Get Into 'Deep Work' to Be More Productive

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Deep work is a concept most popularly defined by Cal Newport, who wrote the aptly titled Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. As he tells it, deep work is a state where you find the ability to focus completely on a demanding task without letting distraction get in your way.

If you can get the hang of it, you’ll get more done in less time and ultimately end up feeling more fulfilled. On his website, Newport observes that it’s rare to see someone feel energized and happy after sending emails, but there’s a sense of fulfillment that comes from sustained focus on more meaningful tasks.

How do you achieve deep work?

Newport draws a distinction between deep work and “shallow work,” or that which can be accomplished while you’re distracted. Deep work is for “cognitively demanding” tasks, whereas shallow work prepares you for deep work. Creating a project deck is deep work. Emailing colleagues to coordinate data for it is shallow work.

If you’re having a hard time determining what is and is not deep work, Newport has some guidelines. Shallow work tends “to not create new value in the world” and is “easy to replicate.”

The key, then, is first sorting your work into deep and shallow categories. Determine which of your tasks are cognitively demanding and valuable and which are “logistical-style” and replicable. Next, plan to devote an hour or an hour and a half to deep-work tasks, then schedule it so you have that time blocked off in your schedule. (As for blocking off your scheduling, familiarize yourself with time boxing and time blocking, which call on you to schedule every minute of your day and input it, moment by moment, into a detailed calendar, all in the name of staying focused.)

Finally, when the time comes to get into deep work, eliminate all your distractions. Signal that you’re busy, make sure you’re unavailable in Slack and on the shared calendar, and put your phone on “do not disturb.” Don’t check emails, don’t talk to anyone, don’t look at your devices for anything but work, and commit to only working on your demanding task in the time you allotted for it.

The most important element is doing this mindfully and going into your deep work sessions aware that your goal is to accomplish something demanding with no distractions. Emails, notifications, chitchat, and other worries and interruptions are commonplace and pull you away from the task at hand, so purposely cutting them off to get something done will be difficult, but it can turn into a habit, especially once it starts yielding the dual result of accomplishment and fulfillment.

The deep work hack

All of that sounds great in theory, but when you find yourself staring down the hour-and-a-half block you scheduled out, you may not know what to do or where to start. This is where you need the Pomodoro method, a famous productivity technique that asks you to work, uninterrupted, for 25 minutes, take a five-minute break, and repeat the cycle about four times before getting a larger break. You can modify those time blocks a bit to suit your needs, but 25 on and five off are the standard.

When you use this approach, deep work starts to come naturally in those working blocks because you know you're getting a reprieve at the end. Deep work is described as a period when work seems to flow smoothly and you barely notice time going by, so 25 minutes may not be quite enough for you (depending on the task at hand), but you can figure it out as you get started incorporating these methods. The most important thing is to be distraction-free. The second most important thing is to remember that breaks are actually a key part of staying productive, so don't skip them altogether.

The easiest way to make use of this time-tested technique is, of course, by app. My favorite is FocusPomo, which blocks all your distracting apps while you use it and generates cute, unobtrusive cartoon tomatoes to reward you for finishing work blocks.

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