Throughout our lives we go through many phases. Initially we just have fun and don’t worry about anything, but as we grow up we have to learn to follow rules and focus on particular tasks. Life makes us learn the skill of concentration and deep focus. That’s what school is for, right?
Having just read the book “Deep Work” by Cal Newport I’m convinced that everyone can accomplish more in less time (in comparison to what they currently do). The key is the ability to concentrate on a specific problem you’re trying to solve, or something you’re trying to learn “deeply”. By this word I mean having no distractions around you, no notifications, no peers telling you to do things. It’s just you and your work.
I have my own ways to stay concentrated and here are a couple that I hope you’ll find useful:
- Use the “Self Control” app on mac. It blocks all the websites that I think are distracting (Reddit, Facebook, Messenger, BBC, etc).
- Put your phone either into airplane mode or turn off wifi & data for a longer period. I personally don’t use airplane mode, so that if there’s an emergency, people can still call me. Alternatively just put the phone in a different room. It’s surprising how effective it is.
- Tidy your desk. I find that when I’m working on my laptop and there are no distractions around it, there’s nothing to distract me.
- If possible, have a specific place just for working. That means no video watching at that table, no social media while I’m sitting there, just the task at hand. That way you can associate the place with the state of “deep work”. That’s one of the reasons why I think co-working is a much better working environment for me than just staying at home. Because I live in a flat and so I tend to reuse the same space for leisure and work, which is not ideal.
These tips are all very simple and anyone can implement them. By using just #1 and #2 I think that I almost doubled my productivity. It’s really just about making it as easy as possible to concentrate and as hard as possible to get distracted.