How to Practice Deep Work Daily
Deep work is, in principle, focused, uninterrupted, undistracted work that pushes your cognitive abilities to the limit. There is nothing revolutionary in Cal Newport's concept. Still, there are not many ideas that have changed how I produce work as much as Deep Work. It's one of the books I recommend the most, not because of its complexity but for its simplicity in bringing aspiring projects to reality.
Previously, the need for brute force labour was intense and deep work wasn't required for most jobs. But now, in an attention economy, a concept explored by the Economist Herbert Simon, the ability to solve complex problems, analyse data and collaborate boundlessly, has brought the necessity of deep work. According to Cal Newport, a computer science professor at Georgetown University, those with the ability for Deep Work will be the most valued in our economy.
Regardless of what you are trying to accomplish — getting a job, writing a novel, starting a business, or producing a song, deep work is precious, especially when practising it daily. After years of implementing deep work, I can (humbly) say I've completed a significant number of meaningful projects, and I hope to share some useful strategies that have helped me in the process, some inspired by Cal Newport's book "Deep Work", and others emerging from the practice itself.
How to Practice Deep Work Daily
#1 Define a Project to Complete
There is nothing more frustrating than sitting at your desk, at 8 a.m., with a cup of coffee nearby and struggling to make sense of what you're trying to get done. It is a complete waste of time, energy and focus to not have a clear goal in mind when starting a deep work session. It's like trying to juggle 3 balls when you only brought 2. It's not going to work because you were not prepared.
Instead, you must, beforehand, specify a project to work on. If your goal is to finish a client's report during the next 2 week, make sure you have it clear in your mind not to waste any time reflecting on what you should be doing instead. The blog post you're currently reading was planned yesterday night, so I could sit today and start working on it.
#2 Focus on what you can control
I've just mentioned the importance of having in mind a clear project to complete. Having said that, as important as having an ambitious goal in mind is measuring your progress along the way. If your only KPI (key performance indicator) is having the book completed, you are not helping yourself succeed. When the book deadline is 3 months from now, what will help to know the book is not yet written by the end of next month?
Instead, you should actively measure the number of deep working hours you are dedicating to researching and writing. By having a clear performance measure, you can evaluate your progress and act towards it immediately. Thus, your project becomes an ongoing reality rather than a dreamy vision.
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control.”
#3 Keep a Scorecard of Deep Working Hours
What Cal suggests, based on the 4 Disciplines of Execution, is having a scorecard of your working hours. The idea is having a physical artefact in your work environment that shows your leading metric — hours spend in deep work. This is an excellent way of tying your progress to your ability to focus deeply.
I had first read the book Deep Work by Cal Newport in 2017. I decided to reread it 4 years later, in 2021. The strategy of having a Deep-Work-Scorecard immediately resonated with my nerdy personality, and I had to run to the closest stationery store to buy cardboard and give rise to my doubtful crafty abilities. Here's how my scorecard of deep work looks like:
Score Card to practice Deep Work daily
#4 Train your Ability to Concentrate, like a muscle
I had several periods throughout my life when I thought I wasn't wired to focus. In my family, both my father and my brothers can concentrate on one task for extensive hours. It's like they are hypnotised by the work and can't even hear evident loud noises. How lucky...
Although they might have an advantage, I figured it's not really helpful to pretend I cannot train my concentration muscle. Instead, I have switched my energy from complaining about my inability to focus to developing it as a skill. Just like your body muscles grow when you push through a certain threshold, your ability to concentrate will also increase the more you use it. We can all be attention athletes, after all. If you're interested, you can read this blog post about managing your energy like an athlete, which will help you perform like one.
To "score" deep working hours, I block periods of 45-60 minutes, followed by a restful stoic break. But going back 4 or 5 years, I would stick to just 25 minutes at a time (also called the Pomodoro technique) as I wasn't able to maintain my concentration levels after that period. This shows the progress you can make by exercising your focus muscle.
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#5 Eliminate Available Distractions
“Efforts to deepen your focus will struggle if you don’t simultaneously wean your mind from a dependence on distraction.”
Our ability to focus can indeed be developed with time and practice. What is also true is that distractions harm one's ability to concentrate. Thus, you can't seek to increase your levels of focus while actively engaging in distracting activities.
I would love to state I'm incredibly skilled in managing distractions. But I'm not. It is still a struggle and something I must be vigilant in at all times. When I allow distractions to enter my working space, I'm almost surely going to lose the battle. Interestingly, there are not many secrets when it comes to managing distractions. Just a couple of rules that have helped me to produce meaningful work without interruptions:
Don't work with your phone nearby — I've had a period when I locked my phone in another room... it worked;
Put your phone in silent mode — it's great that your phone isn't nearby, but if you keep hearing those addicting notifications, you will likely check them;
Restrict social media access — you will not give in to phone distractions, but there is still an attractive source... internet access through your computer (if you work with it). I use the Google Chrome extension Freedom to block the use of certain websites (primarily social media and email). And if you don't really need the web to produce your work, shut down internet access. Thank me later ;)
Notify those around you wish not to be interrupted — make it clear that you're doing something essential.
#6 Build a Deep Work Environment
I work primarily at home, which means I must be extra vigilant in maintaining an organised and productive working space. But this advice is applicable regardless of where you work — in a private office, at a kitchen counter, or in a co-working space. The insight is cultivating an environment in which your deep working hours can be kept sacred. Here are my three best tips:
Choose one specific location to engage in deep work — I used to work at a dinner table, and I would never watch youtube videos while sitting in a particular chair... that was my deep work chair.
Add helpful elements — in the morning, I always start my first deep work session with a cup of coffee. I also have a couple of post-it notes where I keep track of distracting thoughts that I deal with later.
Remove useless objects — you don't need 5 notebooks, 13 colourful pens and a calculator to work on a computer. If you get easily distracted by these objects, make sure you hide them from sight.
If you're interested, read here The Best Tips to Work from Home (productively).
#7 Have accountability for your Deep Work Hours
Let me tell you something: I often forget projects I intended to finish. Yes... that's right. If I don't keep an eye on the projects I begin, I can easily ignore them and move on to a different one. This is not a fact I would include in my CV, but well, I've got to live with it.
A couple of things have helped me stay on top of these projects, but by far, the most useful one has been doing a weekly review. By the end of the week, I open my Notion workspace and run a weekly review/goal-setting. This helps me to evaluate the progress I made in each area of my life and schedule new deep work sessions for the next week.
By having a scorecard of your deep work sessions, you also create a visual accountability system that directs your attention towards the goals you have set.
Additionally, it helps to have an accountability partner (or several ones). You'll have someone aware of your goals, will deliberately ask for detailed feedback on your progress and will push you to the limit.
This is what Cal Newport calls a cadence of accountability, which presumes you are honest with yourself. And we all know it sounds easier than it actually is. I will leave you with this:
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.”