Focus and ability to do Deep work - Superpowers for the 21st Century
Article inspired by Cal Newport’s book Deep Work and other articles on same topic
We all live in this incredibly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous( VUCA ) world where change is the only constant and the people who thrive are the ones who master the art of quickly learning complicated things.
Cal Newport in his book on Deep work posits that the most important abilities for us to thrive in this new economy is 1. Ability to quickly learn and master hard things 2. Ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed
High quality work produced = (Time Spent) X (Intensity of focus)
Most knowledge workers try to double down on the equation above by putting in more hours and doing busy work hoping that the outcome is of high quality without realizing that the bang for the buck is in “Intensity of focus”.
Unfortunately we also live in this attention seeking economy which works counter to developing a deep sense of focus. More than a third of millennials and Gen Z say they spend 2 hours or more checking their smartphones during their work day and the stark problem is 22% feel these distractions prevent them from reaching their full potential and advancing in their careers1. Big trends in business today actively decrease peoples ability to perform deep work, even though the benefits promised by these trends - increased serendipity, faster responses to requests and more exposure are arguably dwarfed by the benefits that flow from commitment to deep work
Cal’s deep work hypothesis states that this ability to deep work is rare, valuable and the same time more meaningful and rewarding
“Deep work hypothesis: Ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. The few who cultivate this skill and then make it core of their working life, will thrive”
What should we do to develop this skill. The below three frameworks/rules were the ones which resonated with me and helped me develop some clear and actionable ways to develop the deep work muscle.
Design Routines and Rituals which will help you focus
Key to move beyond just having good intentions of doing deep work is to ensure we build routines and rituals to our life which helps us maintain a state of unbroken concentration. Everyone has a finite amount of willpower and it is important that we build habits to minimize depletion.
There are multiple models of deep work and it is important to choose which works for you
Each of these have their own pros and cons and are suited for different type of roles. For ex, the Bimodal philosophy might work for book writers who dedicate an entire summer for such a high cognitively demanding task. Rhythmic philosophy is the one which resonated with me a lot
There are few routines which i have started following which seem to move the needle positively
Wake up one hour early and only do reading/writing or anything which requires your most cognitive energy. Do not triage or even open Emails/Chats etc. both personal + work during this time. Allocate time for triage separately before you start your work day.
Block chunks(min 2 hours) in the calendar with the specific deep work task which i plan to do in the beginning of the week.
Apply craftsman approach to tool selection
One of the key sources of distraction which reduce our ability to concentrate and fragment our time is social media(Instagram, Twitter, Facebook etc.) and in broad all websites which provide entertainment including News, Videos etc.
The counter argument for usage of these tools has always been the network benefits which these tools have to offer in addition to how it provides entertainment for us to unwind. There is a bit of truth to this but most of us apply the “Any benefit approach to network tool selection - Identify possible benefit to its user, or anything you might possibly miss out on if you don’t use it”. For ex, Facebook helps me connect with my long lost friends and family. Only issue is that this model ignores all the negative benefits of using the tool.
Alternative to this approach is the “Craftsman approach to tool selection” - Identify the core factors that determine success and happiness in your professional and personal life. Adopt a tool only if its positive impacts on these factors substantially outweigh the negative impacts.
Apply the law of the vital few (80/20) rule and ensure that you are very intentional in choosing tools which help you achieve your high level goals for professional and personal life.
Embrace boredom
‘All of humanity’s problems stem from our inability to sit quietly in a room alone’ - Blaise Pascal
Ability to to concentrate intensely is a skill that must be trained. You will struggle to train this skill if you don’t simultaneously wean your mind from a dependency on distraction.
Nowadays, we enjoy any number of inexpensive and readily accessible stimuli, be they books, videos, or social media. We need never be alone, with no one to talk to and nothing to do. Wilson et al. explored the state of being alone with one's thoughts and found that it appears to be an unpleasant experience. In fact, many of the people studied, particularly the men, chose to give themselves a mild electric shock rather than be deprived of external sensory stimuli.2
Once your brain has become accustomed to on demand distraction, Clifford Nass(psychology professor at Stanford University) discovered that it is incredibly hard to shake the addiction when you really want to concentrate3. Once you are wired for distraction you crave it.
If every moment of potential boredom in your life is relieved with a quick glance at your smartphone, then your brain has likely been rewired to a point where it becomes almost impossible to concentrate even during your scheduled time for deep work.
There are few tactics which has helped me train my mind to embrace boredom as well as reduce distractions
Whenever you feel like you want to take break from focused work - use Headspace app and go through a 5 min session on breathing or mindfulness. Over time this helps to not seek any other form of entertainment during a break and just be mindful of our own thoughts
Install extensions like StayFocusd in the browser where you can setup rules on which websites to block with time limits. This prevents us from falling into the rabbit hole of mindless surfing
If you are one of those people who read the entire article without getting distracted or looking at your phone you are off to a great start :-) . Did these thoughts resonate with you ? Leave your comments on what you do to develop focus and concentration.
https://research.udemy.com/research_report/udemy-depth-2018-workplace-distraction-report/
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1250830