My inspiration for the topic this time has been a couple of conversations I have had with people about just how busy things feel despite entering the summer season.
The book by Cal Newport ‘Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World’, defines deep work as: “Professional activity performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate”.
In other words, deep work means being able to focus without interruption and completing demanding tasks efficiently. Think about feeling less rushed, more focussed and more productive – sound good? You can learn more here: What Is Deep Work and How To Practice It (Complete Guide) – LifeHack.
Some of you might say, well I am a ninja multi-tasker – I need to be. Some people swear by multitasking even when we intuitively know that our brains struggle to concentrate on more than one thing at a time. Evidence suggests that multitaskers do not have a particular gift for being able to juggle multiple projects. In fact, in many cognitive tasks, heavy multitaskers underperform. Our brains have a limited capacity for what they can work on at any given moment; and using tricks to cram as much into our working day as possible might be doing more harm than good.
What might being wired for work at all times lead to? Inevitably, burnout. And what about the shadow that we are casting on our teams? Newport describes this way of working as a “hyperactive hivemind”. Unstructured conversations on messaging apps and meetings dropped into diaries unexpectedly congest our day. The busier we are, the more we switch tasks. So, feeling busy is not conducive to deep concentration. Estimates of how long it takes us to refocus after a distraction vary; but at the top end, one study found on average it takes us 23 minutes and 15 seconds to regain deep focus after an interruption.
The article offers: Hacks to Maximize Your Ability to Practice Deep Work
With that in mind, take time to think:
- How much of your time do you spend on deep versus shallow work?
- What work have you got on that would benefit from a deep work approach?
- How are you going to change the way you work to enable you to do more deep work?
- In what way do you enable your team and colleagues to conduct deep work?
As leaders, we can all show our people that we are role modelling the changes that all of us want to see. Let’s be better and be the change. Contact [email protected] if you would like help to do so.
For more articles, encouraging you to think and be the change – visit here.