
Guide to Deep Work - pointnova
https://doist.com/blog/complete-guide-to-deep-work/
======
iandanforth
If you're struggling with scheduling work time and getting things done I'd
like to recommend [https://www.focusmate.com/](https://www.focusmate.com/)

You book 50 minute video sessions and are paired with a random other person
who wants to get work done. You start by saying what you intend to work on,
and you finish by saying what you accomplished. That's it, other discussion is
strongly discouraged.

I work from home and have nearly unlimited leeway over my time. This is not
such a great thing, with unlimited freedom I tend to wander or do nothing.
This service has helped to provide a human expectation and environment
conducive to work. It's free and the days I schedule sessions are distinctly
more productive than the days I do not.

~~~
noxToken
I get that you're streaming yourself to a person, but how does that help
enforce accountability? Part of my job entails very little typing or keyboard
interaction, so comparatively, it could look like I was reading HN, Reddit,
etc. Is it a purely psychological thing?

\----

Before I sent this comment, I went deeper into the website beyond the home
page and 30s video. It is just that:

> _Research in psychology and behavioral science shows that regular human
> connection reduces the likelihood that a worker will procrastinate or become
> distracted._

> _In our most recent internal survey, 95.5% of users reported a significant
> increase in productivity, and reduced procrastination._

It looks like it's not a site that will magically boost your productivity
(which isn't really what it claims). You have to _want_ to be productive, and
the site helps facilitate that desire.

~~~
phalangion
I've talked about this as a research idea in the past. Something about someone
observing you work, even if it's only barely, gives a level of accountability.
Also, it looks like you start and end your 50 minute focus session with a bit
of accountability (what you will work on, what you got done), so there's that.

~~~
maroonblazer
Isn't this the Hawthorne Effect?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect)

------
ssivark
The real challenge is attention management. Switching gears from an execution
orientation (knocking off tasks) to a careful thinking orientation is hard.
The hardest aspect of deep work (for people used to a structured form of
productivity) is immersion in the task/topic without a concrete plan of "how"
to tackle it. (The necessary immersion is what makes "deep" a good metaphor)
Every such session is a risky investment where you don't know what you'll come
up with. Unless you believe it's a risk worth taking, trying too hard to de-
risk endeavors will rob you of opportunities for deep work.

Deep work involves situated thinking -- thinking while doing, making use of
feedback.

OTOH, the structured approach biases towards separating the two closely knit
parts into "planning" and "action" \-- so much so that in our organizations
the two are done by different people/teams!

Drucker said that a decision has been made only when it's clear what the
actions are. Correspondingly, deep work is required to the extent that the
analysis can't be front loaded in that manner.

~~~
sound1
Beautifully articulated! On a tangent, I always seem to have issues with my
superiors because of the way I work. Most of the initial part of a project I
do nothing but think about how to approach it, best ways to solve some of the
problems and what pitfalls to avoid. During this period they don't get much of
the status updates or progress and they get mad. Then in a short burst I
finish off everything when they think that project may be delayed, and this
gets them extra mad because according to them I have been secretly working
hard but never told them. I really don't blame them but sadly I don't work
like most people do and admittedly it is a bit of a problem for project
managers..

~~~
jogjayr
It may help to document ideas and pitfalls as you think of them. If you're
trying out things in code, leave that work on your own branches, and link from
the doc. It gives managers a tangible artifact to see you're making progress.
It's also valuable documentation for others after the task is done. Extra
plus: come performance review time, you have a paper trail of everything
you've done, everything you tried that didn't work out, everything you can
take credit for.

~~~
Denzel
Yes, this is fantastic advice. The most effective senior engineers on my team
almost always create what’s called a “start doc”. Written at a high level, the
doc discusses background context, enumerates possible solutions with a pro/con
list for each, and records open questions and out-of-scope issues. They’re
usually only 1-3 page gdocs.

The most important part is that it opens up discussion to the team. Everyone
is able to read, comment, and offer up improvements or get clarity on
questions they have. After a few rounds a feedback and revision — usually 2-3
days — a decision is made and the engineer goes off to break out a few tickets
and start the work.

It’s async, collaborative, efficient, visible, and just a generally
pleasurable process as both an individual and teammate.

------
hawaiian
>For instance, if you’re working on an important project but feel constrained
or unmotivated by your office setting, initiate a grand gesture by asking your
manager to let you work from home for an entire week to get it done.

I'm not surprised this conclusion was reached so quickly. I find it a bit
dysfunctional that working from home has become the go-to solution for
distraction-filled workplaces.

How about we make work more like home instead? Companies will see the value of
a beautiful, effective workplace in the form of increased productivity. Tech
parks should offer restaurants, a gym with a sauna, a shower, pods for taking
naps. Expecting the employee to keep a distraction-free home office seems
strangely feudal, unless you really need the tax deduction.

~~~
bitwize
Tech companies do this already, still organize their offices like seas of
desks at best, and still have distracted workers. I would much rather have a
standard-issue office with full-height cubicles. I could get a lot more work
done there than in today's trendy startup, Google, and WeWork inspired zoos.

~~~
sneakernets
Why hasn't there been a backlash yet? Everyone hates the seas of desks layout.

~~~
bitwize
Executives and management consultants love them. Of course these people
usually have nice offices of their own, making open-plan truly enterprise. (I
define a thing as enterprise if its customers are different from, and usually
higher on the org chart than, its actual users.)

Factors involved in why these offices are preferred include:

1) Low cost. Yes, yes, I know, productivity loss from battery-farmed knowledge
workers as compared to free-range knowledge workers is arguably much greater.
But that's not quantifiable. An accountant can point to cost savings of open-
plan offices as a number in a spreadsheet and show how it directly impacts the
bottom line.

2) Adaptability. It's much easier to move people around and reconfigure office
space for different uses if you do not commit to building walls (even cubicle
walls). This is especially true if an org is being "right-sized", but is also
true of e.g., startups. An actual office may be prohibitive given the pittance
in A-round funding you got, but if you can cram your guys into a corner of
WeWork you can make the numbers work.

3) Increased workforce visibility. This means a couple of things: a) open plan
is a cheap, easy-to-implement panopticon, allowing management to keep tabs on
you at all times -- every time you go to the loo, everyone in the office will
see you leave and come back. b) Visibility means availability -- specifically,
availability to be interrupted at any time for any reason. Do not
underestimate the importance of visibility. Microsoft had a company culture
that strongly favored giving offices to individual programmers, until in the
90s the management consultant Jim McCarthy said "Beware of a guy in a room,
and I mean that literally." He thought developers should NOT have private
space of their own as it made them less accountable.

------
jaden
One of the biggest factors is having large chunks of uninterrupted time. If
your manager and team value deep work, having no meetings days can be a huge
help.

And once you have an uninterrupted time block, it's important to ignore
potential interruptions. I find this extremely difficult.

~~~
nomel
> If your manager and team value deep work

What are some good strategies if they don't?

~~~
thrower123
If you really need to get some work done, calling in a fictitious sick day
once in a while isn't the worst solution.

~~~
CalRobert
If it's not the _worst_ solution, it's pretty close. When you're really sick
you should be resting, not working.

------
enraged_camel
I read the article. Some of the advice might be valuable.

For me though, it's fairly straightforward:

\- Decide what I need to work on, and try to _visualize_ the end result as
clearly as possible

\- Put phone on DND

\- Turn off email clients

\- Close browser tabs not related to work

\- Put on noise-canceling headphones with some music that has no lyrics (e.g.
electronic, synthwave, etc.)

Then I work.

I can stay in "the zone" for many hours using this method, and tend to
accomplish my best work. Furthermore, I can do it uninterrupted, except for
the occasional 5-minute restroom break.

~~~
sneakernets
Unfortunately this is a no-go for so many people that do not have concept of
"respecting the zone". People get angry at me for not being available at the
drop of a pin these days, and when I cut off my email clients I miss important
impromptu meetings, and so much more!

What we need is a messaging service that can only do preset phrases that
comprise 99% of the distractions: Impromptu Meeting. Catering. Potential Hire.
Change of plans. Emergency.

You would only have a few messages you can send a week, too, so you can't spam
it with nonsense.

~~~
enraged_camel
I don't think it's possible to achieve Deep Work reliably unless you have full
control over your work environment and schedule and can shut off distractions
without getting reprimanded or suffering from FOMO.

This is a non-negotiable term for me when I interview.

Another thing I noticed about myself: I have "moods". Sometimes I feel like
dicking around (like right now!), and in those situations I don't even try to
get into Deep Work because it takes a lot of energy to do so. But a few hours
later my mood will shift, and when that happens I need to be able to catch
that window of opportunity and get myself in the zone quickly. From there,
it's off to the races.

I've found that most work arrangements can't accommodate this type of
arbitrary work habit. Which is why I'm currently employed at a very small firm
where everyone is remote, and I have a super awesome manager who trusts
everyone fully.

~~~
HNLurker2
>suffering from FOMO.

What kind? HN, normal news, politics?

------
vertline3
What is being branded "Deep Work", was just work before the electronics
arrived. Really shows how the new mediums have eroded our attention span.

~~~
briankirby
Not quite, in the book it's clear that by "Deep Work" Newport is specifically
referring to difficult tasks which create significant value. The book includes
several heuristics for identifying this sort of work. It's true that the
arrival of electronics has made "Shallow Work" easier to fall into, but by no
means would going to work somewhere without a computer or a phone mean you are
doing "Deep Work."

~~~
vertline3
I think that the idea of prioritizing work that is adding significant value is
not so new, to be fair. Professors would go on sabbaticals to finish their
book for instance.

~~~
vinay427
Right, but that's somewhat different from any "work" that existed before
electronics arrived.

However, there was arguably less of a disconnect between "deep work" and
"work" before electronics, compared to default "work" today.

~~~
vertline3
I don't think it is different from a work of high craftsmanship such as
Chinese Jade carving. But maybe from a kind of labor that is non-skilled.

------
thomk
Does anyone else find the term "Deep Work" to be pretentious? Most people who
say they were busy doing 'deep work' makes me feel like they are a bit self
important.

Why not just say you need to focus?

~~~
jordanpg
Deep work is to focus as enlightenment is to meditation.

It's an asymptotic, unattainable state to strive for. You can be sure that if
anyone is (humble) bragging about attaining it that they have not.

~~~
travisjungroth
Uh, no. At least that’s not how most people use the phrase.

------
7ewis
Over the last few months, I've found I just can't focus on anything. _Unless_
I find it interesting on challenging.

Generally, at work this is ok as I enjoy what I do. However, I study for a
degree part time, which is in 'Computing and IT' \- the same field as my work,
BUT it's so out of date, and the content is so boring I just can't do it,
until last minute when I have to.

I genuinely think if I had studied this course, before working in tech I may
have changed my mind. It's mind numbingly boring. Even if they just taught the
content in a better way, something like A Cloud Guru where you have videos,
guides to follow along etc. but all I get is books. It's awful.

(While we're on the topic of it, I should be studying... getting back to it
now, promise!)

~~~
AQuantized
Do you happen to be studying through the Open University? I had a very similar
experience studying maths part time. My first couple of years were basically
just doing the assignments a few days before they were due, and then cramming
for the exam.

I did eventually manage to get into the habit of doing more consistent gradual
work throughout the year, and that's the only advice I could give. The habit
of devoting that hour or two per day became the norm and I no longer had to
struggle to force myself to study (or fail to).

~~~
7ewis
That's the one!

Just find it so hard to concentrate on it, almost wish I hadn't started it but
don't want to give up on it now. Will have to try and get into a habit like
you, good luck with it!

------
holri
Learn a musical instrument. Without deep work you will get nowhere. Music
teaches really deep work in an obvious manner and the very satisfying reward
from it. That is why children should always learn an instrument.

------
afarrell
One thing I wish Cal Newport's book had done better was to explain ways to be
better at managing Shallow Work. Deep Work competes for time with Shallow
Work. Therefore, if you want to have time for Deep Work, you need to either

A) Do less shallow work.

B) Do shallow work more effectively. Or schedule it more effectively.

\-------

How possible is option A? Well, what is Shallow Work and why does it matter.
Some examples of Shallow Work off the top of my head:

1) Phone-Interviewing people to work for your employer.

2) Looking at Sentry and Dead Mans Snitch and seeing if any of the exceptions
reported from your backend this week are actually real problems that should be
investigated.

3) Editing the notes you took at a meeting so that you can send them out to
attendees.

4) Writing a response to a well-structured question which a junior engineer
emailed you about a task which you delegated to them.

5) Creating and sending out a doodle poll to pick a restaurant to eat at
before contra dance.

6) Scheduling a time to talk to your father who lives 5 time zones away.

7) Filling in a PDF listing your bank accounts to report to the US Treasury's
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network by April 15th.

Each of these is backed by a responsibility -- either you're being paid to
maintain a system or relationship for your employer or you are doing something
to keep your social life running. You can dial back that responsibility, but
that does have consequences. If nobody organizes pizza night, then you don't
see your friends in real life and you end up scrolling through facebook out of
a vague sense of loneliness.

So there is a certain amount of Shallow Work that needs to get done if you
have certain goals or want to avoid particular sadnesses.

\--------

How possible is option B? How possible is it to do Shallow Work so that it
interferes less with Deep Work?

For #1, you can push phone interviews to the beginning or end of the
day...when the currently-employed will find it easier to get time to
interview.

For #2, you can establish a team habit to triage your Sentry and Dead Mans
Snitch dashboards to Inbox Zero, that way you only need to glance at them and
you don't need to load anything into your working memory.

For #3... actually I'm not sure what is a good way to be more effective at
this. Any tips?

For #4... also not sure.

For #5, you can establish a default restaurant and go there every time.

For #6, you can have a default time every week.

For #7, there's nothing to be done. It is annoying and Adobe Acrobat is the
worst.

\--------

What techniques do you use to be skilled at Shallow Work or to at least get it
out of the way of Deep Work?

~~~
PeterisP
Cal Newport's work is essentially a reaction to the fact that all the
literature on time/task management succeeds mostly at shallow work but isn't
optimal for deep work.

So if shallow work is your weak spot where you'd like some improvements, then
all the classics like David Allen's Getting Things Done or perhaps Covey's 7
Habits of highly effective people would be relevant.

------
edisonjoao
I struggle with this everyday

------
mendelbot
Maybe the real problem here is capitalism and productivity porn.

~~~
HNLurker2
>productivity porn.

Guilty of that. I've seen friends who are young (14-15) and they talk about
work smart not hard, 80/20 and deliberate practice to break through the
plateu. Can't tell if I should find it kinda funny or just sad. Business books
do ruin social life and makes you very critical of yourself

------
rebelidealist
Would CEOs or Execs / Managers perform better with deep work?

~~~
positr0n
The article mentions Bill Gates' famous week-long thinking retreats where he
would go rent a cabin for a week and think about the future of Microsoft.

