Change Your Life In 6 Months (My Deep Work Routine)
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of deep work and offers practical strategies to enhance productivity. Addressing common challenges like distractions and overwhelm, they share personal experiences of balancing work and family life. The video highlights the significance of creating a conducive environment, prioritizing tasks, and setting intense deadlines to achieve focus. Additionally, the speaker encourages viewers to reflect on their motivations and overcome procrastination. By adopting these techniques, individuals can unlock their potential, work smarter, and achieve their professional and personal goals.
Takeaways
- 😀 Embrace the concept of working smarter, not harder, to achieve your goals.
- 📅 Prioritize tasks by identifying the three most important things to accomplish each day.
- 🧠 Distinguish between shallow work (low brainpower tasks) and deep work (focused, high-concentration tasks).
- 💡 Create a dedicated workspace for deep work to minimize distractions.
- ⏰ Set strict deadlines for tasks to boost productivity and encourage deep work sessions.
- 📖 Develop a rhythmic schedule for deep work sessions, utilizing your peak energy times.
- 🔇 Use noise-canceling headphones or quiet environments to enhance concentration.
- 📚 Reflect on your goals and the reasons behind procrastination to overcome mental barriers.
- 🚫 Schedule specific times for handling distractions like emails and social media.
- 💤 Establish a proper evening routine to prepare for restful sleep and the next day’s tasks.
Q & A
What are the common feelings experienced by people overwhelmed with work?
-Many individuals feel overworked, exhausted, and burdened by a never-ending list of tasks in various areas of their lives, including career and family.
What realization led the speaker to change their work approach?
-The speaker realized that they were underestimating their potential to get meaningful work done, leading them to seek a smarter way of working rather than being busy for the sake of it.
What is the difference between shallow work and deep work?
-Shallow work refers to tasks that require minimal cognitive effort, such as checking emails, while deep work involves intense focus and the ability to produce high-quality work without distractions.
How did the speaker improve their productivity and transition to working at Google?
-By adopting a focused work method, the speaker was able to cut down their learning time in marketing, which enabled them to transition from unemployment to working at Google and delivering successful marketing training.
What is the concept of 'deep work' introduced by Cal Newport?
-Deep work is the ability to perform tasks that require high levels of concentration and brainpower without distractions, leading to more significant outputs and better quality work.
What strategies does the speaker suggest for creating an optimal work environment?
-The speaker recommends setting up a dedicated space for deep work, minimizing distractions by separating from devices, and utilizing noise-canceling headphones to enhance concentration.
How does the speaker recommend prioritizing tasks?
-The speaker advises identifying the three most crucial tasks to accomplish each day that align with achieving personal and professional goals, helping to clarify focus and direction.
What role do deadlines play in productivity according to the speaker?
-Deadlines are essential for enhancing productivity, as they create a sense of urgency that can lead to greater focus and the completion of tasks more quickly.
Why is scheduling distraction periods important?
-Scheduling distraction periods helps manage the inevitable interruptions from emails and notifications, allowing for focused deep work sessions while still addressing necessary tasks at designated times.
What is the significance of a proper evening shutdown routine?
-A proper evening shutdown routine is important for ensuring good sleep, which is crucial for effective deep work the next day. Writing down unfinished tasks helps clear the mind for a restful night.
Outlines
😩 Overcoming Overwork and Finding Focus
This section discusses the challenges of feeling overwhelmed by work, personal responsibilities, and distractions in modern life. The speaker shares their personal experience as a busy parent running a business, emphasizing the need to work smarter rather than harder. They introduce the concept of 'deep work' as a method to maximize productivity by focusing on high-quality, distraction-free tasks. The speaker also reflects on the societal pressure to appear busy, and how this can lead to shallow work that lacks depth and fulfillment. By adopting focused work strategies, individuals can achieve their goals and realize their potential.
🛠️ Creating a Productive Work Environment
In this part, the importance of establishing a conducive work environment for deep work is highlighted. The speaker suggests designating specific spaces in the home or office for focused work to minimize distractions. They recommend using quiet locations like libraries or cafes when necessary. The speaker also discusses the significance of removing distractions, such as putting devices in another room and using tools to block distracting websites. Additionally, they emphasize the benefits of wearing noise-canceling headphones to signal a focused working state. The speaker shares their personal strategy of working during school hours to maintain family presence while maximizing productivity.
✅ Prioritizing Tasks and Setting Deadlines
This section focuses on the importance of task prioritization to enhance productivity. The speaker suggests reflecting on the most crucial tasks that align with long-term goals and encourages writing them down for clarity. They discuss the effectiveness of imposing tight deadlines to boost productivity, as humans naturally perform better under time constraints. By estimating task durations and then reducing these estimates, individuals can work more efficiently. The speaker provides a personal example of time management by outlining their available hours and focusing on high-priority tasks to maximize their productivity.
⏱️ Maximizing Deep Work Sessions
Here, the speaker presents strategies to enhance deep work sessions. They introduce the equation: high quality of work produced = time spent x intensity. The speaker advises scheduling distraction periods to manage incoming notifications and emails without compromising deep work time. They recommend setting a rhythmic schedule for deep work sessions, ideally during peak energy times, and starting with manageable timeframes that can gradually increase. Breaks are emphasized as crucial for maintaining focus and productivity. The section concludes with tips on how to effectively shut down for the evening to ensure a productive next day.
💭 Reflecting on Passion and Procrastination
In the final section, the speaker discusses the deeper reasons behind procrastination and the significance of loving one's work. They highlight that many barriers to productivity, such as fear, uncertainty, or perfectionism, may hinder progress. The speaker encourages self-reflection to identify personal beliefs that may be holding one back from reaching their full potential. They close by inviting viewers to embrace their journey towards personal growth, offering resources for further learning and support, including a newsletter and monthly office hours.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Overworked
💡Deep Work
💡Shallow Work
💡Environment
💡Prioritization
💡Distractions
💡Flow State
💡Intense Deadlines
💡Self-Discipline
💡Sleep Hygiene
Highlights
Feeling overwhelmed with responsibilities can hinder productivity, as many juggle work, family, and personal goals.
The speaker emphasizes the importance of working smarter, not harder, to achieve personal and professional goals.
There's a distinction between being busy and being productive; the key is focusing on high-value work.
Deep work, characterized by distraction-free concentration, is essential for achieving high-quality results.
Cal Newport's concept of shallow versus deep work highlights the need to prioritize deep work for success.
Shallow work includes routine tasks that can be easily automated, while deep work requires intense focus and creativity.
Creating a dedicated workspace can enhance focus and minimize distractions during deep work sessions.
Using noise-canceling headphones can help create a focused environment, signaling to others that you are in 'work mode.'
Establishing a routine around deep work sessions can significantly improve productivity and focus.
Prioritizing tasks by identifying the top three tasks to accomplish each day can drive progress toward larger goals.
Implementing intense deadlines can boost productivity, encouraging the completion of tasks more efficiently.
Scheduling periods for distraction helps manage emails and notifications without interrupting deep work.
Taking regular breaks during deep work sessions is vital to maintaining focus and preventing burnout.
Writing down unfinished tasks and next-day goals the night before promotes relaxation and prepares the mind for productivity.
Loving what you do is crucial; addressing deeper issues behind procrastination can unlock potential and drive success.
Transcripts
If you currently feel overworked, exhausted,
and the list of things to do feels never ending for your life,
your career, your business, your family, you're drowning emails
and text messages and calls that needs to be returned.
You have all these big dreams, projects and goals,
but yet they seem so out of reach and just never have enough time
to either start or finish them.
I've been there.
I'm the average person like everyone else.
I have a four year old daughter who's a love of my life and my husband and I.
We both run separate businesses of our own.
and parents who are getting old and needs care.
I'm not someone with a4am morning routine
jumping to an ice bath, drinking a green juice
while doing press ups with one finger and telling you that you need to do more.
and my frustration of seeing every year pass by and feeling like a failure
made me realize that it's time for me to think about the way that I work.
And there must be a better way where I can work smarter, not harder.
And there's one thing that I realize that change all of this,
and that is you're under estimating your potential, the potential
that you have to get the work done that actually moves you forward.
And it's not being busy for busy sake.
It has nothing to do with the tools you're using.
What parts of the apps on your phone
or what habit boxes are you taking off right now?
The problem is actually much more simpler than you think.
Since I tried this method of working and focused,
I be able to cut down the time I needed to learn to do marketing in half,
which meant that I was able to go from unemployed to working at Google
and deliver some of my best marketing trainings for my students
in my own company, and ultimately creating some of the best
keynote talks to let in more pay speaking opportunities.
And this is not another quality video
to tell me that you need to fit more in less time,
because one of the biggest issues we're facing the modern society
is not by doing more work, but actually not having enough time.
We are living in one of the biggest social experiments ever
by all these distractions and devices
are paying off around us constantly and we're no longer able to focus.
That's why in order for you to become the top 1%,
the ability to focus and do this kind of work
is going to get you there, and that's going to be your superpower.
And finally, you can work less and get more done, but not the other way around.
I made this video
to make it easy for you to understand how we can all live as fully as we work.
Let's build you into the top 1%
to become limitless in reaching your dreams and achieving
some of your biggest goals So here's a problem.
When you were studying or entering your first job,
you were probably conditioned to get the most of every hour.
Am I right?
Popular media makes business look cool, and when you are walking down the street,
you see someone you know, or maybe in the office
when you ask them, Hey, how are you?
Most likely the response you will get is, I'm good, just get busy.
So we all we're business like a badge of honor,
but not really knowing if this business can lead us anywhere.
So Cal Newport first introduced this concept word to me,
and there was a start that changed the way I work forever.
So a lot of daily tasks which you're probably familiar
with, like checking emails respond to messages
are the kind of things I would call shallow work,
because it doesn't require much of your brain power to do so.
But if you spend most of your day doing the shallow work,
you'll eventually be replaced by technology and AI.
In the current revolution that we're in right now,
because these two skills are mostly easily replaceable So deep works the ability
to do work with distraction, free concentration at your peak brainpower,
which means
are you able to produce something that's uniquely yours in your own zone?
The genius.
Cal wrote that he was able to double
his output of research papers while being a full time professor,
raising his family and writing his book all at the same time.
By using this method.
And it really resonated with this because I'm ambitious, just like you.
If you click on this video and you're watching it now,
that means that you realize there's
something that you need to change in your current work environment.
They'll make you a lot more productive than you were previously.
So think it's really good idea to take a pen and paper out
and write this down and ask yourself this If you were to work regularly,
what made your life or professional goals do you want to achieve For me,
that's growing my personal brand business online, reaching and
impacting more people with my digital products and services.
I want to have enough time spent on my family
and to travel to live a life full experiences.
I don't want to be chained to a desk and just looking at the screen all day.
And I also found fascinating is that according to research
done in 2012, deep work can also train your brain
to increase your focus, and also you cognitive functions like a muscle.
Before, I used to find it hard to get through a whole page in the book,
but I can scroll in for an hour, whereas now I can easily
sit down for 90 minutes of Debord at the time and coming out feeling
completely fulfilled and accomplished because I did something with that time.
I think, one, the state that you tend
to get into during the work is the state of flow,
which has been documented in this psychologist Michel.
His book Flow, where you reach this point of standstill of time
and you are filled with the content and purpose and what you're doing.
So before we get into the nitty gritty of how to do better teamwork,
I think it's really important.
Set up the first things first, which is your environment.
severe, the means to do so.
Observe a separate area in your home like a study or a separate room
where you use it purely for deep working and where you definitely
won't be disturbed if you're in the office environment.
Think about using an empty conference room.
Maybe they can use it as a purely a place to get away from that open plan.
Nosiness And if you don't have the spaces as we are living in smaller and smaller
places these days in the modern world, I found local libraries
and also local quieter cafes to be really great for this
because you have a separate space allocated to this.
It makes you even more concentrated on your sessions as well.
and what one like about the current world of mixing remote working with
being the office is that the data you are a home remote working.
You can use some of those days for the much more important strategic
deep thinking tasks they can use during these deep work sessions.
And this brings me to the distractions
in our lives right now, and that is, if used possible,
to put all the distraction related devices in a separate room, because I find that
if it's not close to you, you probably won't be looking at it.
And if you clearly are going on the Internet
and you might get distracted by going on social media websites, for example,
there is chrome sessions like florist or cell control that you can use
on your browser to block off those sites while you're working
so you don't get tempted.
But I think we're all adults here, so your level of self discretion
is probably your own. Take.
And if you want absolutely zero noise, if that's what helps
you use a pair of noise canceling headphones.
So my ones from Sony, I'll link it to a description below.
You don't have to get exactly one.
I found this one to be really helpful because it's light on my head.
And when I'm working for, let's say an hour and a half the time,
it doesn't actually weigh on my head to make it hurt.
So it just something that I found in my own experience.
But feel free to find one that works for you.
And what I found to be another benefit is that if I wear these headphones
in public spaces, like co-working spaces, I'm less likely
to be disturbed because I look like, I mean the working mode.
And that visual fact usually helps for you to have that sanctuary
that time to yourself if you needed to, So if you got kids like I do,
I tend to do my deep work sessions around the time when she's at school.
My personal ethos is that I want to be fully present
when she's around and not working around her all the time.
I actually work a lot less now.
Not that kids and we've found that because I have less time
and there's a lot more constraints on that.
I tend to be a lot more focused and results driven.
So everything I choose to work on has the highest priority,
either in my business with my clients at the moment, and that seemed to move me
forward a lot more further than before I had kids, so there you go.
A little plus point there.
and my biggest motivation
is that the more efficient that can be doing something, the more time
they'll have to spend with the quality home for my family.
So that's almost a benefit to me to work towards whenever I'm being stuck
with the will to do something.
I find that this will motivate me to keep pushing forward
and this really brings in the point of prioritizing or tasks.
One thing I realize is that if I don't prioritize my task,
then all of a sudden everything on my list really needs my attention.
I don't know what else to focus on, but one question
I found to be really helpful and feel free to write this one down.
They help me on a daily basis is whenever I prepare my two days for the day,
I ask myself if there's three things I need to get done today,
what would those be in order to move my biggest goals and dreams forward?
And when you put it in that context, all sudden
those tasks become a lot more clearer in terms of which
one of the most important
to get done that day, to move yourself forward one more step at a time.
and once you prioritize your tasks, which brings me to the next point,
which is really about putting very intense deadlines into what you do.
And by that I mean estimating how long it would take to do something
and then cut that down drastically And by human nature,
we know that we work best with deadlines, because if we reflect on this,
when I was in school, I remember when I had a looming deadline for a paper
in college, somehow that paper, after procrastinating on it for weeks
the day before it gets it gets do it will actually get done the night before.
So it just things like this where if you put those deadlines for yourself,
that's actually estimated
to be a lot more strict and also intense than it should be.
You will actually find yourself getting you done
the longer quicker than you think.
And that also forces you to be in the state of deep work more often
because allow you to use those intense periods to really get those things done.
Like, for example, now I want to go out to my daughter in 2 hours.
That means that I'm to get my deep work sessions in and that 2 hours
all of a sudden becomes so much more efficient
because I know that that's all I got for the day
and what can I actually fit in.
That's the most important, but also can get done the quickest.
so based on we talked about earlier write this one down as well.
How can you create an environment around you that helps you succeed with this
deep work?
And how can you maintain this deep work on a regular basis?
So now that we've gone through the environment and the different things
you should have in place before you start working, how do you now
make sure that your deep work sessions are more effective than most people?
And Carl mentioned this in this book where I thought it's a really great equation
to share with you guys is that the high quality of work produced
equals time spent times intensity on this particular task.
So everything we talking about in this section really goes back to this
equation is how can you maximize the amount of time spent
and also the intensity spent on this during that period
in order to create the highest quality work possible.
So here are three strategies
I recommend you try for yourself during these deep work sessions.
And number one is you might not think about this
very obviously, but schedule and distraction periods.
Yes, you heard me say that right.
Make sure that you have distraction periods schedule in during your deep
work days.
And what I mean by that is in the reality in the world that we live in right now,
the emails and the pings from your managers,
maybe from your clients, if you're in the business
and the social media pings and updates and notifications,
not they're not actually going to go away overnight, Am I right?
And the key thing is that you want to make sure to have specific times
when you can actually get past these and address them,
because they are our daily lives are part of our daily lives.
We have to recognize that.
And we have to think about how do we realistically include them,
but at the same time, don't let them infringe on what we do.
And the best way to do this is to schedule them
at the regular times throughout the day where it's under your control.
So, for example, I scheduled those times for myself when I know that
my energy levels dipping through the day and that's usually around 3 to 4 p.m.
in the afternoon,
most of you probably have this or you have like a mid-afternoon slump,
and that's the time when I can use these non brain
intensive activities like shallow work and getting those things done.
For example, I can post on my social media content,
I can reach out, reply to emails, I can text people back
and all these things do not take those intense brainpower
you would do during deep work periods.
But this is fine because that's during when you have the lowest energy level.
Anyway.
Secondly, I found to be really helpful is that this rhythmic D work
ritual schedule did either on a daily or weekly basis, depending on your schedule.
And for me,
I purposely found in my line of work having daily sessions really helped me.
So the way my schedule works is that in the morning
I usually have a very quick workout after dropping off my daughter at school
and then I will have 3 to 4 hours to myself
to really focus on those deep intensive work that I need to get done.
It could be writing a keynote speech.
It could be preparing training materials for my students.
It could be, let's say, in this case, designing strategies
for client could be writing a script for a YouTube video.
But whatever is allows me to use
that time to really use my deepest intense brainpower.
So that way later
on, I know that I've accomplished the most important things on my list
and I can move on to the rest day with a lot more ease
because I know that it's actually been ticked off and not most people, but
generally speaking, the majority of people are energetic in the mornings.
So I recommend having this early in the morning if you're one dose.
But there are lots of people in my community who I speak to my friends
and family who are also night owls, and that's Holyoke too.
So no one is your best performance period is a morning or is it late nights?
And then just have those scheduled in for yourself on a regular basis.
So, you know,
when you have your best periods to get your work done, So comment is book
that beginners should really aim for one hour in the beginning
to really get into the rhythm of working in deep working mode.
But as you get more used to it, feel free to increase that over time
and eventually, even for the most advanced people who do deep work,
really the most your brain can handle is around the four hour mark.
and beyond that is really hard to do any more concentrated work
because you feel like you had enough for the day.
And it's a really good idea
to make sure you have scheduling regular breaks for these sessions.
So generally speaking, maybe an hour and a half an hour
and having an interval from there, then I think in some of those breaks
in between where you can just do nothing, have a cup of tea, walk around the block.
So for me, I just love looking out the window,
having a little bit of time for my eyes to rest as well.
I mean, getting back into the next interval session.
So let's take a moment to reflect on this.
Take a pen and paper and write this down.
Given your current goal and situation, how many hours deep
where can you commit to on the daily, weekly basis?
And lastly, this a part where I feel like a lot of people don't talk about,
and that is how do you shut down properly for the evening?
Because we all know that sleep is abundant and free, but yet is one of the things
that we currently lack the most and sleep is
so you have a great precedence the next day of deep work.
So your brain has the most capacity and the ability to do the deep
intensive thinking that you need.
I found this to be really helpful where the night before write down
some of the things that you didn't finish
and some of the things that you want to get done the next day
and dump it all into you.
Let's say notebook.
In my case, I write in my journal, I find it quite relaxing to be able
to take it all of my head into the paper and I can now relax into a deep sleep.
And can you pour even as both have gone as far as shut down completely
saying that to himself as if his brain is a computer program
and he says that it works apparently where he gets a chance
to really completely shut down and have a good night's sleep.
Then the next day, starting over again. And lastly this.
The one thing I want to leave you with in this video is that none of the tips
that the work tactics, the policy tips that you see around
the Internet are going to work unless you love what you do.
Because oftentimes when we're procrastinating on that big project,
the dream job, the dream opportunity is that a lot of times,
a lot of the issues behind procrastinating is a lot deeper than we think.
and it can mean a lot more than that, right?
Could be. You're afraid.
It could be that you don't know how to get started.
It could be that you're a perfectionist, just like me,
waiting for the perfect conditions to get started.
So I really invite you to reflect on these things and to think about.
Are there any other reasons I might be holding you back?
How can you break free of those beliefs and eventually
reaching your limitless potential as your future self?
thank you so much for staying me until the end.
If you like this video, you might also love this video
all about how to change your life in six months,
if you like what you saw in the video today,
if you're for this, describe and try on my newsletter.
In the link the description below
where you get to learn a lot more personal growth
and also business insights on a weekly basis in your inbox.
I also run monthly
office hours for my audience to answer their specific questions situation.
So if you're interested in that, feel for the
this as the wait list in the link below as well.
Thank you so much for watching this video.
I want to see you incorporate some of the DIY techniques in what you do,
and I'm looking forward to seeing you thrive.
All right. See the next video.
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