I have a four-year-olddaughterwho's theloveofmylifeandmyhusbandand I, webothrunseparatebusinessesofourown.
I haveparentswhoaregettingoldandneedcare.
I'm notsomeonewith a 4 a.m. morningroutine, jumpingtoanicebath, drinking a greenjuice, whiledoingpress-upswithonefingerandtellingyouthatyouneedtodomore.
Andmyfrustrationofseeingeveryyearpassbyandfeelinglike a failuremademerealizethatit's timeformetothinkaboutthewaythat I workandtheremustbe a betterwaywhere I canworksmarterbutnotharder.
Andthere's onethingthat I realizedthatchangedallofthis, andthatisyou'reunderestimatingyourpotential.
Since I triedthismethodofworkingandfocus, I'd beabletocutdownthetime I neededtolearndigitalmarketinginhalf, whichmeantthat I wasabletogofromunemployedtoworkingatGoogle, anddeliversomeofmybestmarketingtrainingsformystudentsinmyowncompany.
So a lotofdaytodaytasks, whichyou'reprobablyfamiliarwith, likecheckingemails, respondingtomessages, arethekindofthingsarecalledshallowwork, becauseitdoesn't requiremuchofyourbrainpowertodoso.
Calwrotethathewasabletodoublehisoutputofresearchpapers, whilebeing a fulltimeprofessor, raisinghisfamilyandwritinghisbookallatthesametimebyusingthismethod.
I wanttohaveenoughtimetospendwithmyfamilyandtotraveltolive a lifefullofexperiences.
I don't wanttobechainedto a deskandjustlookingat a screenallday.
Andwhat I alsofoundfascinatingisthataccordingtoresearchdonein 2012, deepworkcanalsotrainyourbraintoincreaseyourfocusandalsoyourcognitivefunctionslike a muscle.
Before I usedtofindithardtogetthrough a wholepagein a book, but I canscrollonInstagramforanhour.
Whereasnow I caneasilysitdownfor 90 minutesofdeepworkat a timeandcomingoutfeelingcompletelyfulfilledandaccomplishedbecause I didsomethingwiththattime.
I thinkoneofthestatethatyoutendtogetintoduringdeepworkisthestateofflow, whichhasbeendocumentedinthispsychologistMihaly's book, Flow, whereyoureachthispointofstandstilloftimeandyou'refilledwithcontentandpurposeinwhatyou'redoing.
Sobeforewegetintothenittygrittyofhowtodobetterdeepwork, I thinkit's reallyimportanttosetupthefirstthingsfirst, whichisyourenvironment.
Soifyouhavethemeanstodoso, except a separateareainyourhome, like a studyor a separateroomwhereyouuseitpurelyfordeepworkingandwhereyoudefinitelywon't bedisturbed.
Ifyou'reintheofficeenvironment, thinkaboutusinganemptyconferenceroom, maybethatyoucanuseitas a purely a placetogetawayfromthatopenplannoisiness.
Andifyoudon't havethespaces, aswearelivinginsmallerandsmallerplacesthesedaysinthemodernworld, I foundlocallibrariesandalsolocalquietercafestobereallygreatforthisbecauseyouhave a separatespaceallocatedtothis.
Andwhat I likeaboutthecurrentworldofmixingremoteworkingwithbeingintheofficeisthatthedaysthatyouareathomeremoteworking, youcanusesomeofthosedaysforthemuchmoreimportantstrategicdeepthinkingtasksthatyoucanuseduringthesedeepworksessions.
Andifyouwantabsolutelyzeronoise, ifthat's whathelpsyouuse a pairofnoisecancellingheadphones.
SomyonesfromSony, I'lllinkitto a descriptionbelow.
Youdon't havetogetexactsameone.
I foundthisonetobereallyhelpfulbecauseit's lightonmyhead.
Andwhenworkingforlet's sayanhourand a halfthetime, itdoesn't actuallyweighonmyheadtomakeithurt.
Soit's justsomething I foundinmyownexperience.
Butfeelfreetofindonethatworksforyou.
Andwhat I foundtobeanotherbenefitisthatif I weartheseheadphonesinpublicspaces, likecoworkingspaces, I'm lesslikelytobedisturbedbecause I looklike I'm in a workingmode.
Onething I realizedisthatif I don't prioritizemytask, thenalsoeverythingonmylistreallyneedsmyattention.
I don't knowwhatelsetofocuson.
Butonequestion I foundtobereallyhelpfulandfeelfreetowritethisonedownthathelpedmeon a dailybasisiswhenever I preparemyto-dosfortheday, I askmyself, ifthere's threethings I needtogetdonetoday, whatwouldthosebeinordertomovemybiggestgoalsanddreamsforward?
Andwhenyouputitinthatcontext, allof a sudden, thosetasksbecome a lotmoreclearerintermsofwhichoneismostimportanttogetdonethatdaytomoveyourselfforwardonemorestepat a time.
Becauseifyoureflectonthis, when I wasinschool, I rememberwhen I had a loomingdeadlinefor a paperincollege, somehowthatpaperafterprocrastinatingonitforweeks, thedaybeforeitgetsdue, itwillactuallygetdonethenightbefore.
Soit's justthingslikethis, whereifyouputthosedeadlinesforyourself, that's actuallyestimatedtobe a lotmorestrictandalsointensethanitshouldbe.
Youwillactuallyfindyourselfgettingitdone a lotmorequickerthanyouthink.
AndCalmentionedthisinthisbookwhere I thoughtit's a reallygreatequationtosharewithyouguysisthatthehighqualityofworkproducedequalstimespenttimesintensityonthisparticulartask.
Secondly, that I foundtobereallyhelpfulisthatthisrhythmicde-workritualscheduledineither a dailyorweeklybasis, dependingonyourschedule.
Andforme, I personallyfoundinmylineofwork, havingdailysessionsreallyhelpedme.
Sothewaymyscheduleworksisthatinthemorning, I usuallyhave a veryquickworkoutafterdroppingoffmydaughteratschool.
Andthen I willhavethreetofourhourstomyselftoreallyfocusonthosedeep, intensiveworkthat I needtogetdone.
Itcouldbewriting a keynotespeech.
Itcouldbepreparingtrainingmaterialsformystudents.
Itcouldbe, let's sayinthiscase, designingstrategiesforclientcouldbewriting a scriptforYouTubevideo, butwhateveritis, itallowsmetousethattimetoreallyusemydeepest, intensebrainpower.
Sothatwaylateron, I knowthat I'veaccomplishedthemostimportantthingsonmylistand I canmoveontotherestofthedaywith a lotmoreeasebecause I knowthatit's actuallybeentickedoffandnotmostpeople, butgenerallyspeaking, themajorityofpeopleareenergeticinthemornings.
So I recommendhavingthisearlierinthemorningforyouronedose, buttherearelotsofpeopleinmycommunitywho I speaktomyfriendsandfamilywhoarealsonightowlsandthat's totallyokaytoo.
Soknowwhenisyourbestperformanceperiod?
Isitmorning?
Isitlatenights?
Andthenjusthavethosescheduledinforyourselfon a regularbasis.
Andit's a reallygoodideatomakesureyouhavescheduledinregularbreaksforthesesessions.
Sogenerallyspeaking, maybeanhourand a half, anhourandhavinganintervalfromthere, thenaddinginsomeofthosebreaksinbetweenwhereyoucanjustdonothing, have a cupoftea, walkaroundtheblock.
Soforme, I justlovelookingoutthewindow, having a littlebitof a timeformyeyestorestaswell, andthengettingbackintothenextintervalsession.
Solet's take a momenttoreflectonthis.
Take a penandpaperandwritethisdown.
Givenyourcurrentgoalandsituation, howmanyhoursofdeepworkcanyoucommittoon a dailyorweeklybasis?
Andlastly, thisis a partwhere I feellike a lotofpeopledon't talkaboutandthatishowdoyoushutdownproperlyfortheevening?
Andsleepissettingup a greatprecedenceforthenextdayofdeepworksoyourbrainhasthemostcapacityandabilitytodothedeepintensivethinkingthatyouneed.
I foundthistobereallyhelpfulwherethenightbefore, writedownsomeofthethingsthatyoudidn't finishandsomeofthethingsthatyouwanttogetdonethenextdayanddumpitallinto, let's say, a notebook.
Inmycase, I writeinmyjournaland I finditquiterelaxingtobeabletotakeitalloutofmyheadintothepaperand I cannowrelaxinto a deepsleep.
AndCalNewport, eveninhisbook, havegoneasfarasshutdowncomplete, sayingthattohimselfasifhisbrainis a computerprogram.
Andhesaysthatitworksapparentlywherehegets a chancetoreallycompletelyshutdownandhave a goodnight's sleepthenextdaystartingoveragain.
Andlastly, thisistheonethingthat I wanttoleaveyouwithinthisvideoisthatnoneofthetipsorthedeepworktactics, thepositivetipsthatyouseearoundtheinternetaregoingtoworkunlessyoulovewhatyoudo.
Becauseoftentimes, whenwe'reprocrastinatingonthatbigproject, thedreamjob, thedreamopportunityisthat a lotoftimes a lotoftheissuesbehindprocrastinatingis a lotdeeperthanwethink.
Anditcanmean a lotmorethanthat, right?
Itcouldbeyou'reafraid.
Itcouldbethatyoudon't knowhowtogetstarted.
Itcouldbethatyou're a perfectionistjustlikemewaitingfortheperfectconditionstogetstarted.
So I reallyinviteyoutoreflectonthesethingsandtothinkaboutarethereanyotherreasons I mightbeholdingyouback?
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