This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Columbia Barnard chapter.
- What is deep work?
- “Deep work” was first introduced by Cal Newport, author and computer science professor at Georgetown. He described it as “professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limits.” Essentially it is the opposite of “shallow work;” work that is done while one is distracted and unconsciously multitasking.
- Deep work refers to the cognitive depth you put into a task. It requires a lot of focus, being a hundred percent focused on what’s in front of you, and blocking everything else.
- This form of work is quite hard to achieve mainly because of how much we multitask daily. For example, you might be writing an essay, but at the same time, you are answering text messages or reading emails. This state is referred to as being constantly on; you are always connected to something in some manner (Slack, Facebook, Instagram, Email, Text Messages, etc.).
- Deep work doesn’t necessarily mean that you are very productive, but it has a lot to do with it. Deep work gives you satisfaction and happiness, which makes you feel a lot more productive. The fulfillment that you get from deep work makes you feel a lot more accomplished than would doing a massive amount of shallow work.
- Why is it important?
- Deep work is known to lead to quality work, and the best work typically has better quantity than quality. In order to achieve this quality work, you need uninterrupted time to put your full attention on the task. This requires you to block out time for your work so that you are not distracted.
- A lot of what is currently seen in the workforce (and even at schools and universities) is shallow work. People are not putting in a lot of effort; rather, they are simply focusing on completing their to-do list as fast as they can.
- The amount of shallow work actually causes you to waste more time than you think. Because of how much you switch from task to task, your ability to perform at its cognitive peak is significantly reduced as well, as you have to also switch your mindset based on what you are doing.
- How does it work?
- A simple way to start doing deep work is to remove the distractions in your working environment, create a work plan, and monitor your behavior so that you are disciplined and not distracted.
- If you are really interested in the idea of deep work, this article does a fantastic job of explaining and going through what you can do.