I recently finished Deep Work by Cal Newport. Per popular request here’s my tl;dr on the book.
Deep Work is the act of intensely focusing on one particular task or project without distractions for an extended period of time. The book points out that in today’s work environment, we’re constantly replying to emails, bouncing between meeting, and are distracted by everything around us. As a result, this makes it hard to work deeply which is required to do work that creates value, making it a skill that is valued more and more.
There are two major deep work strategies. The monastic approach involves working on a only particular project for an extended period of time, may it be a few days, a week, or even months at a time. The rhythmic approach involves scheduling a few hours everyday to complete a task. Here are some tips the book gives to successfully incorporate this into your life:
Find a separate location to do deep work, not where you usually work
Put away anything that can distract you during your session
Make sure you have everything you will need for the entire session
Set a specific goal and keep track of your progress
Downtime at the end of each day is important to allow the brain to recharge
Another interesting insight was to finish working on one task before starting another. This allows you to clear your mind so you won’t be thinking about the unfinished task when you start the next one.
The book also urges the importance of reducing distractions, both while working and not. Being able to focus on a particular task for a long time requires the ability to not be distracted. One way to do this is to schedule blocks of time where you are allowed to use the internet instead of the other way round. It also urges re-evaluating the use of social media and other internet tools. While they might provide a benefit, is the benefit substantial enough for the amount of time that you put in and the other things you could be doing with your time? If it is, continue using them, if not, stop.
Lastly, try to reduce the amount of shallow work you do. People waste a lot of time time without knowing it. Here are some more tips:
Schedule all your time for the day, reschedule as necessary
Prioritize work that requires your expertise
Work with your manager to create a shallow work budget
Take time to respond to emails properly and make them process centric to reduce the number of follow up emails
Don’t respond to emails that you believe won’t bring any value
My Takeaways
I’ve been scheduling all my time and that has definitely produced some benefits in productivity. I recently cleared out one day a week on my calendar to work on the most important task of the week and totally disconnect for the day. Finding a space to work at that is not my desk has been a little challenging but going to try a few spaces around the office where people can’t find me.
I’m also in the process of re-evaluating my use of social media and the internet. I have noticed that much of my time is wasted here. I now schedule blocks of time when I am allowed to use these services so I can use the rest of my time more efficiently to work and focus on hobbies like music, writing and so many more things I want to pursue. Doing this for a week or so, I have to say it is one of the hardest things I’ve done, but I have been able accomplish a lot.
Excited to see what this approach creates.