When was the last time you completed a task without checking your smartphone?
How many apps are open on your smartphone right now?
How many tabs are open on your laptop right now?
(I’d be surprised if the number is less than five).
Chances are high that while you are reading this, you will get a notification from one of Mark’s platforms. And you will rush to check it, leaving this article in the middle.
While you let yourself get distracted, let me tell you how Mark made Facebook in the first place.
He was 20 when he sat down in front of his computer.
Plugged in his earphones to avoid disturbance,
And spent countless hours coding.
He cut-off from the outside world completely and only got up if he needed to eat or pee. He even skipped his classes at Harvard and avoided any social gatherings.
The result of this intensely focused activity was that he was able to launch Facebook in merely a few weeks while still in college at the age of 20!
What were you doing when you were 20?
Making reels?
This ability to concentrate for hours to perform a cognitively challenging task and produce a highly valuable output is called deep work.
How Harry Potter was Written
In 2007, when J.K. Rowling was struggling to say “Avada Kedavra” to Voldemort, and Muggles were waiting for the final book to release, she locked herself in a suite at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburg to escape the distractions of the outside world.
As a result, she ended up finishing Deathly Hallows much faster in the suite than in her own home only a few miles away.
Of course, you and I can’t afford a suite in a 5-star hotel in Edinburg, but we can learn something from this habit.
Now that you understand what deep work is, let’s also understand the opposite of deep work- shallow work.
Shallow work is any logistical-style task that can be performed while remaining distracted that does not produce much value.
For example, doing the dishes or replying to an email/message. These tasks are easy to replicate and automate.
Dishwashers have been a savior for many.
Chatbots can now handle customer queries on websites.
You can write a code that manages excel files for you automatically.
In this century, people who perform shallow work will lose their jobs to machines. It doesn’t take a genius to know that AI is the next big thing and that you are bound to get replaced (ChatGPT scares me!) unless you have one of the following things:-
-
- The ability to master hard things
- The ability to produce at an elite level at a rapid pace
Both of these require the habit of doing deep work.
Here are some steps that you can follow if you want to cultivate this habit.
1. Quit Social Media
Before you drop off and say that this idea is insane, hear me out.
I haven’t logged into my Facebook account since 2013.
Before writing this, I took a 2-week sabbatical from Instagram.
No, I’m not abnormal nor am I crazy. I just like to call it a ‘digital detox’.
Social media might appear to be “free” but you’re actually paying for it with your attention. The constant need to check your notification, to scroll through your feed, (even though there is nothing new), to send a snap is an addiction that nobody talks about.
These social media tools are designed to get you hooked and as a result, are reducing your ability to focus. And hence, you keep on procrastinating on important tasks.
Quitting would be an extreme measure but the least you can do is manage your usage.
a. Schedule a time during the day when you are allowed to check social media.
b. Turn off all notifications except the most important ones.
c. Curb your urge to use your phone when not required.
This is a battle between you and Mark. Don’t let Mark win!
2. Schedule Deep Work
Twice a year, Bill Gates lives in an isolated cabin in the woods, away from the hustle-bustle.
No smartphone, no wifi.
He calls this activity- ‘Think Weeks’.
The only windows he uses are the actual ones.
These weeks are reserved for ‘thinking’ deeply. It was during one of his think weeks in the 1990s that he realized the massive potential of the internet and the rest is history.
If you and I disappear for two weeks, our bosses would start a witch hunt to find us. But we can ritualize deep work by allocating a couple of hours every day to uninterrupted work.
During this period, you don’t check your smartphone.
You don’t have any extra tabs open on your laptop.
You only focus on the most important task at hand.
Ideally, you should do this first thing in the morning or late nights also work.
Once you make it a habit, you will automatically see your productivity improve.
3. Embrace Boredom
When was the last time you had a real conversation with yourself?
Just because we live in a hyper-connected world doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t connect with ourselves. (You don’t even poop without your phone).
This is only possible if you let yourself be bored. The rise of streaming platforms like Netflix and Prime has only intensified the battle to capture your attention. The rate at which they are launching series and movies is quite unbelievable. It will take you 9 lives to consume all the content they have.
I haven’t yet watched Money Heist or Squid Games.
I haven’t even seen half the movies in the Marvel franchise.
You may think I am missing out on something huge. But actually, it’s you who has been ‘missing out’ on your time to create.
Take a walk in the park, or go for a light jog. Allow your brain some time to relax and think.
If you are constantly feeding your mind with information and not giving it time to process, you will seldom produce.
You don’t have to watch every show that comes out. You don’t have to keep up with the trend (Unless the show has dragons). Let the world’s most powerful imagination device breathe in open air.
It’s not going to be easy. There have been times that I have been actually able to do deep work and there are times where I failed. And it’s okay. Overnight success is a myth. Deep work is a skill that takes time to build.
Getting control over your focus in a hyper-connected world is only going to get difficult. The important points to remember are that you don’t allow technology to become your master and make deep work a ritual in your life.
Once you master the rare skill, you become one of the most valuable figures in this century.
“Deep work is not a figment of the imagination of writers, nor it is the darling of philosophers. Deep work is a skill that has great value today. Deep work is the superpower of the 21st century.” – Cal Newport
While reading this article the first thing I did – turn of my internet – to read it till the end without disturbance. Last few weeks I have been procrastinating so much and this article is the push I need to sit and think. Really a good read. Hopefully….after this I will be taking baby steps towards less procrastination and more actual work
Happy to know that this article helped you Manish!
If you are looking to beat procrastination here’s some tips for you-
https://smithshah.com/5-proven-strategies-to-beat-procrastination/
Interesting points. I would like to add my thoughts on it.
There are some periods when you are not doing anything important, then you are feeling bored and feel the urge to keep yourself entertained by scrolling feeds and feeling lazy to do anywork. I feel this is okay, and this period provide good time for relaxation and self realisation.
However, when gets into this period for a very prolonged time, over a couple of month, one should come to a realisation that breaks are of high worth only when the there had been a sprint. Is it that we are suffering from depression? Or is it just there is not much to do and no important deadlines or bucketlist/goals to achieve? Or is it just we are jobless?
Distractions might not even wonder if you are running on a good sprint and your goals are not miles away.
Perhaps, start to acknowledge there has been either goals too far to achieve that mind has already given up or we had been too lazy to write down our goal of the week and subdivide the goal for the day in the paper and are just waiting for the right time or a massiah or a threaten mail by your Boss. Some people needs a high external push, like a warning or blunder before they can start to prioritise what’s valueable for them, and some people just need a little push like a couple of hours of a good movie time that increases their blood pressure. Some people just needs to get out of their house and keep facing rejections until they get their job and some people would be better off if they consult a professional for a multiple rounds.
Either way, everything is okay. Deep works would follow when the work is important and requires critical attention, or when you just sit on the desk for the sake of hours and you fell in love with whatever you picked up.
And whenever you find you are just wasting your time surfing around youtube or so, you just need to remind youself, just as you mention, boss, there is a critical personal or professional goal we need to accomplish this week, so let’s schedule a deep work time first and then surf around on the lazy days.