We’re going deeeeeep friends.

And by deep, I mean “Deep Work” by Cal Newport.

Full disclosure: the first time I read this book I lost my cool because almost *every single* example of someone crushing “deep work” was male. There were studies led by women, but, really only one (maybe two) examples of women who were crushing deep work.

I’m still pretty ragey about it.

So I read it again. (I’m a glutton for rage-reads. Don’t you remember the 48 Laws of Power when we learned how to form a cult?! If you missed it… I’ll send it to ya just let me know.)

The major theme on how to build your deep work capacity is being a self-imposed hermit for periods of time. Ignoring emails, social media, personal/professional commitments, etc.

If you’re a lady-identifying, or any-gender parent, you might be shaking your head at the idea of being completely unavailable for your family/friends/partners.
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Can you imagine saying, oops, guess all my familial obligations are a no-go, I’m off to my hut in the woods?

If you can, damn, I’m interested.

If you can’t, well, good. I read this book so you don’t have to rage at it.

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And I’m sharing what you can do without pulling a Where’d You Go Bernadette (fun book!) and disappearing on everyone you know. (Spoiler?)

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Read on to learn how you can increase your capacity for deep work without losing all of your human connections and pissing off everyone around you.​
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💡 Biggest whoa moment: Our capacity for deep work is pretty limited. A 1993 paper from Anders Ericsson, found that our brain can only handle four hours max of deep work. For a novice? Only ONE hour! For our workaholics, remember, “Once you’ve hit your deep work limit in a given day, you’ll experience diminishing rewards if you try to cram in more.” Basically, put the pen down, and lower your expectations of how hard and for how long you can work.

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🌱 Put it into practice now: Okay okay, so deep work is a muscle we’re going to have to build. Ugh. How can we get it going? Here are some tips/tricks for increasing your deep work capacity. Pick and choose the ones that work for you. (And tell me which ones you want to try!)
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Tip 1: Recognize that deep work is a muscle to be built. We can’t jump from never working deeply to doing four straight hours of deep thinking. It’s going to take time to create the mental capacity for it. That’s it, that’s the tip. Know it’s going to be rough.

Tip 2: Create rituals and routines that support your deep work. Rituals and routines help the creative habit, and help your brain “turn on” to bunker down. Whether that’s pouring a cup of coffee, a stretching routine, or stepping outside for a walk… give your brain the nod that it’s time to go.

Tip 3: Schedule your deep work time. And make it easy. Block your calendar, silence notifications, close tabs. Restrict the things that pop up and pull you away. For me? I like to start a timer for deep work. If I find myself wanting to scroll the good ol’ IG, it turns into a real challenge to stay focused on the task at hand.

Tip 4: Timebox your distractions. Newport would really like you to quit social media. He proposes taking a 30-day break from all social media (without telling anyone) followed by an assessment if you want them back. If that seems terrifying, try either a) set limits on your distractions with a timer or “screen time” rules, or, b) schedule when and how long you can spend on distractions. Then, work on your “mental calisthenics” to stay focused until it’s “play time.”

Tip 5: Organize your “shallow work.” We spend an inordinate amount of time on “shallow work.” Administrative tasks, light research, slack, email, etc. It feels good to check things off our list but it’s distracting from the hardcore work. How many of us find our week got away from us and we never spent time on that long-term strategy project? (Spoiler, all of us.) Take charge of your shallow work. Stop seeing slack/email etc as “urgent”, instead, decide when your slack/email times are. If you respond to that email right now, versus thirty minutes from now, it’s unlikely they’ll note the difference. So go work, deeply.

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That’s it friends!

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If reading this made you feel like you’re constantly playing whack-a-mole with work, and you’d like to create a better relationship that puts you in charge of your week… you know what to do. (Book a discovery call!)

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Until next time,

​Rikki​

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🔍 Dive deeper:
​Read the book yourself: Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World​
Check out the podcast: Deep Questions​
Take a tour of his hideaway: A Look Inside Cal Newport's Deep Work Hideaway​

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