“If you don’t produce, you won’t thrive—no matter how skilled or talented you are.” ― Cal Newport
What have you been reading lately? I recently started reading a book called ‘Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World” by Cal Newport a few days ago. And while I have not finished reading it, I strongly recommend it to you, especially if you desire to work deeper to produce amazing results.
Nowadays, because of all the distractions – internet, social media, etc., I find out I am not able to work as deeply as I desire to. That’s why I am reading the book! You may also feel the same way. If it is not one Facebook notification, then it’s a new email that hit your inbox. Interestingly, I have disabled all the notifications on my phone, and yet I am usually tempted to check my email inbox or WhatsApp more than I know is necessary. My action (and possibly yours) confirms a 2012 McKinsey (a top consulting firm) study that found that the average knowledge worker now spends more than 60% of the workweek engaged in electronic communication and Internet searching, with close to 30 percent of a worker’s time dedicated to reading and answering email alone! This often results in busyness, without necessarily being productive!
Cal in his book defined Deep Work as “Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.”
And the opposite of Deep Work is Shallow Work which he defined as “Non-cognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world are easy to replicate.”
Working deeply requires creating blocks of uninterrupted time to work. It is in this space that you can think deeply, stretch your brain and create immense value. It however requires self-discipline to create that very needed space. You will discover that very successful people and top executives schedule blocks of time to create this space. An example is Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft who conducts “Think Weeks” twice a year, during which he would isolate himself to do nothing but read and think big thoughts.
While you may not have the luxury of taking such blocks of time out, like Bill Gates, you can start by scheduling a block 3-5 hours every week to work deeply on your major project.
According to Cal (who by the way is 35, a tenured Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University, and a successful author of 5 books), those who will thrive in this new economy are those with the ability to:
- Quickly master hard things
- Produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed
Creating new value usually involves the ability to master new and hard things. We live in a world where you can learn and create anything you desire to, with the click of a button. There is no excuse for anyone who says they can’t be whatever they want to be, because they do not have the requisite knowledge. The question is how disciplined are you to devote yourself to working deeply to create what you desire.
Working deeply is not a new philosophy. Do you remember when you had an upcoming exam, and you knew you had not finished the exam syllabus with only 2 weeks to go. You then shut off yourself from the rest of the world and focused on studying to ensure you completed the syllabus and were ready for the exam on exam day.
Another example of deep work is my Father who recently wrote, edited and published a brilliant autobiography in less than 3 months, because he set himself a deadline to have it ready by his 75th birthday.
You can work deeply and create incredible value by becoming more intentional with your daily allotted time. Will you?