If you work on-site, you might have planned to start a report and estimated to work on this task for the next hour or two. But then, an email and chat alert pops up as a notification. Since the company policy expects urgent replies, so you switch tasks. Next, the phone rings and you answer it because that is the rule as well. Later, a client arrived in the lobby asking for you, so you stepped out to help. When these are done, you sit back at your desk and can’t remember the last task you did. This repeats all day. Until you look up, it’s almost 5pm and no real work was done.

If you’re a remote worker, you open one tab to research, then three more to compare. You then receive email notifications and chat pings. Next, you scroll on Instagram for a minute that turns into ten. Since you’re bored, you run Netflix on another screen because it feels harmless. By mid-afternoon, you feel that the work you’ve done is still half formed.

If this is a normal day for you, can we call the work output a high quality one?

I experienced working in both of these work settings. Most of the time, the work gets done, but the results aren’t of superior quality. As someone included in the population of knowledge workers, we have been forgetting the value of deep work because of network tools such as emails, SMS, social media, and the internet.

Despite spending more hours working, we aren’t really truly working as we spend too much time on shallow work, which is non-cognitively demanding and performed while distracted. Unfortunately, this endeavor doesn’t create much value because it’s easy to replicate. Especially right now, knowledge workers are at risk of being replaced as AI can do these shallow tasks.

Why Deep Work?

Deep Work: Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive abilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.

~ Cal Newport, author of Deep Work

As AI has been fast evolving and has replaced some jobs of knowledge workers, I realized that it’s important that deep work should be given more value at this time. Yet, what’s happening is that instead of learning more and concentrating fully to bring solutions on problems and to create more value, we have been more distracted with more noise in our environments. One of which is social media where we become the consumers. As a result, we bring less value to our economy as our time and attention have switched to these ubiquitous tools.

As Cal Newport said in the his authored book, Deep Work, performing this kind of work has been increasingly rare these days, but has also becoming increasingly needed and valuable in our economy. The few who have this skill and implement it as a part of their working life will surely thrive.

So, what can be done with this and why should we adapt deep work?

After reading Cal Newport’s book entitled Deep Work, here are the things that you and I, knowledge workers, should do to be more competitive in our economy.

Tip 1: Upskill and be a lifelong learner

In the introductory chapter of the book, the author mentioned that one of the ways to discover that you’re not valuable in the economy is if your work could be automated. This is relevant at present with the increasing use of AI.

To be more valuable to the field, constantly upskill by taking courses related your field and learn it in a distraction free setting. With internet and YouTube, one can learn anything by just searching a topic on these platforms. This is important since if we don’t adapt with the fast changing technology, we are the ones who will fall behind. It’s not AI who will replace you, but those who are well-versed in using AI.

Tip 2: Find or establish a space where you can perform deep work.

It’s hard to concentrate and focus working if you don’t have a dedicated space to perform your job. If you’re working from home, it’s important to create a workspace or as what Cal Newport termed, a “Distraction free zone.“

Choose a spot you will return to every time you need focus. Then, personalize that work area and only include items at your table that’s essential to your work such as a your laptop, keyboard, mouse, a notebook, pen, and a lampshade.

If you’re working in an office setting, it’s hard to curate your space to make it distraction-free especially if you’re in an open office plan that has limited area. Yet, you can still make a space to be cluttered-free by having only the essentials on your desk.

Tip 3: Create rituals to support your deep work habits.

I like how Cal Newport mentioned in the book about having a popular notion that artists work from inspiration, but it’s a terrible plan to wait for inspiration to strike so you’ll start doing the task.

[Great creative minds] think like artists, but work like accountants.”

~ David Brooks, New York Times

To properly support deep work habits, one needs to implement a system so as not to waste mental energy in figuring out what you need to do at the moment. There are no correct deep work habits, so one needs to figure out what works for them. Here are the 3 questions that Cal Newport enumerated to address effective rituals:

1. Where you’ll work and for how long?
2. How you’ll work once you start to work
3. How you’ll support work?

As for me, my distraction free zone is my work space at home. Since I’m using some social media platforms for my work, the News Feed Eradicator extension is always on so I won’t get distracted with updates on the news feed. I’ve been using this extension for 2 years now ever since it was recommended by another credible author, Nir Eyal. Lastly, before I start working, I ensure that I perform my simply self-care rituals an hour before my work. These simple self-care rituals include emptying my bowel, taking a bath daily, eating breakfast, applying moisturizer, and filling up my 2-liter of tumbler with water.

These are effective rituals for me as it’s structured to lessen my mental burden on what I should do daily before work .

Tip 4: Set communication boundaries with co-workers and clients.

Set clear communication windows and keep them consistent. You may inform your colleagues and clients about your email, personal, and Zoom availability during a certain time, so they’ll know what to expect. A simple and predictable rules protects your attention.

At the same time, define what counts as urgent. You don’t have to immediately reply to an email or do the task if the deadline is not within an hour.

As a remote worker, I am grateful enough that I’ve worked with a client who took the time to establish communication rules on when and what platforms to communicate to protect our time and energy.

Tip 5: Eliminate social media when working and take breaks from focus, not distraction.

Treat social media as off-limits during deep work. I’ve mentioned previously that I have been using the Newsfeed Eradicator extension to eliminate distraction on the news feed while working, but I also made it a habit it to sign out of my social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit.

If you have the habit of going to a certain website for updates, use the Stay Focused extension to block this sites and remind you to stay focused at work.

If you need to take a quick reset, Cal Newport mentioned to take a break from focus and not from distraction. Avoid opening apps ” just for a minute,” because context switches extend recovery time and dilute your work output. It’s important to ask yourself if this action help me return sharper.

So, instead of scrolling on social media or searching something on Google during your break times, do other things like taking a walk, doing quick stretches, drinking your water, or look at a distant point to rest your eyes.

Tip 6: Do a shutdown ritual before leaving your work.

Cal Newport had a habit to do a shutdown ritual before he ends his workday to maximize the probability of succeeding and supporting one’s commitment to performing deep work.

Shutdown Rituals are simple and small tasks that you do at the end of the work day. This can range from 5 – 10 minutes and a maximum of 30 minutes to bring your day to a close.

When you work, work hard. When you’re done, be done.

~ Cal Newport

I used to check our emails on my phone and Viber or WhatsApp group chats on weekends. In reality, it pulls my attention into work during personal time and leaves me feeling like I haven’t accomplish much during the week.

Aside that these routine encourages a healthy and beneficial separation from work to personal life, with the shutdown ritual, this ensures that our mind is released from its duty to keep track of these work obligations even on weekends. The purpose of the shutdown ritual is to take over that responsibility.

Tip 7: Quantify and make a scoreboard for hours spent on deep work.

Cal Newport talked about the principles of another book entitled, The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX), which helped companies successfully implement high-level strategies.

In Discipline #2 of the 4DX which is to Act on the Lead Measures, this means to track inputs that you can control now, then verify the results later.

To track our deep work habits, use a scoreboard to measure the hours spent on deep work and track your progress. This can be done in productivity tools or just in your notebook.

When it comes to deep work, the lead measures are the hours spent on uninterrupted focus and the number of sessions completed. On the other hand, the lag measures are the outcomes that follow.

Place both on the scoreboard so you can see the results, know where you stand, and what you should continue doing or improve next. As Cal Newport said, this provides a reinforcing source of motivation to spend more time on deep work.

Tip 8: Embrace boredom outside of work.

Much in the same way that athletes must take care of their bodies outside of their training sessions, you’ll struggle to achieve the deepest levels of concentration if you spend the rest of your time fleeing the slightest hint of boredom.

~ Cal Newport

Embrace boredom as a training for focus. If your attention is fed with constant stream of stimulation outside work such as social media, deep work feels like a punishment.

You can start this habit in small steps by setting intentional windows without gadgets or social media. This can be taking a walking without headphones or waiting in line at the grocery or a doctor’s clinic without your phone.

When the urge to check a device appears, write it down in your notebook first then let it go. Capture any interesting ideas in your notes first so you don’t impulsively search about it online. Through this small steps, you’re lowering your baseline for stimulation, so sustained concentration stops feeling unusual.

Review the effects a week after. Does your deep work sessions start faster? Do you feel less restless after 15 minutes of focus? If yes, keep the routine. If not, shorten your stimulation windows further or add one more low-stimulation block.

In this way, boredom practiced on purpose builds the tolerance required for real concentration, so when it’s time to work, your mind is ready to focus and concentrate.