A System to be Ultra Productive: Deep Work Time Blocks
A System to be Ultra Productive: Deep Work Time Blocks
It is a common misconception that in order to be ultra productive, we must get good at multitasking. In reality, multitasking is a guaranteed way to do several things poorly. The reason for this is when we split our attention between multiple tasks, we are unable to give any of them the attention that is required to do our best work.
The key to doing our best work is deeply focusing on a task and completely eliminating all other distractions. This means that you must decide on a single thing you will be working on and you must ignore everything else while you work on it. As you can imagine, there are some prerequisites to do this well like deciding what you will focus on, when you will focus on it, and preparing your mind and environment for success.
Below, you’ll find a step-by-step system that will guide you through deciding what to focus on and preparing your mind and environment for deep work.
Prerequisites
Deep work blocks are most helpful when paired with routines that set us up for success. If you don’t currently have a set of daily routines, I suggest implementing them first, starting with your morning routine.
Preparation
Grab your favorite notebook, piece of paper, or digital document. I personally use a tool called Obsidian to manage much of my life.
System Steps
1. Self-assessment
For fifteen minutes, think about your typical day. What are your daily obligations? Try to figure out what time you are able to think and work most effectively. If you think about this deeply, you may find your answer to be fairly nuanced. For instance, perhaps there are times throughout the day that you are better at different types of things like creative writing vs problem-solving. If that isn’t clear to you yet, no problem. This system will help you tease out the answers to these questions over time.
2. Task selection
Many people are pulled in a lot of directions throughout the day, giving a nearly infinite amount of things that could be worked on. However, it is important to be intentional with our time or we will never move the needle on the things that matter most. It is important that we retain control over our most precious resource: our time.
Spend the next 15-30 minutes writing down all of the tasks that you could potentially work on across your work and personal life. Ideally, several of these tasks are the next actions after defining SMART goals, which you can read about here.
Prioritize and label your tasks using the Eisenhower Method.
3. Add deep work blocks to your daily routine
Based on your self-assessment, add a few deep work blocks to your daily schedule that are 30-90 minutes long depending on your availability. Label each work block based on the type of work you plan to do during that block. For example, your early morning work block might be for “Problem-Solving” tasks because you may have intense focus and concentration available to you at that time. Perhaps you have a mid-morning block that is for “creative” tasks and your afternoon blocks are all about getting small things done that require very little thinking. Don’t worry if you haven’t quite figured out these categories yet. As you get rolling, you will be able to iterate toward a system that is most effective for you.
4. Add tasks to your deep work blocks
Starting with anything that you need to do immediately and then moving on to your scheduled tasks, add tasks to your deep work blocks in priority order. Schedule everything in your scheduled quadrant for a future deep work block. Schedule a task to delegate everything in your delegate quadrant. I manage most of this in Obsidian using the tasks community plugin but for many work things I’ll use Slipstream or Clickup to delegate tasks.
5. Curate your to-do list
As things come up, add them to your task list. Label and prioritize each task according to the quadrants on the Eisenhower Matrix. Continue to ignore all items added to the last quadrant.
Add any “do immediately” items to your next upcoming deep work block. Schedule and delegate all remaining tasks as necessary.
6. Refine
Each week, set aside a small bit of time to evaluate how things are going. Adjust or categorize your deep work blocks according to the type of work that is most appropriate at those times. Adjust the times if necessary to better suit your needs.
Case Study
Although it is known that Benjamin Franklin was an avid time blocker, Cal Newport has largely been responsible for popularizing the concept more recently with his book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.
“At the heart of my advice is a simple recommendation: take control of your time. To be more concrete, when thinking about your work day, I suggest that you give every minute a job.”
- Cal Newport
Cal Newport has been practicing what he preaches since his undergrad at Dartmouth and credits scheduling deep work time blocks to the bulk of his success as an author. Having written over eight books, published multiple papers in the field of computer science, and maintained a popular blog at calnewport.com, Cal is quite simply a productivity powerhouse.
Final Thoughts
Each day, we have the opportunity to control our day or let our day control us. The most effective strategy that I have found for controlling my day has been scheduling and executing deep work time blocks. Give this a shot. I promise you, you’ll be amazed by the outcome.
P.S. I’m currently looking for 3 more businesses to participate in our Slipstream beta program. We will help you identify, document, and systemize your core processes in Slipstream and give you an extended free trial (6 months!). Drop me a message on LinkedIn if you are interested!