In the age of network tools like e-mail, facebook, twitter deep work is replaced by shallow work which is easily replicable. To remain valuable in our economy, we must learn the art of quick learning hard things. This task requires deep work. If we don’t learn this ability, we fall back as technology advances.
If we study the lives of influential people, We find that working with full concentration is common in all of them. Nobel Prize winner. J.K. Rowling never uses a computer for writing her novels and was absent from social media during her writing period. On the other hand, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates conducted ‘Think week’ twice a year in which he isolates himself and does nothing but reading and think big thoughts.
Network tools such as e-mail, SMS, Facebook, and Twitter etc. distract us from working with high concentration and degrade our capacity to remain focused. Google might reduce our memory, but we no longer need good memories, as of now we can search for anything we need to know anytime.
When we ask the student who got higher CGPA in their exams we found that student got a higher CGPA study less than a group of student right below on CGPA rankings. The best students understand the role of the intensity of focus which reduces the time require to complete the particular task, but increase the work quality.
Therefore,
High-Quality Work Produced= (Time Spent) * (Intensity of Focus)
To produce at your best level you need to work with full concentration on a single task free from all distraction. All successful people always knew the importance of deep work which enables them to learn hard things in less time.
How focus can be achieved?
Rule#1- Work Deeply
There are different philosophies to achieve deep work choose one that is exactly suitable to your circumstances.
The Monastic Philosophy of Deep Work Scheduling
Monastic philosophy of deep work attempt to maximize the deep work by minimizing shallow obligations. Famous computer scientist Donald Knuth work deeply and never allow people to disturb his work. Knuth has been called the ‘father of analysis of algorithms’. On Knuth website he mentions this note regarding e-mail:
“I have been a happy man ever since January 1, 1990, when I no longer had an email address. I’d used email since about 1975, and it seems to me that 15years of email is plenty for one lifetime. Email is a wonderful thing for people whose role in life is to be on top of things. But not for me; my role is to be on the bottom of things. What I do takes long hours of studying and uninterruptible concentration”.
The Bimodal Philosophy of Deep Work Scheduling
In Bimodal philosophy, we have to divide the time into parts. Time for deep work should be undisturbed and remaining time as general life like everyone else. Carl Jung a psychologist wakes up 7:00 AM in the morning, after a heavy breakfast Jung locks himself into a small room to write without interruption. He would then meditate and clarify his thoughts for next day writing. While the rest of his time was spent normally like other peoples.
The Rhythmic Philosophy of Deep Work Scheduling
In this, we work with solid routines that make sure little bit things get done constantly. Brian Chappell a busy doctorate candidate adopted the rhythmic philosophy of deep work. Chappell was writing a thesis and offered a full-time job. He made a rule that deep work is to be completed in 90 Minutes, But this strategy didn’t work. He made a rule that he wake up early in the morning and start work by five thirty in the morning. He soon pushed his wake up time and to four forty-five to get more morning depth.
The Journalistic Philosophy of Deep Work Scheduling
The journalistic philosophy approach for deep work says that you fit into deep work whenever you can. The journalist Walter Isaacson, whenever find the time, he switches to deep work and starts writing his book. The ability to switch to deep work from shallow don’t come easily and require practice.
Rule#2 Quit Social Media
If you focus more things, it will become very difficult to focus on something important. You’re justified in using a network tool if you can identify any benefit from it or you miss something if not use it, But the problem with this is that all network tool services are very addictive. To master the art of Deep Work one must take control of your attention to many diversions. Identify what matters most in your life and start working for your goal and simultaneously use network tools like Facebook, twitter etc. and find out whether these tools have any positive or negative impact on your target.
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