No cubicle can match the comfy vibes of getting work done at home. But is your home office your temple? Is it free from distractions and pesky diversions? If not, itโ€™s time to brush up on your routine and embrace the power of deep work. โšก๏ธ

In todayโ€™s article, we take a look at Cal Newportโ€™s deep work philosophy. We also adopt some of its principles to capitalize on focus in a remote workplace.

Here are a handful of questions we answer in this guide:

๐Ÿ’ก The ability to work without distractions is something weโ€™re very passionate about at Taskade. Be sure to read other similar articles we published in the past.

  1. ๐Ÿคฏ Distraction-Free Writing Starts With Taskade
  2. ๐ŸŒฑ Seeking Balance and Tranquility: Beat Distractions at Home
  3. โš”๏ธ Sharpen the Mind: How to Focus While Working From Home

๐Ÿง˜โ€โ™‚ Unearthing The Definition of Deep Work

According to Cal Newport, the author of Deep Work, the ability to tune out distractions and fully focus on work is one of the most valuable but neglected skills.

Newport argues that we should all learn how to engage in deep, focused work he calls โ€œa super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy.โ€

Cal Newport, Deep Work(1)

But thereโ€™s a problem.

Maintaining focus is extremely difficult. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline and self-control to resist glancing at your phone or browsing the web at work.

A diagram with examples of shallow and deep work.

A diagram with examples of shallow and deep work

On top of that, itโ€™s much more satisfying to engage in what he calls โ€œbusyness as a proxyโ€โ€”checking email, chatting with colleagues, attending meetingsโ€”that creates a feeling of superficial productivity. He brands these activities as shallow work. ๐Ÿ‘‡

Cal Newport, Deep Work(1)

Of course, the modern work environment doesnโ€™t help. Weโ€™re surrounded by beeps, tweets, and pings that constantly break our flow.

Things got even more complicated when we embarked on a year-long remote work experiment. The overnight switch took many by surprise. It also made the definition of true productivity harder to pin down.

And this is where deep work comes into play.

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โšก๏ธ Essential Benefits of Deep Work

Cal Newport, Deep Work(1)

While deep work offers numerous benefits for individual practitioners its effects compound when adopted in a fully distributed team.

Increased Learning Potential

Knowledge sharing is key in a remote workplace. It improves team autonomy, promotes innovation, and removes decision-making bottlenecks.

But thereโ€™s a catch. The quality of aggregated team knowledge depends on the input from individual team members.

Uninterrupted focus boosts your teamโ€™s potential for processing data and connecting the dots. It helps assimilate information and significantly improves the output in aggregate.

Sustainable Communication Habits

Many remote teams struggle with communication intensity. With no clear expectations for the frequency and method of communication, team interactions are left to chance.

All that stacks up to a highly distracting work environment.

Making deep, focused work part of team culture can positively impact remote communication habits. That means shorter and more productive meetings, fewer unsolicited emails, and better adherence to local business hours.

Prioritizing deep work sends a clear signal across the team.

Better Remote Work Habits

Deep work goes far beyond merely working on something in utmost focus for a set amount of time. It leverages recurring, habitual practices.

Building a deep work routine involves adjusting the environment, expectations, tools, techniques, and methods to create a complete, distraction-free ecosystem.

If your team struggles with figuring out an optimal wfh workflow, you can use the principles of deep work as a foundation for good remote habits.

Want to learn more about the power of small, incremental changes? Be sure to read our article Building Effective Remote Teams With Atomic Habits.

๐Ÿง˜โ€โ™‚๏ธ 3 Steps to Deep Work in Distributed Teams

Cal Newport, Deep Work(1)

Your remote teamโ€™s deep work strategy will be made up of three componentsโ€”coworking sessions, workflow tweaks, and pivot from shallow to meaningful tasks.

1. โ€œMakeโ€ Time for Deep Work

Before your team can engage in deep work, you need to discuss a few details. Throw a short video conference (20-30 minutes) and ask the following questions:

  • ๐Ÿก โ€œWhere you will work and for how long?โ€ Given the pandemic situation, your team members will probably work from their home offices. You should discuss how often youโ€™ll run deep work coworking sessions, how long they should last, and what communication channels youโ€™ll use. Video conferencing is recommended. 
  • ๐Ÿงฐ โ€œHow you will work once you start to work?โ€ Decide on the rules of engagement. Will you tackle a bigger project together or work on individual tasks? What communication/collaboration platform will your team use? 
  • โ˜•๏ธ โ€œHow you will support your work?โ€ What activities prime your focus? Is it lo-fi music or taking a walk in the park to clear your mind? You can start with 15-minute virtual coffee to get everybody in a productive mood.

Of course, the timing will vary depending on whether you want to engage in deep work yourself or with your team. Newport suggests four types of scheduling. ๐Ÿ‘‡

  1. ๐Ÿง˜โ€โ™€๏ธ Monastic scheduling. It involves full dedication to focused activities and essentially building your schedule around them. Very little to no shallow work is allowed so it may be unrealistic in a team setting.
  2. ๐Ÿ—“ Bimodal Scheduling. This approach requires long-term planning and high dedication. You schedule deep work stretches lasting days, weeks, or months. It works best for individuals who can adjust their schedules accordingly. 
  3. โฑ Rhythmic Scheduling (recommended). Run deep work sessions according to your and your teamโ€™s daily schedule. For instance, you can start a workday with 2 hours of deep work or schedule a 1-hour biweekly session.
  4. โฐ Journalistic Scheduling. The journalistic approach is more of an opportunistic one. Instead of planning deep work sessions, be flexible and plug them whenever and wherever possible.

Taskade Deep Work Tricks ๐Ÿ‘

Use the Taskade calendar to map out deep work sessions so your team can prepare in advance. Be sure to include duration and notify attendees with @mention.

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2. Optimize the Workflow

Cal Newport, Deep Work(1)

Distractions and multitasking are the most common deep work offenders. The good news is you can address both with incremental workflow tweaks.

  • ๐Ÿงฐ Rock a minimalist toolbox. Excess of scheduling, project management, and productivity tools is overwhelming. Choose digital tools that A) offer a distraction-free environment, B) support focus, e.g. with customizable notification settings, and C) discourage multitasking by unifying functionality.
  • ๐Ÿ‘‰ Schedule โ€œofflineโ€ pastimes. Our brains get used to seeking constant distractions. Rewire your brain by scheduling some time away from common diversionsโ€”internet, smartphone use, video games, streaming servicesโ€”and towards stimulating pastimes like reading or learning a foreign language. 
  • ๐Ÿ”€ Expand and experiment. Apply deep work to every activity that requires prolonged concentration. Use it in research, planning, writing, analyzing data, and programming. Get creative and look for areas where rewiring your workflow to deep work could be beneficial.
  • ๐Ÿคนโ€โ™€๏ธ Curb multitasking. Multitasking creates a feeling of false productivity and accomplishment. To tap into true productivity, you should stop multitasking completely. That could mean signing out from team chat, turning off phone notifications, or blocking social media pages at work. 

You should encourage your team to apply those changes gradually. Field-test each of the tweaks and see how they change your teamโ€™s productivity in the long run.

Taskade Deep Work Tricks ๐Ÿ‘

Looking for a handy AI-powered tool to get stuff done? Taskade has got you covered.

Taskade is your go-to AI tool for combating distractions and immersing yourself in deep work. It’s the digital workspace where you can brainstorm, plan, and execute tasks without interruptions โ€” your ultimate productivity partner.

  • ๐Ÿช„ Custom AI Agents: Imagine a team AI assistants automating all your repetitive tasks so you can focus on the work that really matters. With Custom AI Agents, you can create and personalize your very own AI helpers. Train them with files, give them unique personalities, and assign skills to lighten your workload.
  • โœ๏ธ Workflow Generator: Say goodbye to planning from scratch every time you start a project. The Workflow Generator crafts project outlines and task lists based on natural-language prompts. Whether it’s a major project or smaller tasks, let the Generator handle the planning, so you can focus on deep work.
  • ๐Ÿ’ฌ AI Assistant: The AI Assistant is your sidekick within Taskade’s project editor. All you need to do is use the built-in AI commands inside projects to supercharge brainstorming, organize tasks, and enhance your writing. It can tackle tasks one by one or in groups, and it’s adaptable for fine-tuning the output as you go.
  • ๐Ÿ“ฃ AI Chat: No more hunting for answers. Turn to AI Chat for topic-related questions and guidance. Taskade’s AI chat will help you grasp complex concepts, connect ideas, and provides context-based assistance based on your project or uploaded documents โ€” making deep work easier than ever.

3. Reduce the Amount of Shallow Work

The final step is to become more mindful of the type and depth of the activities your team performs daily. Newport recommends the following regimen:

  • ๐Ÿ—“ Track your tasks. Use a notebook or a digital calendar to schedule your typical workday. Make a 30-minute block your smallest โ€œunitโ€ and time-box each activity by pre-defining the amount of time/number of blocks needed to complete it. For instance, โ€œblog article researchโ€ scheduled from 7 am to 10 am will consist of six 30-minute blocks. Do the same for all activities and color-code each entry. This will give you a better idea of how youโ€™re spending your typical workday. Encourage your team to do the same and repeat the process for one week to gather enough data (see below for extra tips).
  • ๐Ÿ”Ž Quantify the depth. The clear advantage of meticulously scheduling your day is that you can determine how much time youโ€™re actually spending on shallow activities vs. meaningful work. Identify shallow activities, like replying to emails or chatting with your team (without an actual reason), and write them down on one side of the page. List all focused activities on the opposite side. Add up the hours and write down your results.
  • ๐Ÿ—‘ Minimize shallow work. Decide which shallow tasks can be delegated and automated. Consistently reduce the amount of shallow work and batch the remaining tasks together to save time. The fewer shallow tasks remain on your schedule, the more time youโ€™ll have to tackle meaningful work

Taskade Deep Work Tricks ๐Ÿ‘

Not all shallows tasks can be avoided, but you can use 100+ free Taskade templates to automate and simplify the process. Here are a handful of candidates.

Taskade templates gallery.
  1. โšก๏ธ Project Scrum Board (planning)
  2. ๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ’ป Team Agenda (meetings)
  3. ๐Ÿ“… Weekly Team Workflow (team management)
  4. ๐Ÿง  Minimalist Mind map (ideation)
  5. ๐Ÿ•น Marketing Plan (marketing)
  6. โœ… Task List (prioritization)
  7. ๐ŸŽ’ Product Feedback (research)
  8. ๐Ÿ™‡โ€โ™‚๏ธ Programmer’s Productivity (programming)
  9. ๐Ÿ“ˆ SWOT Analysis (process)
  10. ๐Ÿ  Work From Home Checklist (remote work)
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๐Ÿ‘ Conclusion

Substracting from the current workflow will help you and your team regain focus. By rooting out common wfh distractions and embracing the power of deep work, youโ€™ll get more done with less.

Ready to kick distractions to the curb and supercharge your productivity?

Taskade’s AI features are your secret weapon in the battle against interruptions. Try Taskade now and experience the benefits of deep work for yourself.

Taskade AI banner.
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