Guide to Deep Work
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Guide to Deep Work
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Re: Guide to Deep Work
#2[deleted]
Re: Guide to Deep Work
#3One of the biggest factors is having large chunks of uninterrupted time. If your manager and team value deep work, having no meetings days can be a huge help.
And once you have an uninterrupted time block, it's important to ignore potential interruptions. I find this extremely difficult.
Re: Guide to Deep Work
#4If you're struggling with scheduling work time and getting things done I'd like to recommend https://www.focusmate.com/
You book 50 minute video sessions and are paired with a random other person who wants to get work done. You start by saying what you intend to work on, and you finish by saying what you accomplished. That's it, other discussion is strongly discouraged.
I work from home and have nearly unlimited leeway over my time. This is not such a great thing, with unlimited freedom I tend to wander or do nothing. This service has helped to provide a human expectation and environment conducive to work. It's free and the days I schedule sessions are distinctly more productive than the days I do not.
Re: Guide to Deep Work
#5If you're struggling with scheduling work time and getting things done I'd like to recommend https://www.focusmate.com/ You book 50 minute video sessions and are paired with a random other person who wants to get work done. You start by saying what you intend to work on, and you finish by saying what you accomplished. That's it, other discussion is strongly discouraged. I work from home and have nearly unlimited leew…
Wow, this is awesome! I’m afraid to try it...I’m trying to read HN over here!
Re: Guide to Deep Work
#6The real challenge is attention management. Switching gears from an execution orientation (knocking off tasks) to a careful thinking orientation is hard. The hardest aspect of deep work (for people used to a structured form of productivity) is immersion in the task/topic without a concrete plan of "how" to tackle it. (The necessary immersion is what makes "deep" a good metaphor) Every such session is a risky investment where you don't know what you'll come up with. Unless you believe it's a risk worth taking, trying too hard to de-risk endeavors will rob you of opportunities for deep work.
Deep work involves situated thinking -- thinking while doing, making use of feedback.
OTOH, the structured approach biases towards separating the two closely knit parts into "planning" and "action" -- so much so that in our organizations the two are done by different people/teams!
Drucker said that a decision has been made only when it's clear what the actions are. Correspondingly, deep work is required to the extent that the analysis can't be front loaded in that manner.
Re: Guide to Deep Work
#7If you're struggling with scheduling work time and getting things done I'd like to recommend https://www.focusmate.com/ You book 50 minute video sessions and are paired with a random other person who wants to get work done. You start by saying what you intend to work on, and you finish by saying what you accomplished. That's it, other discussion is strongly discouraged. I work from home and have nearly unlimited leew…
That's actually pretty neat. The anti-chatroulette.
Re: Guide to Deep Work
#8The real challenge is attention management. Switching gears from an execution orientation (knocking off tasks) to a careful thinking orientation is hard. The hardest aspect of deep work (for people used to a structured form of productivity) is immersion in the task/topic without a concrete plan of "how" to tackle it. (The necessary immersion is what makes "deep" a good metaphor) Every such session is a risky investme…
There's no reason why "figure out what to do next" can't be a concrete task. I set up a daily schedule and I schedule reassessing and specifying more detail into my work.
Re: Guide to Deep Work
#9I read the article. Some of the advice might be valuable.
For me though, it's fairly straightforward:
- Decide what I need to work on, and try to visualize the end result as clearly as possible
- Put phone on DND
- Turn off email clients
- Close browser tabs not related to work
- Put on noise-canceling headphones with some music that has no lyrics (e.g. electronic, synthwave, etc.)
Then I work.
I can stay in "the zone" for many hours using this method, and tend to accomplish my best work. Furthermore, I can do it uninterrupted, except for the occasional 5-minute restroom break.
Re: Guide to Deep Work
#10The real challenge is attention management. Switching gears from an execution orientation (knocking off tasks) to a careful thinking orientation is hard. The hardest aspect of deep work (for people used to a structured form of productivity) is immersion in the task/topic without a concrete plan of "how" to tackle it. (The necessary immersion is what makes "deep" a good metaphor) Every such session is a risky investme…
Thank you for this concise summary. At my job I'm often accused of not being a team player because I refuse to get sucked into other people's shallow-work emergencies. It feels good to know that I'm not alone!