Why I am ignoring posts like this today.

Today I begin my Deep Work experiment.

I recently took part in a project in Germany which involved me and colleagues devoting a couple of days of undistracted work for one client. Although it wasn’t a perfect exercise, it led me to look into the benefits of working this way. And, during my rummaging around, I discovered a book I’d bought but never read: Deep Work.

When I did spend the time reading the book, I was hooked and determined to do ‘it’.

I spent quite a big part of last weekend watching YouTube videos about Deep Work. Cal Newport, the author of the book is interviewed quite a lot on various channels. One of the most interesting interviews, in my opinion, was also the longest - with the slightly odd Rich Roll.

I was left with several key discoveries or actual things I wrote down as pretty important.

First, I think there’s a need for a good definition of what Deep Work is. The one the author uses is ‘the ability to concentrate deeply on a difficult task for prolonged periods of time without getting distracted’.

I automatically zoned in on the mention of a lack of distraction but actually one important thing to bear in mind is the concept of a ‘difficult task’. In other words, doing something simple doesn’t demand a Deep Work session.

Next, Newport claims that it’s ‘context switching’ that destroys knowledge working. He mentions environments like Slack as places where there are ‘ongoing, unstructured conversations’. I can associate with this. It’s one of the many reasons I hate both Slack and Teams. These rambling conversations, usually peppered with emojis and other kindergarten-style icons, can easily make it feel like work is being done. But nothing is happening at all apart from texting. And if you have a number of clients, each having one of these ongoing, unstructured conversations, you just don’t get anything done.

It contributes to what Newport terms as ‘hyperactive hive mentality’. If everyone is talking and there’s a buzz of activity, then things are looking good. Except they’re not. They just seem busy.

He is not a fan of what is perhaps the biggest and most deliberate form of distraction: social media. In fact, he has never had a social media account of any kind. He calls it ‘cognitive junk food’.

This raised a smile and it’s actually not as silly as it sounds. If you regard knowledge working as being as important as being an athlete, social media is the Doritos. You don’t eat them if you’re an athlete so you don’t need to consume social media as a knowledge worker.

This analogy actually gave me a much needed sense of pride in what I do for a living.

I’ve never actually thought of myself as a big user of social media but I have accounts with Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

I use Pinterest genuinely as a creative tool, so I discount this one. But I am regularly looking at LinkedIn. Facebook and Instagram I kind of wander into when distracted.

I think I would use all of these accounts more if I had notifications set up. Notifications are probably meant to be helpful but I think they usually provoke the fear of missing out.

Other distractions? Pings from emails coming in or calendar reminders.

Calendar reminders are usually a good thing if you’re busy but getting a notification with every email is totally unnecessary.

All these things I’ve noted lead me to think that working efficiently today is all about continually switching contexts. Either falling down the social media rabbit hole or moving between so-called ‘work chats’. When you look at what actual work you do, it’s not much. And when you look at how often you concentrate on doing one thing, it’s frightening.

Today, I kick off a concentrated week of work for a new Chinese client. It begins with a call with them and I will need to do some digital tasks. But I will also be looking at turning off pings, taking off my Apple Watch and putting my iPhone in the next room.

My intention is to start each day of this experiment - in the shallow zone before the deep work begins - by keeping a record of what I’m thinking, in case you find it helpful.