Still remember the feeling of focusing on the task at hand so much that you were not aware of the passing of time without getting tired? Won’t it be nice if you can work through all the tasks with the same efficiency and focus? The state of focusing so much on your work is called the flow state. It could be achieved through rewiring your brain to adapt to deep work.

What is deep work?

Deep work is a state of mind that enables professional work to be performed in a state of distraction-free concentration. At which, your cognitive capabilities will be pushed to the limits so that you can create new value and improve your skill. 

Deep work was coined by Cal Newport, a computer science professor at Georgetown University and a New York Times bestseller author. In his titular book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success In A Distracted World. 

Here are the three ways to train your brain to adapt to Deep Work

1) Embrace boredom

Our brains tend to request distraction when we felt bored or stressed. The first instinct is that we will check our smartphones each time our brain detects “potential boredom”.

So, in order to prevent our brains from getting distracted, we need to schedule in advance and practice productive meditation.

Schedule in advance the time where you’ll use the internet and avoid the internet outside of the stipulated time. This trains our concentration and prevent us from getting distracted. If cutting off from the internet is not feasible for your work, schedule time blocks of 3-4 hours per day so that you can work on the toughest part of your job without distractions.

Practice productive meditation where you can listen to podcasts or think about solutions to the problems at work or studies when you are walking/exercising/doing household chores etc. 

2) Quit social media

It’s an undeniable truth that social media fragments our time and reduce our concentration. In the book deep work, social media is a low-impact activity that takes away our time from doing higher-impact activities and thinking. 

Thus, it was recommended to do a test run in staying consciously away from social media for 30 days. Meantime, find a high-quality alternative to social media such as book reading or watching educational YouTube channels.

3) Take control of your day

Schedule every minute of your day through this exercise:

1) Turn to a new page on the notebook at the beginning of each day

2) On the left-hand side of the page, mark every other line with an hour of your workday

3) Divide the hours into 30 min blocks and assign activities to the blocks 

4) On the right, list out the small tasks or goals you plan to accomplish in that block

5) Schedule some time for meals or relaxation breaks too

6) Use this schedule to guide your workday and revise it if the schedule gets distracted

The ability to perform deep work is becoming scarce mainly due to the current distracted world full of notifications and FOMO (“Fear of Missing Out”). Training yourself to achieve deep work enables you to master hard things quickly and produce valuable insights. These skills will make you thrive and be irreplaceable in your field.