{"id":4776,"date":"2017-03-27T13:44:18","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T13:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/?p=4776"},"modified":"2025-02-13T11:38:35","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T11:38:35","slug":"how-to-establish-deep-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/ja\/blog\/how-to-establish-deep-work\/","title":{"rendered":"The Benefits of Deep Work and How to Establish It"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"> After stumbling across an interesting article entitled \u201cWhy Deep Work Matters in a Distracted World\u201d I found myself cataloguing just how much time is lost to shallow work (read more\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.evernote.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/23\/deep-work-matters-distracted-world\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"> By shallow work, I mean doing work (in my case writing), while:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">People are present<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">I\u2019m listening to music<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">I have multiple projects open at once<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">I\u2019m in a noisy environment, like a coffee shop<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">The masters of deep work<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">What\u2019s disappointing about the practical efficiency of work under these conditions is that they go against the image of a modern writer. I personally imagine a multi-tasking Shiva, taking turns between cigarette drags and sips of harsh, black coffee, with the occasional distraction by a pretty girl walking past said writer as he tries to put the finishing touches on his magnum opus. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">But the article in question reminded me that the most productive writer is perhaps in a cave, on a deserted island, chained to a wall until the last drop of ink covers the last inch of papyrus. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">I remember a mathematics professor of mine<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>laughing about the countless students who would come to him, asking for tips on learning the material:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">First, he would always ask them if they read the assigned chapters. About half would say no. \u201cWell, then go read the damn material,\u201d he would say, half confused how you could even ask about learning the material without having read it. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Then, if they did do the work and read the material, he would ask in what environment did they read the material. \u201cFor a half hour, listening to music while everyone else in the room watches a movie,\u201d they would say. He would laugh and say that anyone who thinks they can be productive in such a situation is either silly or is quite a rare-breed. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Music off, no distractions whatsoever, and you read the material until you get it, no matter how long it takes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Classic. Rugged. Disciplined<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Which made sense, considering his age. He was from a time where grades weren\u2019t inflated and if you wanted to succeed, you had to work.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">You need to work to get stuff done &#8211; You need to establish deep work\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/focusme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/shield-728532_640.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-4786\" src=\"https:\/\/focusme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/shield-728532_640-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/focusme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/shield-728532_640-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/focusme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/shield-728532_640-330x248.jpg 330w, https:\/\/focusme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/shield-728532_640-552x414.jpg 552w, https:\/\/focusme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/shield-728532_640-414x311.jpg 414w, https:\/\/focusme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/shield-728532_640.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">\u00a0<span class=\"s1\">Well, the latter situation isn\u2019t too different from the modern day, except that we pretend you\u2019ll somehow win without putting in the work.<\/span> It\u2019s in the quotations we post on Facebook and very often in our \u201ccheer up, everything will be okay\u201d talks that we give to depressed friends (but for some reason forget about when it\u2019s ourselves that are depressed).<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">You need to work to get stuff done. And to work better, and faster, you need to work deep. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Here\u2019s a few ways to do that (and obviously downloading a productivity app like FocusMe will do all of this for you, without the need for willpower). <\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\"><b>Turn Off the Music<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Yes, even if it\u2019s music without lyrics. Occasionally, I can get into the zone with some lyric-less post-rock or classical music. Other times, I may find it possible to focus while listening to some rap or heavy metal. But the majority of my time, I\u2019m kidding myself \u2013 I\u2019ll either zone out and get lost in the superhero fantasies that heavy metal seems to inspire, or the baller lifestyle fantasies that rap inspires, or, I\u2019ll spend so much time picking the right type of music for my mood that it turns into an activity in and of itself (like when you spend so much time looking for something to watch on Netflix that you inadvertently could have watched one or two episodes in the meantime). <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">The best music to focus with and be productive is <b>silence.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\"><b>Download Automatic Alone Time<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">I am by nature an extreme extrovert and introvert. Living alone, then, is my best setup. Solitary confinement is my norm. If I want to socialize, I invite people over or go forth into the city. Natural switch. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">On the other hand, if I live with others, as I have in the past, I am perpetually on the cusp of socializing. This incessant bridge to other people being my constant environment, I have to escape my own castle to isolate myself. Not exactly ideal for my temperament, or for productivity. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">By living alone, I can easily isolate myself into deep work without the most irritable distraction known to man \u2013 other people. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">As a further note, this is a recommendation to not go to public places to get work done, even a library. Though, I may be more susceptible to distractions than you are and need extreme defenses to prevent said distraction. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">And yes, for the married readers out there, I know this might not be an option. That\u2019s why you build a study in your house (or a man-cave, if, for some reason, your entire house isn\u2019t a bastion of your masculinity). <\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\"><b>Uninstall FOMO and Be More Productive<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">I am very easily peer-pressured. It doesn\u2019t take much to convince me to go out to a party when I already thought I\u2019d have a night of writing ahead of me. I am addicted to adventure and spontaneity (which is why I love FocusMe).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">And yet, when I do focus on my work, I remember the deep satisfaction of deep work and completing a goal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"> If on the small scale, whether that\u2019s finishing an article or staying consistent with my workout schedule, it feels this good. Imagine what it will feel like to actually finish one of my books? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Perhaps we need to stop fearing missing out on the small things. Instead fear missing out on the big ones. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">FOMO is a terrible application that social media has forced you to download. Uninstall that (and then go install FocusMe). <\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\"><b>Overestimate the Time Required<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">To the people who can get small things done in between big projects, I applaud you. I simply cannot. Personally, I am good at doing one thing at a time and doing it well, so long as I\u2019m given time before the task to prepare for it mentally, and time after to cool down from it and redirect my interest. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">I need time. Lots of it. I am a slow writer, a slow thinker, and, well, very slow in general. Consequently, I, usually, produce good work (not even going to add a humble \u201cor so I think.\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">The next time you think you need thirty minutes to research that one topic for a presentation, or need an hour to finish that project, double the allotted time. Worst case scenario is you finish early; then you can go do the next thing on your schedule (or give yourself some much-needed quiet time). If, however, you underestimate the time required, you might find yourself almost done<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>but panicking as your coffee meeting with a friend quickly approaches (if I have a date with a girl on a day or I am meeting a friend, I\u2019m pretty much useless an hour or two before the scheduled time). <\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\"><b>The Reward of Focus<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Do all of this and what\u2019s your reward?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Tunnel Vision. Singular focus. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">It\u2019s difficult getting into this deep work mode. If you remove the obstacles to it (i.e., distractions), it will come quicker and quicker (it took about 45 minutes of writing this article before it kicked in for me, and now I\u2019m going full-speed). <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Like I said, FocusMe can\u2019t block a friend from knocking on your door, but it can keep you from listening to distracting music and set a period of time where everything but your necessary application and websites is blocked. It can also block you from logging on to Facebook and being entranced by the illusion that everyone else is living this amazing life and you\u2019re missing out on it (which is, for the most part, untrue; they\u2019re usually having a pretty shitty time. If they were really having a great time, they\u2019d be too busy to post about it on social media).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/focusme.com\/ja\/\"> Download<\/a> FocusMe, get deep into deep work, and make your dreams a reality. I predict that will make you far happier than almost anything else you could come up with.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After stumbling across an interesting article entitled \u201cWhy Deep Work Matters in a Distracted World\u201d I found myself cataloguing just how much time is lost to shallow work (read more\u00a0here). By shallow work, I mean doing work (in my case writing), while: People are present I\u2019m listening to music I have multiple projects open at once I\u2019m in a noisy environment, like a coffee shop The masters of deep work What\u2019s disappointing about the practical efficiency of work under these conditions is that they go against the image of a modern writer. I personally imagine a multi-tasking Shiva, taking turns between cigarette drags and sips of harsh, black coffee, with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":4788,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing","category-habits"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}