How to lock in (for real)

In 1830, Victor Hugo faced a catastrophic deadline. His publisher had given him only a few months to complete The Hunchback of Notre Dame, yet Hugo was failing spectacularly. He spent his days entertaining visitors, wandering the streets of Paris, and finding every conceivable excuse to avoid writing. Desperate to break the cycle, he invented a bizarre discipline system: he gathered all his formal clothes, gave them to his servant, and ordered them to be locked away. Left with only a massive wool shawl that draped over him like a monk’s robe, he effectively imprisoned himself. He was simply too embarrassed to leave his house dressed as a hermit.

This self-imposed siege transformed his study into a cell. With the cold air biting at his legs and nothing to do but face the manuscript, Hugo drafted furiously. He wrote for up to 12 hours a day, sliding finished pages under the door for his servant to collect. By January 1831, the manuscript was complete. This feverish burst of focused energy produced one of the century's defining literary works. While modern productivity advice often centers on apps and hacks, Hugo’s story reveals a deeper truth: sometimes, the only way to "lock in" is to remove the option of doing anything else.

Key Takeaways

• Environmental Constraint: Extreme focus often requires removing the physical ability to succumb to distractions, much like Victor Hugo’s "self-imposed monastic cell."
• The Context Window: Deep work allows for a larger mental "context window," enabling you to make complex connections that multitaskers simply cannot see.
• Procrastination as Protection: We often delay tasks not due to laziness, but to protect our self-worth; refusing to try ensures we never technically fail.
• The Identity Shift: Overcoming procrastination requires shifting your identity from someone who protects their image to someone willing to look foolish while beginning.
• The Myth of Balance: Short-term obsession (90–180 days) on a single goal often yields higher returns than years of "balanced" but diluted effort.

The "Hugo Protocol": Radical Constraint

Victor Hugo’s strategy was extreme, but it highlights a fundamental flaw in how we approach focus in the modern world. Today, we live in the antithesis of Hugo’s locked room. We are surrounded by an infinite array of alternatives—parties, virtual meetings, content, and notifications. We attempt to rely on willpower to ignore these distractions, but willpower is a finite resource.

Hugo understood that willpower is unreliable. Instead of trusting himself to make the right choice every morning, he designed an environment where the "wrong" choice was physically impossible. This concept applies directly to modern work. When you commit fully to one objective, you unlock a level of output that is impossible to achieve through multitasking.

"Without that desperate, almost theatrical punishment system, the book that cemented Hugo's legacy might never have been completed. Basically, you will be amazed at what you can complete when you have no other option."

Locking in requires creating a "macro" version of Hugo's cell. Whether it is building a business, learning a skill, or completing a creative project, the biggest achievements usually require a period where you cut off escape routes and force yourself to confront the work.

The Fallacy of Multitasking and the Context Window

A common obstacle to "locking in" is the belief that we can handle multiple major projects simultaneously. However, cognitive science suggests that multitasking is a myth; what we are actually doing is "parallel processing." We switch rapidly between tasks, incurring a cognitive "switching cost" every time our focus shifts.

Understanding the Context Window

To understand why singular focus wins, we can look to the concept of the "context window" in artificial intelligence. An AI model with a large context window can ingest vast amounts of information, holding it all in active memory to identify patterns and make connections that a model with a smaller window would miss.

Humans function similarly. When you obsessively focus on one domain—reading, writing, and training for that specific goal—your mental context window expands. You begin to see how disparate ideas lock together. If you attempt to compete against someone who is fully immersed in a subject while you are balancing three different projects, you will lose. The immersed individual is operating with a superior context window, allowing for insights that the "balanced" individual physically cannot access.

Strategic Obsession vs. Balance

Conventional wisdom advocates for a balanced life, warning against burnout. While long-term balance is necessary for health, short-term imbalance is often the price of exceptional progress. There is a strong case to be made for "seasonality" in your efforts.

Consider the mathematical difference between two approaches:

1. The Diluted Path: Spending two years training or working with 50% effort while juggling other priorities.
2. The Obsessive Path: Spending six months with 100% dedication, allowing the goal to "climb inside you and wear you like a parasite."

In almost every instance, the six-month period of obsession yields more progress than two years of half-measures. You learn faster because you are immersed in the nuance of the subject. Once the objective is achieved, you can rotate your focus to the next aspect of your life.

Procrastination is Fear Wearing a Disguise

If the mechanics of focus are simple—remove distractions and obsess over one thing—why do we struggle to start? We often diagnose procrastination as a time management problem, assuming we need better calendars or reminders. However, procrastination is rarely about the schedule; it is about self-worth.

Procrastination functions as a psychological "slight of hand." It feels like avoidance, but it acts as armor. The internal logic is defensive:

• If I try my hardest and fail, it proves I am not good enough.
• If I don't try at all, my failure is due to a lack of effort, not a lack of ability.

"You inoculate yourself from failure publicly by certifying your failure privately. You get to say, 'Well, I could have done it if I'd actually tried.' This is the safety blanket... the psychological loophole that allows you to stay intact while your dreams slowly starve."

This emotional insurance policy protects the ego but destroys potential. By refusing to "play the game" unless victory is guaranteed, the procrastinator accepts the only guaranteed loss. They choose the "fake safety of hypothetical excellence" over the messy reality of trying and potentially failing.

The Antidote: Surrender and Action

Recognizing that procrastination is fear changes the solution. You do not need more motivation; motivation is fleeting and unreliable. You need surrender. You must surrender to the possibility of looking foolish. You must accept that being a beginner involves awkwardness and producing work that isn't perfect.

The Identity Shift

The hardest part of meaningful work is the identity shift required to begin. You must move from being a person who protects their image to a person who risks it. This requires asking a difficult question: "What am I so afraid will be true about me if I actually try?"

Once you remove the need to look competent immediately, starting becomes a matter of physics rather than emotion. If you don't know what to do, you break the task down into the "next physical action."

• The Goal: Write a book.
• The Barrier: Overwhelming.
• The Next Physical Action: Throw the covers off. Stand up. Walk to the desk. Open the laptop.

Most people cannot run a marathon in a single go, but almost anyone can take one step. If the barrier is a lack of knowledge, the modern world offers near-infinite resources—search engines, AI, and experts—to bridge the gap. The only thing stopping the process is the refusal to be seen trying.

Conclusion

Victor Hugo’s "lock-in" was not just about hiding his clothes; it was about removing the option to flee from the vulnerability of creation. In the modern world, the temptation to flee is stronger than ever, facilitated by digital distractions and a culture that praises cool detachment over earnest effort.

However, the people who actually achieve their goals are those willing to risk the embarrassment of beginning. They understand that the fear of irrelevance—the very thing procrastination tries to prevent—is actually guaranteed by inaction. The path forward is to find something worth obsessing over, lower the stakes of failure, and let the work consume you for a season. You don't need courage to start; you just need the willingness to be seen starting.