Immerse Deeply In Something Challenging
I love this quote from the book Deep Work written by Cal Newport. It just justifies the presence of us in this world. We are here to achieve something in life. Everyone has their purpose and everyone is living their own unique journey. But how do we give our best in this journey?
How do we make it count?
How do we change the world?
How do we create something which not only helps us but also millions of others?
By immersing ourselves deep in something challenging.
This is the whole idea of the book - Deep Work. It talks about the differences between shallow work and deep work.
Let us see 4 bullet points to get to the depth of this quote:
Why shallow work can’t help you to be the best? Shallow work is just scratching over the surface. To be the best you have to go explore the depths of the work you are in. For ex: To be a good writer, you have to learn the skills that take you from level 1 to level 10. Skills that you can acquire from courses, self-learning, or mentorships. Without learning skills, we will be hovering around level 1 to level 3.
Why is deep work so valuable? Deep work allows us to achieve more and makes us happier. Through deep work, we can master rare skills. It creates real value and is hard to replicate.
What are the challenges we face while performing deep work? Distraction. Continuous distraction from different sources is one of the reasons that stop us from deep work. Multitasking and working on multiple things at the same time gives us a sense of business but that is just shallow work with no real value.
How to get trained to perform deep work? Build rituals and habits that support deep work. Reduce that urge of checking emails and your phone from time to time. Train your mind to focus on one thing at one time. Be mindful of social media. Use it to your advantage. Plan your day in advance to schedule time for deep work.
Three Action Items For You:
List down your one most important task that you would want to work on today and tomorrow
Keep your phone in a different room and just start the work you want to complete
Observe the difference and write down in a notebook how this small exercise benefitted you. Do more of these to reduce the distraction and focus on one thing at one time.
Hope you liked this brief summary based on the quote: “Human beings are at their best when immersed deeply in something challenging.”
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Lots of love,
-H