The modern work day is full of distractions - email pings, social media reports, numerous boss calls. It's easy to fill your day with these distractions and live in the illusion that this is a good day. But even the slowest of us will eventually see an example of what it is: a waste of time and energy.
Whenever we respond to a ping or interference, or check our phone to see if we've received an email or responded to our tweets, we lose our focus. Of course, this is well known and understood.
However, as Kyle Newport, a computer scientist at Georgetown University and author of Deep works: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, points out, we have a lot to lose in changing this momentary turmoil. So much so that it prevents us from doing great things.
Big things don't always mean Nobel Prize, This could mean a great marketing copy for your brand or a PowerPoint presentation for your clients. It is basically any work related activity which is done in a state of distraction free concentration, and it is an activity that brings your cognitive abilities to their full potential.
Newport calls this kind of work deep work. He also argues that doing deep work over and over again not only makes you feel full, but also makes you happy.
In his book, Newport points to the habits of many influential thinkers who deliberately cut off all communication for a period of time so that they could 'think deeply'. Psychologist Carl Jung finds himself locked in a stone house in the countryside outside his hometown of Zurich. Struggling to meet Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling rented a suite at the Balm ore, Hotel. This is great, but what happens when the boss keeps e-mailing or calling?
Of course, not all of us have the intelligence (or deep pockets) to fight or plunder. We carry on our daily activities, and it comes with a regular dose of calls and emails from the boss. So, when we can isolate ourselves from social media or take calls from friends and family at work, how can we avoid answering this email or answering our boss's calls?
Newport acknowledges this problem and suggests that deeper work requires drastic changes in the way we communicate and the expectations of those around us. That includes our boss.
In an interview with NPR podcast Hayden Brain, Newport suggested that this might include talking to your supervisor and explaining the hard work in your job profile. Acknowledge that both deep and non-deep (or shallow) work are important, but also understand what the ratio should be. Depending on that, you can set aside a few hours or more of your day when you are completely non-communicative and focus on doing things that are important to the organization.
Similarly, he gives the example of a client-facing consultancy that, instead of sharing emails from different POCs, can configure a single e-mail address where the client can direct all its queries. Understand that someone will monitor this email and reply within a specified time.
The point here is that you do not need a top management or a top dog in your firm to work hard. You may be a beginner, and this may be your first job. As long as you are able to set expectations for your communication with your supervisor and provide significant results, you should be fine. You obviously can't spend time playing video games or surfing the Internet.
So Deep works, is for engineers and accountants, right? Don't we have the creative variety?
It's easy to find deep work unsuitable for a creative career. Newport disagrees. "(They) are really creative people; amazingly how they get to their day," he says on the podcast. "... Great creative thinkers approach their time like an accountant ... They organize and manage their time very well and (yet) create highly unorganized, brilliant, creative insights."
I didn't have to go far to see this belief come true. A colleague of mine, an exceptional journalist whom I admire, participates in his day with the coldest accuracy of the school timetable and still manages to come up with an instant insight into this rhythm. Which he covers, reads a ton of heavy books, squeezes on time. Exercise, and even sketch and paint.
To me, this is the living embodiment of the famous Chuck Close quote: Encouragement is for the curious.
If anything, black work is best suited for creative types. Newport itself points out that there are many jobs where more work is not justified. For example, the CEO of a large company says that it will work better as a decision-making engine for working people.
How do you train your brain to focus again?
Now that you have an excuse to avoid strenuous exercise, here are some helpful tips on how to actually do it:
1. Stay away from social media
Some of us are completely free to leave social media. Most of us do not because we need social media for our work. If you can't get out of social media, try to block certain parts of the day when you don't have access to Instagram, Twitter, etc.
2. Don't answer emails and calls.
Once you set expectations for your colleagues, owners, customers and friends, you can go in the dark for a few hours each day. According to all accounts, you cannot practice hard work for more than four hours. Of course, for a while, the world would end without you.
3. Plan your week.
Make sure you prioritize four hours of hard work, but divide the time into what you want to do. Speak faster, more clearly.
For example, if you are preparing a speech, break the process:
Write a sketch.
Complete the first draft.
Edit and proofread.
Read again
Newport says he took part in his intense work holiday four weeks ago. Not everyone is free to do this, but you can definitely start by planning a week in advance.
4. Perform rituals at the end of the day.
Much has been said about working days, especially when we work from home. Kyle Newport is a phrase he utters to acknowledge the end of his work day. He reluctantly admits that the phrase he uses is "completely closed."
Marie Condo, also emphasizes the importance of rituals for starting and ending her work day: tuning the fork to signal the beginning of her day and turning on the music to mark the end.
These rituals can have the same effect as picking up your bags and going home from the office - they tell your brain that the day's work (except for emergencies) is over, and you can start your life now. Are Can change the focus
The idea of deep work is not that it's all work and not play, but just the opposite - so that you can create a life where inspiration is possible and the balance of work and life is no myth.
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