Welcome to the sixth week of the course!

By now, we hope that you�ve had a chance

to start your project and have begun using some of the principles to maximize the
amount of deep work you engage in.

Unfortunately, setting aside time for deep work is often hard. Busyness is a
constant threat to deep work because it robs you of your time and ability to focus.
Often this busyness can feel involuntary�everyone around you may seem busy and you
might not feel there is anything that can be done.

We want to suggest the opposite, that your level of busyness is something under
your control. Furthermore, we suggest that lowering your busyness, not increasing
it, is an important component to developing world-class skills. Becoming a top
performer means taking control over the busyness in your life and not letting it
dictate your career improvement.

In this week, we�re going to be giving you strategies for dealing with busyness and
making sure you have more time for deep work.

Success for this week: Become aware of the control you have over the busyness in
your work. Make sincere efforts to reduce this busyness by following the
supplementary lessons this week.

HOMEWORK

Minimum Target: Recognize the impact of busyness. Take concrete steps to reduce
or stop the increase of busyness in your work.
Suggested Target: Do a time audit. What commitments are low value and can be
scaled back or stopped? Which tasks could you delete or reduce without significant
loss? (Estimated time: 1-4 hours)
Additional Exercises:
Start a habit program for improving your physical energy. This means taking
steps to make small improvements in your sleep, diet and exercise habits. This
doesn�t need to be a complete overhaul, but a sustainable, incremental shift.
(Estimated time: 4-10 hours/week)
Decide your three core activities. Try as much as possible to delegate or
delete activities that don�t fall into those categories. (Estimated time: 30-60
minutes)
Control your time. Begin using a fixed-schedule productivity system and
commit to experimenting with the new routine for at least 30 days. (Estimated time:
15-20 minutes/day)