When I started practicing productivity, one of my first sources of inspiration came from Cal Newport. Cal is a professor of computer science at Georgetown University and a well-known and respected author. The way he conveyed his knowledge captivated my mind. His teaching is both philosophical and practical while being engaging, immersive, and inspiring. Such was the case with deep work.
My holistic view of a modern, technological lifestyle that has a balance between work and life is strongly influenced by his books dealing with deep work (Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World) and digital minimalism.
In this article, I will focus on Newport’s concept of deep work, which has been significant in both my professional and personal lives.
Deep work and Shallow work
Cal’s definition of deep work is as follows: “Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.”
As examples, Newport discusses Carl Jung and Bill Gates, two well-known and successful people who developed the habit of going deep and bringing their value to the world.
Alternatively, he defines shallow work as “non cognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.”
Whether self-employed or employed, most knowledge workers perform shallow jobs like responding to emails, setting meetings, and participating in meetings, browsing the web, and interacting with social media.
Newport argues that we live in a time when deep work is becoming too rare, while its value is growing rapidly. Those qualities are essential in the new world where many professions and workers become irrelevant and are gradually replaced by artificial intelligence. Deep work helps us learn new things quickly, and creates value that positions us as experts in our field.
The benefits of deep work
The deepest work is the most creative
Developing groundbreaking technological applications and ideas doesn’t happen while answering emails or participating in WhatsApp groups. To break through creatively, you need to devote time and practice to work deeply.
Deep work improves our concentration
This practice improves a person’s ability to concentrate and mobilize maximum attention for longer periods.
Deep work makes us happier and reduces anxiety levels
Literally. The constant buzz surrounding the digital experience take a significant mental toll. As a result of the constant transition between points of focus, anxiety levels increase over time.
By doing deep work, we increase our sense of fulfillment, fulfillment, and satisfaction, and we increase our well-being. It allows us to create value and accomplish what’s important to us.
Deep work creates momentum
As we learn to expand our cognitive limits, we gradually improve our ability to concentrate. We also find it easier to connect with our sources of inspiration and creativity. We refer to deep work as muscle. In this practice, a new, effective movement is created. This movement grows more and more with each repetition. It brings a new sense of presence to every aspect of life.
Deep work makes us the most relevant on the labor market
The ability to quickly and deeply learn complex content and professional skills, to produce large volumes of content and value, and to function at the highest levels of professionalism are all competitive advantages in the workplace.
Instead of managing time, manage attention
Those of you who practice time management know that sometimes managing time isn’t enough. We can plan the perfect schedule but reach the deadline and fundamentally fail in executing it. If we do not have the cognitive capacity to focus on the task at hand within the time we have scheduled, planning a schedule will not be enough to accomplish the task.
When we manage our attention instead of managing our time, we cultivate the ability to thoroughly perform one defined and clear task, in a defined period of time. This is the most critical factor for productivity.
Time management and attention management work hand in hand. However, many could benefit from practicing first how to maintain attention and concentration, and then gradually introducing techniques such as Time Blocking and the Pomodoro Technique as well.
How do you begin practicing deep work?
Reduce distractions
Our ability to focus deeply on our work and creative process is significantly impaired when we are constantly distracted by emails, notifications, and meetings.
Among the digital tools most of us use, some are distinctly distracting and some are a little less so. Even though Facebook, for example, can burn us many hours scrolling through the newsfeed, we can’t ignore the possibility of connecting with people who are valuable to us both professionally and socially.
Newport discusses two ways to choose a digital arsenal of tools – one approach in which we choose to use any tool that seems valuable to us (even if it has distinct shortcomings), and the more recommended approach in which we clearly identify what are the factors of happiness and success are in our lives, and then assess each tool we use for its value with respect to these factors.
Newport also recommends a social media-free life and calls them productivity killers. In his book about digital minimalism, he encourages readers to examine in depth the heavy price we pay for excessive use of social media on a daily basis.
Deep work planning and time management
Putting deep work on a calendar is a practical way to ensure that we gradually implement it. Many of the people I know have their calendar divided not by tasks (although it is clear that work is done against a task list), but by shallow and deep work.
As I mentioned earlier, Time Blocking is a technique that combines well with deep work.
With Time Blocking we take into account not only the amount of concentrated work done during the day, but also how much time we spend on low-value tasks. Those we can compress into a limited time period, while making sure we have enough rest and breaks during the day.
Leaving adequate intervals between tasks is essential. Task residue refers to the fact that when we move from task to task without a break, a certain percentage of our attention remains on the first task. It takes a significant amount of time before we can fully concentrate on a new task.
By dividing your tasks into deep work and shallow work in advance, you will be able to make sure that when planning the schedule, the most significant tasks get priority, while shallow ones are handled in dedicated blocks.
An increased awareness of shallow work
We’re drawn by default to the shallow. Tasks such as answering emails, networking on Facebook, scheduling meetings are simple and don’t require much cognitive effort. We enjoy removing them from our desks, but they never seem to end.
Nevertheless, when we are engaged in only shallow work, we usually feel like we have worked a lot without producing much.
The more we become aware of our tendency to engage in non-productive activity, the easier it will be for us to embrace depth during your workday.
Rest should be prioritized
Rest is essential to maintaining productivity without experiencing burnout.
We live in a reality where it is difficult to complete all our tasks. There is always more to do. It is very common to become sucked into continuous and never-ending work. We try to finish just a little more and to leave nothing undone.
Our work routine shouldn’t sacrifice rest and sleep. Regular and high-quality sleep, along with daily cognitive practice, are the keys to productivity.
When the conscious mind rests, the subconscious mind takes over, processing complex matters from the day. This movement between the conscious and subconscious minds is crucial to learning.
As we become used to deep work, we accomplish more in less time and free up time for rest. When we are rested, we can engage in deeper work again when the time comes.
Newport recommends avoiding all work-related activities after work hours, and concentrating on activities that allow us to rest. Taking a walk, cooking, or spending time with family and friends are some examples.
Start small and gradually increase
It takes time to master deep work-based productivity. Just like physical activity, whether running or anaerobic exercise, where physical function and performance improve over time and require gradual effort and intermittent rest – so too does cognitive activity.
There are people who can concentrate on one goal for 15 minutes.There are others who can manage one hour sessions. Whatever the case, adapt the practice to your abilities and challenge yourself to a certain degree to maintain your motivation.
Ready to become deep work geeks?
Although deep work is an old-world technique and philosophy, it is perfectly suited to modern times. For creators, inventors, and thinkers, attention and concentration have always been essential conditions for achieving meaningful work.
There is still a need for proper attention in a world filled with distractions. It does not appear that change will come soon.
For those who want to make a significant impact on the world, deep work is essential. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, creator, business owner, or researcher, this approach to your creative life is crucial.
Give it a try if you wish to upgrade your productivity routine, you won’t regret it.
