all. You can dedicate this time for play, relaxing in a coffee shop or simply staring out of a window.
What Did I Think?
This isn’t your usual personal development book yet I found more growth in this book than I have in many business books. During lockdown, I have found myself in the same spaces every day for months on end, and this has made staying in the moment incredibly difficult, Trying the exercises in the book has helped me feel invigorated and tuned into familiar environments. They’ve kept me curious and engaged with the world around me no matter how many times I’ve seen it all. Some of the exercises are easier to apply than the others but they are all thought-provoking. I will definitely continue to dip into the book on a weekly basis when I need a boost and try out another way of noticing.
What should I read next?
Have you read The Art of Noticing? What did you get from it? What should I read next?
If you have any recommendations let me know below or via Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn
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