Last one folks...
Why DEEP WORK is So Valuable, with Cal Newport
"Deep Work" by Cal Newport
"Your most valuable asset isn’t your house, car or
retirement portfolio. It’s your attention.
Most knowledge workers spend their day frantically
hopping between meetings, emails, phone calls
and social media.
But that’s not the best way to stand out in the
modern economy.
Emails are necessary, says author and professor Cal Newport.
They’ll keep you from getting fired. But they won’t get you
promoted.
In fact, his Deep Work Hypothesis states that the ability
to do deep work is becoming more rare, yet at the same
time, more valuable.
That means if you can train your mind to resist the
common distractions we all face, you’ll become more
valuable in the workplace, whether you’re self-employed
or traditionally employed.
The problem, however, is that most of are intimidated
by deep work. We welcome distractions from difficult
tasks that take a toll on our brain power.
How can you re-arrange your life to enhance Deep Work?
Here are a few tips:
#1: Recognize that every hour you spend on “shallow work”
is an hour that you’re not spending on deep, rare, valuable work.
#2: Don’t just focus on “cutting” — chopping email, cutting
social media. That’s a good start, but it’s not enough.
Instead, ask the question: “What’s the ideal deep work
vs. shallow work ratio?” — how many hours should I spend
on each one? — and structure your workday accordingly.
For example, you might decide to spend your time 50/50
on deep vs. shallow work. If that’s your ideal arrangement, you
might spend the first four hours of your workday
— 8 am to 12 noon — invested in deep work. Then take a
break for lunch, and spend the second half of your
workday — 1 pm to 5 pm — answering emails, participating
in meetings, etc.
Alternately, you could break up your deep work into
chunks — 8 am to 10 am, then 3 pm to 5 pm.
Use the 10 am – 3 pm stretch for the necessary
shallow work of emails, meetings and phone calls.
As a third option, you might block off 2.5 days per week for
deep work, and devote the other 2.5 days to shallow work.
However you arrange the workday, the most important takeaway
is that you consciously choose your ideal deep-to-shallow ratio, and
then structure your time accordingly.
#3: Let go of the “Any Benefit” decision-making model, in which
you’ll invest time into any social media platform, app or tool that
may provide some benefit.
Recognize that many tools might provide benefits, but each tool
contains a serious time and energy cost. Therefore, you shouldn’t
adopt a new tool, app or social media platform unless you’re
convinced it’ll create demonstrable value.
Deep work also isn’t something that you cram into the margins
of your life. To the contrary, focusing on deep work allows you to
boost your productivity at work and feel more fully present at home.
Newport discusses the concept of Deep Work, and shares tips on
how to apply this to our lives..."
Greco