Week 13: Deep Work
This week felt like a breakthrough and it couldn’t come at a more opportune moment.
The past month we have been working on a project, to locate people in buildings based on their the wireless networks they are connected to.
It is a task that requires focus for a lot of reasons. Firstly there is a lot to keep track of. To get more accurate results, you have to remove dodgy data, filter out duplicates.
Before long, I have multiple data sets, each with their own distinct name, layout and (hopefully) use.
Focus
It’s the kind of task that I couldn’t have done two weeks or even two days ago, not just because I didn’t know the technical elements but because I couldn’t have maintained the focus to keep everything in my head.
Losing focus in these sorts of exercises has a compounding effect. Not only do lose time, but you also lose track of what you are doing, having to go back and remember 10 minutes( or more) worth of detail.
A few distractions across the course of an hour and you are setting yourself up for failure.
And let’s be honest, the potential for distraction is vast both on a bootcamp or in an office environment. Emails, phone calls, social media, interruptions from colleagues, all can seriously damage progress.
Progress
However, by adopting the habits that I’ve been working on over the previous few months, it started to come together. Yesterday, for example, for the first day in my life, I went the entire working day without checking the news. I also went the whole day without looking at social media.
For a journalist, this is significant, believe me.
This new found focus has trickled into my coding. I solve problems much quicker, lose track last often, and feel the pride of a job well done.
All of which brings me to Cal Newport and his book Deep Work.
The tips and tricks contained within, are making a huge difference to my work, and for those undertaking retraining, I cannot recommend it enough.
