This article is all about getting you closer towards your goals. This weekend I picked up Deep work again. Every time I read it is a revelation. The better you manage your time, the more successful you will become. It all comes down to the amount of value you can produce. And for that deep work is essential.
“If you don’t produce, you won’t thrive—no matter how skilled or talented you are.” (Cal Newport – Deep Work)
Here are 5 tips to get more deep work done. Don’t just read this, please comment below which tips you use or are going to use on a daily basis from now on. Or share ones of your own. Here we go:
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Plan out your week during the weekend, and your day the night before.
Schedule large blocks of uninterrupted time on the tasks (80/20) that move you closer towards your goals. If you don’t do this, it’s so easy to let social media, unimportant meetings, and other interruptions take over your schedule.
You are an ASSET, protect your time!
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Persistence. When you work on an important task sit with it till it’s complete.
This will not only increase your output / value, this will seriously boost your level of confidence.
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Environment is half of the battle.
We find it’s best to schedule your deep work early in the morning. Part of the world (kids!) is still asleep and as the day progresses, the amount of interrupts increases.
It’s also important to realize that willpower is a finite resource, you have way more of it earlier in the day!
Ideally you do your one or two most important tasks (MITs) first. It’s enormously empowering to cross those off of your list. It’s also THE way to beat imposter syndrome because these tasks are often related to getting onto the court, playing the game!
The other thing to pay close attention to is your physiology. For example:
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Are you drinking enough water? No? Have a water bottle on your desk at all times.
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Eating healthy food? No? Whatever is in your kitchen gets consumed, don’t buy groceries when hungry.
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Are you getting enough exercise? No? Get some steps in when you wake up and set a daily alarm to go to the gym (the correlation between exercise / fitness and overall performance is just too high to ignore this!)
All these things make it easier to get the work done that will ultimately matter.
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Motivation. Ask yourself why:
- Why am I doing this?
- Who am I serving and why?
- Why is this important to me?
These are great questions to get back on track. Specially when you struggle with procrastination or you find yourself aimlessly clicking on Facebook.
When that happens stop and grab a notebook. Go back to your WHY, maybe something is off in the stories you tell yourself (identify).
Honestly I was already lining up two resources, Eat that frog! and Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule, which are great reads, but sometimes the best tool is a notebook or your journal. Remember, it all starts in your MIND. Thoughts -> actions -> results.
“Who you are, what you think, feel, and do, what you love—is the sum of what you focus on.” (Cal Newport – Deep Work)
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Review your weeks / months. Here is the template we use every weekend. Why is this important? A plethora of reasons but mainly because:
- It keeps you focused on your goals and next actions you need to take
- It lets you reflect on the week (be honest with yourself) and course correct, which prevents you from making the same mistakes again.
Now go crush it this week and share in the comments below how this week is going so far …
— Bob