Why should you care about DeepWork?
In a world where people don’t even have to be in the same country as the company they work for, competition is skyrocketing. With an increasing number of freelancers and foreigners being hired to big companies, based on their skills and not their locality, becoming great at what you do and staying at the top throughout constant change is a must. The way to accomplish that is deep work. Not only suited for the growth of your career, being able to learn almost anything in a considerable short time is nothing but pure gold — except you can’t touch it nor sell it at the nearest jeweler.
Deep work describes all cognitive demanding activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes your capabilities to their limits, thus creating new value and enhancing your skills.
Whether it is your career you want to take to a next level or a new language you want to learn out of pure interest, deep work, if performed correctly and with dedication, almost guarantees success within your chosen branch!
But make no mistake, it isn’t some magical shortcut that makes hard work easy and dedication not connected to effort and time spent.
The formula of learning
Being inspired by Cal Newport, the author of the book “Deep Work” I present to you the formula for high quality work:
(Time spent) x (Intensity of focus)
What that means is that if we don’t want to or just can’t put countless hours into studying a new language or developing a new skill, we have to increase the intensity of the focus we use during our efforts to exponentially increase the results.
What is DeepWork?
To focus tightly on a specific skill you are trying to improve or build is also called deliberate practice and that’s pretty much the “how to deep work”. While deep work means that you shall not be disturbed to build maximum focus, deliberate practice describes you showing up every day for a specific task at hand and challenge yourself every time you go after it.
Strategies to implement DeepWork in your life
“You are what you surround yourself with”
Is a famous quote after which I live by. Surround yourself with likeminded people and with tools that help you staying productive throughout your day. If you try to sit around your PlayStation and Nintendo Switch and focus on studying, good luck. If you sit on a clean desk with white noise running in the background however, you will have a much easier time to focus up!
So clean your desk, move your studying into a quiet room. And please, for the love of god, keep your phone as far away from you as possible!
Takeaway for You
If you have a goal, break it down into small pieces that you can focus on per session
Create an invironment that let’s you focus solely on the task at hand
Surround yourself with likeminded people - on Twitter, Instagram or in real life
Take your time, change won’t happen over time
Keep at it! Try again and again but take breaks as needed