Deep work is a mental state that we have the ability to achieve by dedicating ourselves and our focus to our work. For this to happen, we have to reach a mental state that is conductive to work and create and be in an environment that allows for work to be done in peace. Since we are unique beings, each with our own personalities, strengths and weaknesses, we have created different ideologies and methods in which we can achieve a state of deep work to produce high quality work consistently and maintain the discipline needed to know when to set time apart for deep work, as well as staying focused on the tasks at hand. There are 4 methodologies and or ideologies commonly used to allow for deep work.
The Monastic Philosophy of Deep Work
This ideology is a way of life. For those that practice this state of deep work, their goals are clear, and their objective is to work to achieve their goals. It is an introverted state where social obligations and other non-critical aspects of life are given less importance so that a person may be able to fully invest and dedicate themselves into there work. “is the most dedicated form of deep work and involves spending all of your working hours on a singular high-level focus. While this philosophy has the highest potential for reward and the lowest level of context-switching, it’s unrealistic for most people who are required to perform various kinds of work in their role”. (doist.com)
The Bimodal Philosophy
Making the best use of your time in both deep work and everything else in life means more time for yourself. The bimodal method allows you to split your time by days most of the time, so that you have a day or more set aside every week where you focus on deep work while using the other days for everything else. This can also be done by setting aside a certain amount of time during the day for deep work a few times a week. “the bimodal philosophy of deep work. This philosophy asks that you divide your time, dedicating some clearly defined stretches to deep pursuits and leaving the rest open to everything else. During the deep time, the bimodal worker will act monastically—seeking intense and uninterrupted concentration. During the shallow time, such focus is not prioritized.” (Cal Newport)
The Rhythmic Philosophy
This method incorporates deep work into your daily life instead of being a life consuming philosophy such the Monastic philosophy, and while being ideal for some people, the rhythmic method may be ideal for others. This includes scheduling time out during your day for deep work daily and maintaining this as part of your daily schedule. “The goal is to generate a rhythm that removes the need to decide when you’re going to go deep. It may be a commitment to enter the deep zone for the first two hours of each day, for example. The routine makes sure that a little bit gets done every day, even though it fails to achieve the same intensity of deep work that the previous two approaches do. This is often the most realistic method for those in standard office jobs”. (David Murray)
The Journalistic Philosophy
A more advanced method for people who have the discipline necessary to switch in and out of a deep work mental state, this is the “crunch” method. Those that use the journalistic method are able to quickly adapt and schedule out anywhere from a half hour to a couple hours in a day for deep work. “In this approach, you fit deep work in when you have availability in your schedule. One example would be when a meeting gets canceled — you could now slot that time for your deep work”. (John Hall)
While you discover how to deep work, you will eventually realize which of these philosophies work best for you. While some may use a mix of these ideas or others fall into one of these categories directly, the main point is to find the way to deep work that works best for you and always remember that there is more than one way to achieve a deep work state.
Resources
“Deep Work: The Complete Guide (Including a Step-by-Step Checklist).” Ambition & Balance, 19 May 2020, doist.com/blog/deep-work/.
Newport, Cal. “A Quote from Deep Work.” Goodreads, Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/quotes/8081591-the-bimodal-philosophy-of-deep-work-this-philosophy-asks-that.
Murray, David. “Four Kinds of Deep Work.” HeadHeartHand Blog, headhearthand.org/blog/2017/03/02/four-kinds-of-deep-work/.
Hall, John. “Deep Work: 9 Grounding Rules to Stay Focused.” Lifehack, Lifehack, 15 Apr. 2020, http://www.lifehack.org/849518/deep-work-rules.
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