What is Deep Work?

If you are like me, you are always looking for ways to get quality work done in less time. The concept of Deep Work, coined by Cal Newport, can help.

If you are like me, you are always looking for ways to get quality work done in less time. But when there are many tasks seeking your attention, it is easy to focus on the small (and, most of the time, less important) items in order to get them crossed off your list. The meatier tasks that involve lots of brainpower get put on the back burner and, when they do get done, may not represent your best and most creative work. If you are a procrastinator by nature, you will often put off the big tasks that demand your creativity and then rush to complete them close to a deadline. But even if you are not a procrastinator by nature, you may not be approaching those tasks that require creativity and thought in the best way possible.

I recently learned a bit about the concept of “Deep Work”. Cal Newport, a Georgetown professor who writes about creativity and productivity, coined this term and has written a book about it, called Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. I listened to a podcast recently where Cal described Deep Work as “focus without distractions for long periods of time for cognitively demanding work.” Newport states that Deep Work is not an innate talent that you are born with. It is a skill that you practice, develop and get better at over time.

Deep Work is a skill that you can develop to maximize your concentration for extended periods in order to provide focused attention on a single task. By doing this, it actually reduces the time required to perform really important work such as writing, innovating, preparing for tests, etc. without diminishing quality. In fact, in most cases, I would suspect the quality of the work would be better, significantly better, than without this focused effort.

There does not appear to be any magic formula or 5-step process for implementing the Deep Work concept. You simply disconnect from email, your smartphone and all other distractions, during a focused period to complete a task. Newport states that you have to first cultivate your ability to concentrate deeply and then have a regular daily ritual to practice Deep Work daily. Because it is a skill that you have to master, you may have to start with a small chunk of time and then, as you master the art of focus, increase the length of time that you practice Deep Work. How much is enough? Newport tells us that it depends. Fiction writers may be involved in Deep Work for five hours per day. Managers who have to balance focused attention with many other tasks may average five to ten hours per week in a Deep Work state.

I am going to start right now with batching my important tasks into Deep Work time periods. I am also going to read Cal’s book and as I learn even more about this concept, I will share it here on the Purposeful Pivot blog. I can’t imagine anything of more value to those seeking success in our personal and business lives than improving our ability to focus and do our best work.

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Categories: : Productivity, Creativity