I believe productivity is for machines not for humans. I also believe that life is about creating memorable experiences with yourself and your loved ones.

However, we are not cavemen anymore, an ear where you could just sit and think about how to save your ass from wild animals.

Deeply reading Deep Work
In today’s competitive world, if you want to have all the pleasures and luxury for yourself and your loved ones, you have to WORK. And guess what? Working is not enough anymore. Work can be easily done by AI/machines without any errors that too with few commands or supervision. All in all, humans are becoming replaceable.

Hence, if you want to be successful, only working hard 24/7 is not the solution anymore. The path to success, wealth, and expertise is DEEP WORK.

Deep work, as they say, is the ability to sit in a place for a prolonged period of time with an intense focus and create a masterpiece with your work. How simple, right?

But let me tell you that Deep work is the toughest skill to master in the 21st century. You are surrounded by distractions only. Your environment is not designed by you but by the giant tech companies who are on a mission to keep your attention on their platforms like Instagram, and TikTok so that you just become a puppet of some likes and end up losing your power on your own brain.

Isn’t that the reason why you are not able to get rid of your social media addiction? Isn’t that why you go on YouTube to find motivation and some hacks to achieve your goals?

And I am no exception either. I have migraine and my head hurts hard when I spend too much time on screen yet every other day, I face near-death pain in my head. Why? Because I lose myself in the reels and somehow my willpower to exit Instagram is taken over by my mind who gets enough cheap pleasure and entertainment.

I am a social media influencer so I have to spend some time on Instagram to post on my feed and to check what’s trending. But that can be done in less than an hour but my screen time was more than 5 hours lately.

WHY? Because no matter how smart you think you are, you can lose your attention which is money to social media platforms or any other place you waste your time.

Hence, focusing on your goals becomes tougher each day. Social media is not all bad. If you use it correctly, it can be a blessing. In fact, a major chunk of my income comes from Instagram. But social media or video games or anything for that matter becomes a problem when you overuse it.

When you use social media, you don’t use your brain at all. Your brain gets higher dopamine (a kind of exciting chemical) very easily. But when you work on your goals, your brain has to focus which means no pleasure and no enjoyment for your brain.

For example; If you speak and think negatively for 23 hours but meditate for 1 hour, do you think you can change your life? No, right? Because what you do in 23 hours matters more than what happens to you in 1 hour.

Similarly, how you spend your time and train your brain for the rest of the day matter more than how much you try to focus for an hour.

The worst part is we don’t sit to work all at once, we work in intervals, hence we disturb our brains as soon as the focus was building up. Besides, if you take breaks to gossip or scroll social media, focusing on work becomes even more impossible.

Read also: 3 experiences that taught me more than my expensive degree

This whole cycle makes you believe that you cannot focus and that becomes your internal dialogue.

I personally believe that the most important skill in the 21st century is DEEP WORK — being able to work with an intense focus for as long as you want. The new definition of productivity goes like this:

Number of hours on a skill you want to learn * Your Intensity to focus = Outcome

Now, this was all about the root of the problem and what is the most important skill, now let’s discuss how you can develop DEEP WORK in your day-to-day life.

1. Create an Environment:

Where do you work? What does your environment look like? Are you surrounded by people or do you work alone?

Your environment creates a major impact on your mood, hence on the intensity of your focus. It’s important for you to create a dedicated environment for yourself, a kind of environment that inspires you to get on track.

As for me, I lock my room, put my phone on DND and start typing before my mind even thinks of jumping on social media. I don’t like to wear any ring or bracelet or anything at all in my hands because that grabs my attention. If I wear a beautiful ring and start writing then my focus will be on my hands thinking my hands can be a Pinterest-worthy picture. (Girls, can you relate?)

The bottom line is you need to either create a dedicated environment at your home or you can go to a nearby park or a coffee shop for deep work. I don’t like working from cafes because I just need to be completely isolated when I am working. That’s how I like to work. However, for you, it entirely depends on your personality and the kind of work you do.

Just remember, your environment should be one place so that when you sit there, your brain automatically know ‘it’s time to rock’

Tip: If you choose to work from your room, create a vision board for yourself so that when you look at it, your brain gets excited about ‘your goals’

2. Create a System:

I don’t believe in working on a strict schedule. In fact, I never plan my days as per the clock. I strongly believe that I am a human and I don’t have a switch-on button.

I definitely create a list of all the priority tasks that need to be done- tasks that require the utmost focus. But I never put a timeline on it. I rather work whenever I feel like it so that I can actually bring myself to a place where my work feels joyful to me.

I suggest you do the same as well. Instead of putting a strict timeline on your tasks, try to find out when you work the best. For example; I like to do my shallow work in the evening but I like to write just after my morning tea and I like to read at the night.

Similarly, you just need to create a system that works best for you. You have to examine yourself to know when you work best and what kind of work should be done at what time.

Also, I like to read on my balcony with a cup of coffee. It feels magical hence, I read more. But at the same time, I like to write with my doors closed so that nothing external can have my focus.

Do you understand what I am trying to convey here?

Your timing to work and your environment depend on the kind of work you want to get done. One particular time and one environment are not going to fit every work. If I write on my balcony, I will just keep looking at the people passing by. And If I read in my bedroom, I might sleep.

Hence, build your own customized system. A system that works best for you. A system that you have designed. A system that you enjoy. When you do that, short-term temptations would not be able to get your attention, hence you will be able to do deep work easily.

3. Remove Distractions:

Okay, this goes without saying but let me fulfill my duty. When you sit to deep work, try to avoid every distraction that can take over you.

For example; I use a laptop to write (obviously) so I keep my phone miles away from me so that even if there is an itch inside me to check the notifications, my lazy ass wouldn’t move.

I also told you how I don’t wear any hand accessories as that just steals my attention. So, feel free to be a little weird when it comes to removing distractions. It’s your job to create an environment where nothing and no one can take you away from your work.

Tip: Most people like to work with their headphones on with slow meditational music. If you want, you can try this method as well to create a cue for your brain to get into the flow state.

Read also: 6 ways to motivate yourself daily

4. Mental Strength:

While doing deep work, mental toughness is the most important skill that you need to master.

You need to train your brain for the rest of the day so that focusing becomes a cup of tea for you. You should limit your screen time or any other activity that gives higher dopamine to your brain. If getting pleasure is easier for your brain then focusing will be harder.

You can still use all the social media platforms but mindfully and within a time frame.

Also, when you start doing the deep work, you will start creating masterpieces with your work and you will achieve your goals easily. When you get what you wanted, you will be proud of yourself and you will become your best version. Hence, you will get addicted to success and achievements.

So, train your brain, build mental strength, and get addicted to success, growth, and goals.

Conclusion:

I hope this blog helps you in achieving whatever you have in your mind. Reading this blog wouldn’t be of any use if you don’t implement so go ahead and create a deep work system for yourself.

CONTRIBUTED BY Renuka Gavrani

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