Open in app

Sign In

Write

Sign In

Nicole Dieker
Nicole Dieker

22K Followers

Home

About

Feb 4, 2021

You Know, When You Start, Whether You’re Actually Trying to Solve the Problem

I decided, in that moment, that discipline didn’t count. — I was going to make this more of a theoretical post, expanding on the idea that you know, when you start the trill or the drill or the conversation, whether you’re going to try to solve the problem or whether you’re just going to run through the old stuff from…

Discipline

3 min read

You Know, When You Start, Whether You’re Actually Trying to Solve the Problem
You Know, When You Start, Whether You’re Actually Trying to Solve the Problem
Discipline

3 min read


Feb 2, 2021

The Problem Becomes More Interesting When You Are Actually Trying to Solve It

I was practicing, and I was bored. — The other day I was playing through the beginning of the third movement of Mozart’s Sonata №12 in F major, K. …

Music

3 min read

The Problem Becomes More Interesting When You Are Actually Trying to Solve It
The Problem Becomes More Interesting When You Are Actually Trying to Solve It
Music

3 min read


Feb 1, 2021

The Prize for an All-Green Week

Last night I stayed up late writing music. — Last night I stayed up late writing music. I’m paying for it now, in the sense that I’ve got to play the entire day tired, a bit headachy, a little slower and sludgier at everything I’m going to try to do. I didn’t need to stay up past my bedtime…

Discipline

4 min read

The Prize for an All-Green Week
The Prize for an All-Green Week
Discipline

4 min read


Jan 29, 2021

Thoughts From My Office

I wanted to show you what my piano practice looks like. — Happy Friday! Here are a bunch of quick thoughts before I get to work on a big freelance assignment: First, I wanted to show you what my piano practice looks like, keeping in mind that putting a camera in front of anything changes it slightly. …

Creativity

3 min read

Thoughts From My Office
Thoughts From My Office
Creativity

3 min read


Jan 28, 2021

The Only Thing That Is Real Between Two People Is What They Create Together

I didn’t fully understand this until this past year. — Yesterday, I wrote a blog post titled “Everything Is Real.” That isn’t necessarily true. It’s true enough, within the context I was describing — the Hanon exercise is just as real (and should be given just as much focus and attention) as the Mozart sonata, and so on. But there’s…

Love

4 min read

The Only Thing That Is Real Between Two People Is What They Create Together
The Only Thing That Is Real Between Two People Is What They Create Together
Love

4 min read


Jan 27, 2021

Everything Is Real

Does that mean that everything requires discipline? — The other day I made the mistake — well, it was two mistakes, really. The first mistake was technical: a finger-striking issue in one of the Hanon exercises I was using as my piano-practice warm-up. The second mistake was critical: Don’t go back and fix that. You don’t have the…

Discipline

4 min read

Everything Is Real
Everything Is Real
Discipline

4 min read


Jan 26, 2021

Learning About Something Is Very Different From Learning Something

Or, “make sure the tools you’re using are helping you solve the problem you’re trying to solve.” — Let’s start this one with a story. For the past month or so, I have been putting roughly 30 minutes per day into what you might call a formal study of chess middlegame concepts. The form I’ve been using for this study has been a book called Teach Yourself Better…

Discipline

4 min read

Learning About Something Is Very Different From Learning Something
Learning About Something Is Very Different From Learning Something
Discipline

4 min read


Jan 25, 2021

Feeling Bad Is a Sign That Something Needs to Change

The conversation about discipline and specificity begins at the moment you discover you are unsatisfied with some aspect of your life. — It took me longer than you might realize to figure out how to begin this in-depth look into discipline and specificity. (Last week’s posts, in which I asked whether you could have specificity without discipline and then answered “discipline is committing to do the work to solve the problem; specificity…

Discipline

4 min read

Feeling Bad Is a Sign That Something Needs to Change
Feeling Bad Is a Sign That Something Needs to Change
Discipline

4 min read


Jan 22, 2021

Thoughts From My Office

It’s time for me to show my work. — I am SO EXCITED to finally have the first installment in the discipline and specificity series up, even though that first installment is really just “hey, I’m going to be writing about discipline and specificity for a while, hope you’re cool with that.” On Discipline and Specificity: Starting Thoughts Before I can start exploring the question at the core of all of these thoughts, I feel like I ought to define my terms.nicoledieker.medium.com

Discipline

4 min read

Thoughts From My Office
Thoughts From My Office
Discipline

4 min read


Jan 21, 2021

On Discipline and Specificity: Starting Thoughts

Before I can start exploring the question at the core of all of these thoughts, I feel like I ought to define my terms. — All right. I know I want to get some of these thoughts out of my mind and into the world, but I’m not quite sure where to begin. Before I can start exploring the big question at the core of all of this — which, by the way, is “what…

Discipline

4 min read

On Discipline and Specificity: Starting Thoughts
On Discipline and Specificity: Starting Thoughts
Discipline

4 min read

Nicole Dieker

Nicole Dieker

22K Followers

Freelance writer at Vox, Bankrate, Haven Life, & more. Author of The Biographies of Ordinary People.

Following
  • Cory Doctorow

    Cory Doctorow

  • Wil Wheaton

    Wil Wheaton

  • Amber Case

    Amber Case

  • Courtney C.W. Guerra {Businesslady}

    Courtney C.W. Guerra {Businesslady}

  • Hilary Gan

    Hilary Gan

See all (231)

Help

Status

Writers

Blog

Careers

Privacy

Terms

About

Text to speech

Teams