1) Schedule your work
“Don’t schedule distractions. Schedule deep work.” Rather than prioritizing your phone calls and meetings, prioritize your work. Prioritize time that you can set aside and work through without any distractions. “Block hours for what really matters, not just for anything with a designated start time.” When you are able to schedule blocks of time to focus on your work, you can tap into your creativity and you can tap into your real skills and build off of them so that you can be more creative and productive. When you are constantly distracted, you are resigned to shallow work because that is what you have time to do. “Shallow work (all the little administrative and logistical stuff) stops you from getting fired – but deep work (using your skills to create something of value) is what gets you promoted.” Set aside time for yourself to hammer through work for a few hours at a time and prioritize that deep work so that you can be successful today.
2) Keep score
“Keep a scoreboard for deep work: And make it visible.” Keep yourself accountable for what you do and don’t do. When you realize just how much time you have spent working, and just how much time you have spent straightening the lines on your expense reports, you will be able to prioritize your time better and know whether or not you are really making the most of your days.
3) Say no
Rather than saying yes to keep people happy or do things that you think you should do – say no. Prioritize yourself and your work and your own life. “Stop saying ‘yes’ if you want to get things done.” When you are successful in life, generally it is because you have started to say no to other people and yes to yourself. Newport says, “The people who tend to do things that have an impact say ‘no’ to a lot, because what they’re really interested in is, ‘I want to do the deep things, the things that require my skills and create new value, and I can’t do that if I’m constantly going to meetings and jumping on calls and checking email.’” Don’t spend your time meeting the demands of other people. Spend your time meeting your own demands and living up to your own expectations, so that you can find your own success and follow your own dreams.
4) Ritualize
Finally, when you have set aside the time and set yourself up for success – be sure that you have a routine so that when you are ready to jump into deep work you can be as effective and efficient as possible. “Have a ‘deep work ritual.’ Whatever gets you ready to crank.” When you have a routine, you are more easily able to slip into the work mode that will be most productive and best for your success. “Hiding in a conference room and throwing your phone into an abyss is a good one.” Cut away the distractions and focus on the priorities. “One way to more consistently achieve a state of real concentration is to have routines and rituals built around deep work,” says Newport. “It can be as simple as clearing your desk, or shutting your door.”
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