The Journey of Deep Work
As a startup founder, there are at least 200 different things that you can do, right from marketing, product development, finance, customer service to networking and the whole gambit of startup things.
Here is how my day looks like as I start my first piece of work at 5 am. I have blocked my calendar from 5 to 9 am intending to have at least 3 hours worth of deep work. Before I start the work, I spend the first 30 minutes deciding what four activities I want to complete in the next 3 hours.
30 minutes of Deep work
I do 6 slots of 30 minutes of deep work.
- #1 Slot - 5:00 - 5:30
- Break (10 mins)
- #2 slot - 5:40 - 6:10
- Break (5 mins)
- #3 slot - 6:15 - 6:45
- Break (15 mins)
- #4 slot - 7:00 - 7:30
- #5 slot - 7:30 - 8:00
- Break (15 mins)
- #6 slot - 8:15 - 8:45
Each 30-minute block of work
that I can do, or in other words, I would spend un-distracted time for one activity for 30 minutes. Before I start this activity, I know what I want to achieve in the next 30 minutes. It is not about completing the entire task; it could be just a portion or unit of the whole task.
For example - When I am building a pitch deck for a potential investor, which would take more than 30 minutes of work, I break down the tasks (to fit my 30 min time block) by splitting them into individual number of slides.
Break and celebration are equally important.
Once you finish a 30 min block, it's time for celebration. This is equally important and plays a crucial role in building the habit of deep work. Each break time allows you to celebrate what you've done and also allows you to relax and be prepared for the next 30 minutes of un-distracted work.
What is un-distracted work?
I have been mentioning un-distracted work a couple of times in this post.
Undistracted work in my opinion is devoting your complete focus on one task for 30 minutes. I would keep my phone aside, switch off notifications, close all browser tabs and windows and remove any distractive lighting, music and items on my work desk.
You will enter a FLOW state when performing un-distracted work, and I guarantee that your productivity will skyrocket. You would feel the state of nirvana where things are getting done quickly with more quality, creativity and strategy.
Here is my challenge to you
For the next 14 days - Let's call this the deep work sprint.
I want you to schedule close to 3 hours of deep work and split it to at least four blocks of 30 minutes or whatever suits you.
I urge you to diligently and with discipline every day (it doesn't matter if it is a weekend or holiday) for the next 14 days to devote yourself to deep work entirely.
At the end of the 14 days, trust me, you will be amazed by the amount of work you have achieved and the quality of the work produced. You will also be surprised by the creativeness and strategy you can bring to your work.
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