»Clarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not.” Cal Newport Building a Startup often consists of having to take care of numerous things at once. In the beginning, one rarely has the funds to hire people or outsource tasks. This is one of the reasons why being able to work efficiently is so crucial. One can easily fall into the trap of being “busy” instead of being “productive”. Prioritizing meaningless tasks, taking a part in meetings that lead to nowhere, or nervously checking an inbox every 5 minutes are just superficial examples of wasting time while having the conviction of being on the right path to success, At the end of the day, what matters is the outcome - not the amount of time one has spent working on it.The concept of deep work has been created and popularized by Cal Newport. He presented this idea in his book "Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World’, It has been identified as allowing one to profoundly focus ona task, get rid of distractions, and therefore raise the cognitive capabilities of a person. It is shown as the contrary of shallow work. Let's take a look at key differences between these two: DEEP WORK SHALLOW WORK Tasks requiring top-notch cognitive skills Logistical-alike, cognitively non-demanding tasks Distraction-free concentration Often performed while distracted Hard to replicate, outsource Easy to replicate, outsource Creating anew value No new value created Improving one's skills Aimed to be repeated the same way all over How can you make sure your performance is enhanced? We provide an overview of assumptions & hints described in Newport's work, with a goal of helping you grasp its implications - but remember, it can make you prosper but requires time dedicated to actually mastering it. Therefore, if you were to read just one book recommended by us - let it be exactly this one.DIFFERENT STRATEGIES OF DEEP WORK SCHEDULING There are different ways of applying deep work to your routine. They seem to vary mostly based on how radically you want to implement this concept into the mode in which you & your team operates. Monastic - this is the most “black and white" approach to it. If chosen, it requires dedicating almost all professional time to deep work. While it can be most rewarding, it also may simply not work for everyone (due to different natures of performed tasks). Furthermore, since it demands strictly rejecting any arising opportunities and 100% focus, some beneficial ideas or pivots may slip one’s attention. Bimodal - if the previous approach doesn't work for you, this one might. It embodies splitting your working time (on an annual, monthly, or weekly basis) to the pursuit of efficient, goal-oriented deep work, and devoting the rest to unchecking less cognitively-demanding tasks in shallow work mode. It should be divided quite equally, fe. 2 days a week for one, and 3 days a week for the other. Rhythmic - this one is also all about planning for different chunks of deep & shallow work, but instead of spreading it over many days or even months, it proposes to squeeze them together in one day. Thereby, one creates habits that are reinforced more rapidly, because it involves more repetitions over the same period of time (say, a year) - which is exactly what our brain needs to turn these new neural connections to firm patterns in our daily routine. Fe. 8:00 - 13:00 could be for extreme concentration and productivity, while the rest of the working hours will hold space for more distracted functioning, Journalistic - an option tailored to the needs of people with a constantly changing schedule, experiencing very little regularity in their life. If you choose to pursue this one - simply execute deep work... whenever you can. Even though it seems flexible and easy, itis discouraged among beginners, since irregularity doesn't allow for habits to solidify. F.e. getting into the focused mode when other tasks are finished earlier.Having a routine is of a great importance and is often brought up by successful people as essential for achieving any sort of goals. It is not only about regularity, but also about creating favorable conditions for nurturing productivity. Here are some key assets of a, so-called, "deep work ritual” Location - the surroundings impact our mood, behaviors, and also modes of attention. Hence, it is important to choose to work in a physical space that allows for focus. It will vary for different people, but in general, this should be a quiet, distraction-free area, which you can use whenever you decide to practice deep work. It is advised to stick to it~ this creates sort of unconditional response (which you might know from famous Pavlov's experiment) when you enter it, allowing you to get into the expected mode quicker. Fe. you may pick aroom in your house, which is the most distanced from a kitchen or a living room (usually the loudest places). Duration ~ schedule this time, and decide specifically how long will it take. As always, start small and progress to longer periods of focus (even beginning with 10 minutes will make the difference!). By repeating this routine and prolonging the duration of your sessions, you will slowly build up the attention capacity of your brain. Structure & Requirements - identify what do you need in order to focus for the chosen amount of time and set clear, explicit, and detailed rules of what it consists of. Obviously, since this concept might be new for you, you don't have to know all of that right away ~ keep reading, and you'll find some hints and guidelines, but remember this is an ongoing process of understanding how you operate - therefore feel free to test and implement any findings about yourself you encounter. Fe. ask yourself: do you have to switch off your phone? Do you need music or, perhaps, a complete silence? What will be an indicator of progress in your work (words written, data entries filled in during research, or a feature of a product designed)?HINTS & GUIDELINES As promised, we provide an outline of useful tips when trying to improve one’s ability to focus, therefore optimizing one’s brain capacities and efficiency. Some of the ideas presented are not coming from Newport's book, yet they are so strongly related to the concept of deep work that we decided to include them here. We want to encourage you to experiment with them and dig deeper into articles and books — the value of developing these abilities couldn't be stressed too much. “Grand gesture” - this may seem extravagant, but might be very effective (especially if you find it very hard to implement deep work routine). Change your scenery (or even location) of your working session — this will send a message to your consciousness that this is important and valuable time. You could do it cheaply or free, by fe. going to a library or requesting a home office for a couple of days - but also you can invest more money into it (therefore increasing the impact ‘on your brain) by fe renting an apartment for the weekend. Focus on the most important - identify and prioritize your goal during deep work. Understanding clearly what is the aim of your session, will make it easier to turn your head away from distractions and help you stay on target. Unplug yourself - here one can actually “fight fire with fire’ There are multiple tools that allow for switching off social media and other distractors while leaving ‘only the functionalities that you need to continue working. Changing a habit of overusing the internet or devices connected to it (which is often presented as an addiction), is a serious deal. Remember you can use technology itself to make it a bit easier for you, Scoreboard - once you've identified the indicators of staying on target and set the rules to follow, keep track of your score. Newport's book advises to, at least, write down hours spent on deep work. By this, you can analyze if you're doing progress you were expecting and reward yourself in such a case. Don't underestimate downtime - we simply aren't able to be 100% focused all of the time. Neuroscientists have proven that the brain has two operating modes - diffused and focused. Switching from one to another is crucial for resting, regaining certain abilities, and one's well-being. Pushing yourself to the limitand not creating any space for operating in distracted mode, can simply lead to frustration. Downtime handled properly, can, on the other hand, improve your deep work. Choose high-quality leisure time — life is not only about work, but very few understand that what you do as a hobby also has a huge influence on your professional life. You might want to consider resigning from watching TV excessively or scrolling down Facebook feed, and use this time to read an exciting book, spend time with friends & family, master a musical instrument or simply cook something delicious. The pressure of Time - while for some it simply doesn't work, others claim that setting a time limit motivates them to work more effectively. Try to identify how much time do you need for a task and set a timer for, say, 90% of this time. You can gradually get down to even half of the time needed, but make sure you're not being too unrealistic. Nothing demotivates people more than facing a truly impossible challenge.CONCLUSION As much as it's impossible to fully present the whole concept of deep work in a short ebook, we are glad that we could introduce it to you. We believe it's extremely powerful and that having said, we encourage you to research and experiment with this and similar techniques. RECOMMENDED READS Cal Newport, (2016), Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World Daniel Goleman, (2013), Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence