How to Apply Cal Newport’s “Deep Work” in Everyday Life
Cal Newport’s “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World” explains the concept of mastering deep work, a skill that’s crucial in having extraordinary success.
In this blog, we talk about 3 important takeaways on elevating productivity and how to apply it in your life.
3 takeaways and how to apply it in your life
Batching: Consolidating hard work into intense uninterrupted pulses
In chapter 1 (33:20), “Deep Work” speaks about Professor Adam Grant. Receiving academic tenure at only 28, Adam Grant is the youngest full professor tenure at Wharton. He specializes in organizational psychology, teaches about entrepreneurship and leadership amongst other things, and is a successful Ted Talk speaker.
Adam Grant was introduced as an exemplary example of productivity. Not only was Adam Grant a top rated professor at Wharton for 7 straight years, but also he produced more research and publishings than just about anyone else in his field.
How did he do this? He batched.
Adam focused all his attention in the fall semester to teaching — being a good teacher and being readily available to his students. In the spring and summer semester, however, all his attention focused on research.
This is called batching, the consolidation of work into intense uninterrupted pulses. Cal Newport says that this leverages the following law of productivity:
High quality of work produced = time spent * intensity of focus
By batching, Grant is able to maximize intensity during the time worked and thus, maximize the results produced per unit of time spent working.
Applying this in your life
One way you can apply batching in your life is when creating daily and weekly goals. When creating these goals, work to identify the greater tasks. Here’s an example:
By doing this, you create distinct greater picture tasks that will drive your intense uninterrupted pulses of concentration, otherwise, known as deep work.
Principle of Least Resistance: Tending to the behaviors easiest in the moment
In chapter 2 (16:36), we learn about the principle of least resistance.
The principle of least resistance states that in a business setting without clear feedback on the ultimate impact of our behaviors, we tend to the behaviors easiest in the moment.
“Deep Work” says that this is the reality of workplace behavior. This means that at work, we tend to “tasks” such as responding to Slack messages, Teams messages, text messages, emails, etc, etc, etc because it’s simply easier.
While it may seem harmless or even at times, essential, this has created a culture of constant connectivity. And unfortunately, for many of us, this is ultimately distracting and we’re left at the end of the day asking ourselves:
“What did I even do today?”
Avoiding this in your life
If you found this resonating with your experience, perhaps it’s time to make a change.
Try turning off all distractions when conducting deep work. This might mean:
- Cleaning your browser window of unnecessary tabs such as email or social media tabs.
- Putting away your phone.
- Finding a quiet environment away from peers or side conversations.
- Turning off all notifications.
You might even try blocking sites in which the temptations are just too strong.
Deep Work is Meaningful
In chapter 3 (00:00), we learn that deep work is meaningful (my personal favorite takeaway).
The beginning of chapter 3 talks about a blacksmith named Ric Furrer who uses ancient medieval metalworking practices to recreate swords.
In a documentary, Ric gives us a peek into how he makes a viking era sword all from the work of his 2 hands. He talks about the initial breakdown of the steel — in which he implements a grueling ritual of heating the steel, hitting it with a hammer, turning it, hitting it again, putting it back into the flames, and repeat. He does this same pattern for 8 hours — but in the documentary, you see him transform into a flow state.
He acknowledges that this process could have been done differently with the use of 1 machine, but at the end, his work shows evidence to the 2 hands that made it — making it all worthwhile.
This shows that deep work is meaningful. At the beginning, it surely must have been difficult for Ric to see the bigger impact of his every blow. However, at the end, he’s met with a beautiful sword made up of the compounding impact of his deep work.
Let’s look at a different example. In chapter 3 (2:30:00), we also hear about the book, “The Pragmatic Programmer,” and how it speaks on how programming is related to old style craftsmanship.
As the medieval quarry worker creed stated,
“We who cut mere stones must always be envisioning cathedrals.”
“The Pragmatic Programmer” says that programmers must see their work in the same way — that their lines of code fit in the overall structure of a project, of a product, of an overall experience.
This demonstrates that really, all work has meaning — and instead of it being work, it’s craft. And if you hone your craft, and apply it with skill and care, there’s meaning in your everyday work.
Applying this in your life
Everything you do has meaning — so let’s not be wasteful of our actions. Everything we do has a compounding impact. For example, if you’re always putting in the work, you’ll be rewarded. Some rewards might be getting a promotion, earning a good grade, accomplishing a specific goal, or best yet, seeing a long-term dream coming true.
To apply this, make sure you’re doing things with intention. Every morning, try looking at your yearly goals or a vision board if you have one. This can really help narrow in your focus and fuel your day with a genuine, pure drive.
Additionally, when creating weekly and daily goals, make sure they ladder up to your yearly goals or your long term vision. This will help ensure that everything you do has a clear impact and it’s grounded with purpose.
Cal Newport’s “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World” is an extremely insightful read. There are many more takeaways than just the 3 listed above. This book, in fact, changed the lives and mindset of many people.
It changed our mindset so much to the fact that many of its principles are carried throughout Sidekick and it’s even a required read for anyone who joins our team (whenever that might be ;)). So if you haven’t already, I highly recommend you give it a read.
I hope you were able to take away something from this blog post and that it helps you make the most of your time. And with that, go forth with deep work!
Interested in Sidekick? Visit our website to learn more. Sidekick is currently in Private Beta but we’re always building our community and looking for new people like yourself to try it out — so let us know by requesting an invite.
