Deep work vs Shallow work: 6 Ways to Boost Focus
It’s getting more and more difficult to work without any being distracted by something. Push notifications, randomly checking for email, distracting thoughts…
The instant access to entertainment and information crippled our ability to focus, a skill that is becoming rare, and therefore, more valuable.
Today will cover how to get this skill back and improve our ability to focus so that we can produce work that displays the limits of your currents skills.
The concepts covered here are mainly taken from the book Deep Work by Cal Newport, as well as my own experiences while practicing the book’s advice.
If you want to dive deeper into these concepts, check out my full summary of the book. Still here? Great!
Deep work vs Shallow work
We can divide work into two categories that represent how we work and the type of work generated:
Swallow Work — Tasks that do not create much new value, easy to replicate, often performed while distracted.
In contrast, we have…
Deep Work — Tasks that create new value and hard to replicate, push cognitive capabilities to their limit, performed free from distractions.
You probably experienced both modes of work but shallow work is usually the prevailing mode because it’s so easy to fall into it.
While doing a project, it’s easy to get distracted and fall into the trap of assigning way to much time to shallow activities. As we run out of time, the more value we give to work that actually produces value.
This is an unhealthy relationship with deep work.
As you guest, the trick is to take control over deep work and master this powerful skill. According to the author, Cal Newport, there are three main reasons why we should develop a deep work practice:
It’s valuable because it allows us to develop new skills faster and leverage our current skills.
It’s rare because as the world becomes full of distractions, fewer people are able to go deep.
It’s meaningful because we get more meaning and satisfaction out of being focused on our craft.
You might be thinking that all of this sounds right but you may already know how difficult it can be to get into a state of deep work. Let’s explore the tactics to minimize distraction and cultivate a deep work routine.
1. Ritualize Deep Work
Our brains like it when we establish a routine. To introduce deep work into your workday, it helps to define upfront the rules of engagement. Define where are you going to work and for how long.
Make sure you find a place free of distractions where you can remain focused
Note: I like to go to more noisy places like coffee shops when doing more creative work. For writing, I NEED the silence. These are the nuances you need to learn about yourself. You can only learn about them by DOING.
You should also define what are you going to do during your deep work sessions. The more specific, the better.
Having a goal in mind will help you remain focused and moving towards the predefined task.
And lastly, make sure you have all the resources you need to support you during deep work. This includes any documents or books, tools and even snacks and water.
Assure that you leave no excuses to interrupt your deep work session.
Note: I like to start my deep work sessions by putting some ear plugs, unplug from the matrix and having a nice espresso
2. Execute Like a Business
Because deep work is so effective, it helps to focus on the widely important: a small set of goals that maximize your deep work efforts. These goals should feel challenging and somewhat intimidating, motivating you to work deeper.
Together with this mindset, businesses use key performance indicators (KPI’s), metrics that indicate performance.
This concept can also be applied in your deep work routine, helping us tracking our productivity. Personal KPI’S can be very useful but we have to take the following into account:
We most track and care about lead measures instead of lag measures. I think this mistake is very common among content creators (including myself)
Lag measures can only be measured as a result of an activity and cannot be directly influenced (i.e. how many reads I get on this post).
We should instead care about…
Lead measures, which can be measured during an activity and can be directly influenced (i.e. how many hours I spent writing and editing this post).
3. Schedule when the Internet IS allowed
It’s now the norm to constantly be connected to the Internet.
Some of us already realized that restricting access to the web while we do more serious work allows us to advert most distractions.
Instead of having a break from distraction, we should have breaks from focus. This can be achieved by defining a block of time when the Internet is allowed.
Like me, you might also have some work that requires being online but this just means that your Internet time will be bigger. Yet, still restricted.
By limiting your online time, all the important work takes priority over swallow activities.
4. Quit Social Media
You know deep down that you spend way too much time mindlessly scrolling through social media. It’s time that could be otherwise used for more productive things like deep work.
But should you complete quit social media?
To make this decision consider the positive and negative impacts of social media on your personal and professional goals. Just like a craftsman treats a tool, consider using social media only if supports your goals.
Do you use it to truly connect with your audience and friends?
Is it useful to promote your art?
Or do you use it just to kill time?
If you find that it’s just a waste of your time, simply drop it all together.
No one will miss you and remember… you still exist in real life.
5. Schedule every minute of your day
Most of the reason we get distracted so easily is that we go through the day without any plan or structure. This lack of constraints free us to jump from task to task, from distraction to distraction without noticing how little we accomplish.
The chaos and busyness take priority and little to no value was produced.
By planning our day in advance, we are segmenting the day into smaller chunks of time and therefore clearly assigning how much time each activity deserves. This plan is just a rough time block of the day so you can still adapt it to any unpredictable activities.
The plan also lets you appreciate and respect how valuable your time is and therefore, make you prioritize depth.
6. Become hard to reach
It turns out that being connected to everyone all the time is not as desirable as advertised.
It’s very easy for someone to distract you without hardly putting any effort into it, yet replying usually takes more effort. A way to avoid this is by becoming hard to reach, especially during your deep work sessions.
Your attention is precious so make sure others need to input some effort to reach you. This might sound pretentious but you know how little it takes to break your concentration and how precious a state of deep work can be.
So fight for your ability to control your attention and others will understand.
These are some of the ways you can gain control over your attention and develop a deep work habit. If you want to keep digging on this topic, check out the full book summary and of course, I recommend you getting Deep Work by Cal Newport.
It’s probably one of the most powerful books I have ever read.
If you have any tips regarding deep work, feel free to join me down in the comments. Thank you for being here and I see you on the next one ;)
