Working for the sake of working is irrational. The best way to get more meaningful work done is by working deeply – working in a state of high concentration without distractions on a single task
Deep work by Cal Newport, is a book about science of productivity which explains two important aspects of:
- Why deep work maximizes productivity and why only few people practice it?
- How to make deep work a regular practice in our lives
What is Deep Work?
Deep work refers to distraction-free, high concentration work that improves your skills creates a lot of value in little time, and is very hard to replicate
It is also important to understand, what we are doing, when we are not doing the Deep Work?
Cal says, Work referring to non-cognitively demanding tasks with little focus or a distracted ones is called Shallow Work. This type of work is easily replicated like checking emails every few minutes, giving into distractions of social media push notifications etc.
The Four Rules of Deep Work
Rule 1: Work Deeply
Working deeply due to its effortful nature is very thing most of us don’t want to do. Add this to an environment and culture that makes deep work difficult, and a finite amount of willpower that gets depleted as we use it. To make deep work a staple in our day-to-day lives, we need to create rituals and routines that make things easier and more automatic for us
Rule 2: Embrace Boredom
Try not to fill every single empty space in your day. Allow your mind to wander and create for itself, rather than relying on devices and keep checking your inbox or looking at your smartphone at every opportunity you get. Train your ability to resist distractions
Rule 3: Quit Social Media
Social Media is the prime example for shallow living .Think of social media as a tool. If spending time on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram is a useful means to an end for either your work or personal life, then go ahead and schedule time to participate. But if it’s a drain on your energy, and doesn’t serve any true purpose, cut your ties and find a new social outlet that fulfils your needs.
Rule 4: Drain the Shallows
Shallow work, as you see is all about answering emails, making phone calls, attending to meetings, and other inevitable but ultimately low-value tasks. If you are serious about working deeply, you need to drain the shallows, Squeeze the unnecessary meetings and chores out of your workweek. Schedule the time for deep work and don’t let shallow work get in the way of deep work
The four philosophies of deep work, as described by Cal Newport (source : Doug Neill)
Four Approaches to systematically carving out time for deep work
- Monastic Philosophy – This involves cutting yourself from distractions completely, like a monk in a monastery
- Bimodal Philosophy – This modes alternates between a normally engaged life and a monastic approach.
- Rhythmic Philosophy – This involves a fixed time for deep work every day, such as 5-7 am or a fixed time for deep work in a week such as Wednesday and Friday
- Journalistic Philosophy – It’s Cal’s main approach, where you can fit deep work into your schedule whenever you can, like a journalist, who writes on situations with a deadline
Whatever works for you, the goal is to make deep work a core in your life…
About Author: Cal Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown University who is also a New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including, A World without Email, Digital Minimalism, and Deep Work, which have been published in over 35 languages
(feature Image credit: Alfonso de la Rocha)