five things i learned from Deep Work by Cal Newport
that I am implementing in 2024
I am proud of what I didn’t do in the past eight days since the Christmas holiday took off; I un-synced my work email account from my phone, closed out of my Mail app on the laptop, and disconnected from anything work-related for a blissful winter holiday with my family and friends.
Oh yes, many times my fingers itched to swipe into my gmail account, after feeling slightly panicked at the increasing number of unread email, but then almost immediately relieved at the fact that I had turned on the “Vacation Mode.” In the past, I’ve been guilty of responding to one email, only to realize that the emails never really stopped, nor did the text messages that followed soon after. This snowball effect resulted in me being consumed in work related tasks that quickly ended up taking well over an hour and a half of my time to complete, which left me feeling all the more anxious and worried about the workload waiting for me.
But back to my eight day holiday respite: what I learned was that with each passing day, it became easier to be present and enjoy the moment: catching up on reading, savoring a fresh cup of coffee, cleaning out my purse, decluttering my closet, adoring our Christmas tree, spending quality time with family (we welcomed two nephews just this past fall) and dining with friends. My husband and I spent three and half of those days in Vegas, which we always love, but the return home was even better.
When we got back, I was all the more rested to finally share my ins & outs going into 2024, catch up on my reading and downsizing my bag collection.
INS:
investing in quality clothes and shoes
substack
deep work
saying no
journaling daily
boundaries with social media
minimal skincare routine
eating healthy
drinking water
embracing age
creating wealth
maximizing CC benefits
celebrating small wins
putting an item on a wishlist
having a “did not finish” book list
outsourcing
OUTS:
responding to texts and emails immediately
feeling rushed
saying yes out of obligation
screen time right before bed
impulsively buying viral products
snacking before bed
fears about aging
substituting water for coffee
using a debit card
not enough self care
forcing myself to finish a book
burnout
queuing in line when shopping
On “Deep Work”
I’ve been gravitating towards books that talk about work, balance, and team culture. I am so influenced by Janessa Leone’s entrepreneurial journey with her namesake brand. With a clear vision and goal(s) in mind, she started small, used organic growth, leveraged social media to grow her business and kept true to herself. One of the books she recommended was “Deep Work” by Cal Newport. This book covers so many topics on deep work vs. shallow work, and it is impossible to go over the entirety of it in one substack post. The book did leave an impression on me. I admit it took me a lot longer than expected to finish it, mostly because of my own distractions and difficulty with focus, which Cal Newport discusses at length. To keep things concise and easy to digest, here are my five main takeaways1:
Practice meditating
Meditation is something that I am sorely lacking in my own life, which may have contributed to the many anxieties and frustrations I felt this past year. Cal Newport writes that patience is necessary to achieve productive meditation by being wary of distractions and structuring deep thinking. Meditation and prayer are what I am incorporating in my daily life going into the new year, and I think this exercise is a good first step.
Quit social media
This one is a toughie, but so necessary. Social media is a fun way to engage with your audience, be creative and inspire ideas, but it is such a double edged sword. Newport discusses reaching a middle ground by rejecting a state of hyperconnectedness; for the longest time, I didn’t have a middle ground which did not do so well for my mental health. If you’re wondering whether emails fall into the social media category, the answer is yes. I would say the number one cause of distractions for me has been emails, which can contribute to “shallow work” and distractibility. Going into next year, I am planning to take “social media breaks” whenever necessary in scheduled increments of time. It will definitely be a work in progress, and this book (an excellent guide and point of reference) will remain on my bookshelf for a long time during this process.
Schedule every minute of your day
Time is so valuable, and for someone who owns and operates a mobile clinic full time this year, it is something I’ve felt on a physical level. Because I have to factor in driving time on a daily basis for work, I have to be wise and efficient with time management. And I learned the hard way many times over. To give you an idea, I have to preplan for no shows and last minute cancellations (many of these do not have a no-show fee), rescheduled sessions and makeups. I thought I could do five medical procedures within an 8 hour workday2, or schedule eight back to back sessions within one full day3, and though the clinician side of me was proud of achieving such high levels of productivity, it also lead to an imbalance of break and mealtime which resulted in complete exhaustion in the evenings when I came home.
Next year, I will utilize a “chunking” method with a paper and pen system to practice creating and modifying “task blocks.” I will go into this more in future posts.
Finish your work by 5:30 PM
For me personally, this one goes hand in hand with learning how to say “no” without feeling guilty. The people pleaser in me wants to say “yes” to everything, from flexible scheduling to planning specific types of activities for floortime based therapy. But there is a caveat; when you’re scheduled for four, five, six back to back sessions and that very last session begins at 6:00 PM or later, exhaustion can set in, which can affect the quality of the session and test the physical and emotional endurance of the clinician. There are times when families have their little ones in daycare for full days from 8 to 5, which is absolutely fine. But for me, someone who not only works with clients and families full time but also handles payroll, administrative duties and constant flow of information (documentation, emails, scheduling, etc), it can be quite taxing. In order to provide quality therapy (which in itself is productive and meaningful), I truly believe the clinician must be given quality time to rest, recharge, and re-energize.
Newport discusses “fixed schedule productivity,” an idea that you can become more productive if you put limits on your workday. I am actually excited about putting this in practice in the new year because there are times when I simply go, I am tired.
Embrace boredom
While growing up, boredom was something to be avoided. As I grew older, it was something I wished I had more of. Some of my best ideas for content creation and work related activities came to me during quiet moments of “boredom” whether it be during a drive (with no music or podcast playing in the background) or while laying awake in bed at night. And I think I know why.
Newport talks about “the problem of distraction” and how important it is to get away from the noise, or “clatter” to improve attention. The “memory palace” strategy mentioned in the first takeaway contributes to this improvement on sustained focus. After more than three years being active on social media, it became part of my muscle memory to “doom scroll” and swipe through post after post, TikTok video after TikTok video only to realize a full hour has gone by. As much as I enjoy social media, moments of boredom here and there are what I enjoy even more.
If you liked this piece:
Christmas Eve musings and my plans for beauty and fashion in 2024
last November I fulfilled a wish and bought my dream handbag
Going forward, I may very well refer back to this book on my own business journey.
In the end I was able to complete all five procedures, but I was up until past 11 PM to write up the reports.
A typical full day for me is between 4 to 6 sessions.