Gents Journey
Gents Journey
Unlocking the Superpower of Deep Work: Master Your Focus and Productivity
Unlock the hidden potential of your mind with deep work mastery! Imagine a world where distractions fade away, and you tap into your most productive self. Join us on the Gentleman's Journey podcast as we unravel the secrets of deep work, a powerful skill championed by Cal Newport, that promises to transform how you achieve mastery and innovation. We contrast the chaos of constant interruptions with the liberating experience of being completely absorbed in a task, where time becomes irrelevant and your mind sharpens to a fine point. Deep work is not just a productivity hack; it is a superpower in today’s distraction-filled world, enhancing creativity, problem-solving, and career leverage.
Embark on a journey to build deep work habits that can drastically shift your focus and productivity. Discover how establishing consistent rituals and dedicated spaces for uninterrupted work can strengthen your concentration muscle. Remove the noise of phone notifications and emails, and leverage tools like website blockers to maintain your mental clarity. Through personal anecdotes, including a transformative experience with a Pomodoro timer, we highlight the importance of achieving a flow state. This magical intersection of challenge and skill compresses time, boosts productivity, and makes you fully present in the moment. Ready to harness this superpower? Let's transform your productivity together.
"True mastery is found in the details. The way you handle the little things defines the way you handle everything."
Hello and welcome to the Gentleman's Journey podcast. My name is Anthony, your host, and today we're going to talk about developing this one skill that once you're able to develop this skill, it's really going to unlock probably your most productive self. Now, what is this that I'm talking about today? I'm talking about deep work and finding focus and flow. So let's go ahead and let's talk about it Now.
Speaker 1:You know, we live in this age of distraction, right? Because every time you check your phone, you scroll through social media or you get interrupted by a notification, you're losing focus. Right? We live in an attention economy, they say. Focus, right, we live in an attention economy, they say. And the thing about it is, because we live in an attention economy, distractions are everywhere, and when you're always distracted, you get robbed of your ability to think deeply, to create meaningfully and to perform at your best. Because I'm going to tell you, we've all been there, right? I'll give you a scenario.
Speaker 1:You sit down to work, but within minutes, as soon as you're sitting down, you start pulling up your emails. You start getting text messages, random thoughts about maybe that last night, or we got to do this weekend, or maybe a meeting you got to go into today and, before you know it, an hour and a half, two hours have passed and you've barely made any progress. That sounds familiar. Right Now. What I want you to do is I want you to imagine the opposite happening. You sit down, fully immersed in your task, time starts to slow down, your mind starts to sharpen and you're completely engaged. Hours pass, but it feels like minutes. That's called deep work, but it feels like minutes. That's called deep work, and it's where your best ideas and most productive work and really your greatest breakthroughs happen. So what we're going to do is we're going to talk about the science behind deep work. We're going to talk about how to build your focus and how to really tap into that flow state that makes really productivity effortless. And here's the thing I'm going to tell you again once you know how to do this, you'll be so far of everybody else in this economy. Right now it's not even funny.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about this. What is deep work? Let me get a drink here so we can start going. So deep work was coined by the author Cal Newport, and deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task, a mentally challenging task. Right, and I'm telling you, do yourself a favor. If you're not a big reader, I'm telling you, read deep work. It'll change your life. I'm just telling you that right now and there might be a book review coming on this too and the thing about it is deep work. It really shallows, or it really I should say contracts.
Speaker 1:Shallow work, because shallow work is like low value tasks, like emails, meetings and social media scrolling that you're not being present in, because deep work is where mastery, innovation and high achievement happen. So I'm going to tell you this right now If you want to be extraordinary, you need to train yourself to do deep work, because it's just so powerful. So, as we're talking about this now, right, you're saying to yourself well, why does deep work matter? Like, why does this matter? Because here's the thing when you can do deep work, the first thing it does is boost your productivity. You will get more done in less time. That makes your productivity, but also makes you efficient. Right, and we all know, if you can be more productive and more efficient, you're going to live a better life. It's just how it works, right. The next thing it does it increases your creativity.
Speaker 1:The best ideas you have come from uninterrupted thought. I'm going to ask you this right now. We'll test this theory right, this second, especially on where your best ideas come from. They come from one of three places, right, if you're sitting on the toilet and you don't have your phone, you start to think about something like, oh, that's a great idea. It comes from. When you're in the shower, right, you're like, oh, that's right, okay, and you start thinking about something. Or when you're driving and you kind of just aimlessly wander off and then all of a sudden, you start focusing on an idea. Bam there it goes right. Focusing an idea bam there it goes, right. It happens when, again, when you're creative, right, when you can just be uninterrupted. You know something.
Speaker 1:I do a lot and it sounds crazy to people. I kind of drive in silence a lot of the times and I just be immersed in what I'm doing, just driving and I'm telling you some of the best ideas, like for what I do here, you know, like thoughts about the podcast or things I want to talk about, all of a sudden just magically appear. It's crazy. Now, here's the next thing it does, too. It creates career leverage, because I'm going to tell you something right now If you can master deep work, you'll have an unfair advantage over everybody else, because everybody else is distracted.
Speaker 1:The people that are leaders and the people that will get ahead in the game are the ones that do deep work. And here's probably the second biggest thing it does is it strengthens your problem solving skills and retention. Right, because, again, we're solving problems all day long, big and small. And if you have, if you can be more efficient and more productive in doing that, it does everything else for you. Everything else kind of falls into place once you can do that. Because here's the thing you have to understand as we're talking about this that in a world where everything is about distraction, about your attention, your ability to focus in a deep way is a superpower. After this conversation or after this podcast, you're going to ask yourself this question do I want to do this or not, or develop it? Because I'm telling you, once you do, it's a massive game changer. Now, again, we're talking about this.
Speaker 1:You know what are some of the enemies of deep work. Digital distractions is S numero uno, it's number one. Social media, emails, notifications they literally steal your focus and, again, because we're in an attention economy, they always want your attention If you're able to focus deeply and look with inside yourself as you're doing a task or you're doing a project, and you don't need emails, you don't need these distractions. Your mind, as crazy as this is going to sound, actually becomes quieter because you're able to retain focus. It's crazy, and I'm going to tell you something, too, about that.
Speaker 1:A lot of people think like, oh, I got to be like the best multitasker in the world, right? If you say you're a great multitasker, you're not. The brain is not. Our brains are not developed to do multitasking. We're not computers. Computers can do great at multitasking because they're computers. We are humans. We're not a computer, right? So nobody is really great at multitasking because they're computers. We are humans, we're not a computer, right? So nobody is really great at multitasking because if you're trying to juggle stuff, it's going to make you less efficient, and in doing this, we want to be efficient and we want to be productive. That's what deep work is about.
Speaker 1:And once you really start to do deep work, I can just tell you, just for me personally, what I have noticed your anxiety and stress they kind of go away Because you're able to tap into your flow state, you're able to focus on something and not get distracted, because if you notice like a lot of anxiety and stress, it's just because you're having multiple things hit you at once. Once you're able to have problem-solving skills and able to think deeply and creatively, problems don't exist anymore, because you have ways to overcome your stress and your anxiety. Right, because I'm going to tell you, your ability to focus is always under attack, right? And if you're feeling stressed out and you're feeling anxious, and you're feeling anxious and you're not feeling productive, ask yourself this question what am I doing right now that I am paying attention to, and what am I really doing right now as I'm staying present? Because what this all is telling you, what you'll notice as we keep going through this, the overarching theme I guess you could say, is being present in what it is that you're doing. So just keep that in the back of your mind.
Speaker 1:Now, as we're talking about being present, I'm going to show you some steps now on how to build deep work habits as I take another drink here. Now, on how to build deep work habits as I take another drink here, the first thing you have to do, you have to create a deep work ritual, right? Set a specific time and place for deep work daily. Don't let it just like, oh, I'm going to do it, maybe this day, and then next week I'll do it over no Set specific times. What does this remind you of? Consistency? Right, consistency is the key. This is no different. Being consistent and this is something that I do I block off 90-minute sessions once a week If I have a task or project I'm doing. That's all I focus on. I turn off my notifications, I don't look at my email, I put on some music and I just go for it. I literally just go for it Because, like I'm telling you, once you can start to eliminate your distractions.
Speaker 1:And this is step two, you know, turning off your notification using website blockers website blockers, I should say and setting clear boundaries. I'm telling you it's going to be massively beneficial, and this is the thing too and I know this is going to be hard, but you have to do this Put your phone on silent. Nothing should matter more than what you're doing. This deep work is to help you, specifically, be better, right, so nothing else should matter at that time. Now, obviously, if an emergency comes up, that's one thing, but a majority of the time it's not. And if it is if your phone is on silent and they call you three times in a row, it'll actually ring your phone. So just know that, okay.
Speaker 1:Now the next thing you have to remember like training your brain for focus. It's like a muscle the more you do it, the stronger it becomes, right. So, something that I would recommend doing you don't have to do 90 minutes, like I do, but just start with 20, 30-minute intervals in the beginning, right, you just take one day a week and you're just going to focus for 30 minutes, 20 minutes, right, just to see how it feels. And what will start to happen, I'm going to tell you, is, in five to 10 minutes of you starting to do it, you'll start to get in this flow state. You'll start to just really like, oh, okay, and then you're going to want longer sessions, I'm telling you, and what will blow your mind is that in that 15, 20, 30 minutes, you might've got two or three hours worked on in that compressed amount of time, because you're fully present, you're fully engaged in what you're doing. And if you're fully present and fully engaged in what you're doing, things happen like this Okay, now, this is something that I do as well too, just to kind of add to that.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you've ever heard of this. It's called a Prodomo timer or the tomato timer, I think that's what it is in Italian. Anyways, it's a 20 minute timer. You can put this on your phone. You know, I have like a thing I bought on Amazon where it's like a timer and it clicks every five, you know, every 20 minutes. I could do like five rotations of it and then I take like a 15 minute break, but I'm going to tell you, like, doing that and and seeing how good you can get within 20 minutes every time, I'm telling you it's kind of addictive, to be honest, because when you do this and we're talking a little bit about this before but you enter into a flow state Now. But you enter into a flow state Now.
Speaker 1:Everybody in some time or other has entered into a flow state, right? You remember when you were a kid and you could just play for hours. You didn't want to come in, you just wanted to go outside and play. You're in your flow state that whole time. Kids get into a flow state very quickly, right? Or let's say, for example, I don't know, you play games online and all of a sudden, three or four hours have passed as you're playing this one game and you were fully immersed and it literally felt like five or ten minutes right.
Speaker 1:Or let's say you've read a really, really good book and all of a sudden you read it from page to page and, all of a sudden, three hours just just passed and you're like, wow, I can't believe that happened. Or let's say, for example, you love to paint or you love to draw and all of a sudden, you're doing a really intricate design, drawing or painting something right. Or let's say it's driving and you'd love to drive. Then, all of a sudden, you know three hours go by and you didn't even know. That's called being in a flow state. It's the most amazing thing you can. It's probably one of the best things or best treats you can give yourself is entering into a flow state right Now.
Speaker 1:So, saying all that, what it really breaks down to is this is that flow happens when challenge meets skill. Okay, so you're going to want to find tasks that push you. Okay, now, something that I do and this is just me personally. What I do is I do like a five 10 minute warmup before I just start doing deep work, so maybe I'll start brainstorming, or I'm a big visualization person, so I'll visualize myself doing stuff, right, and then I just start doing it. And then, because I've already meditated for that five or 10 minutes, and then when I open my eyes and I start it, I've already built momentum, because that's really what flow state is. It's just momentum that you're building, and now your momentum is carrying you through and it's just an amazing feeling.
Speaker 1:Now, the next thing that you have to do to really be in a deep works flow or space, you have to protect your mind space. What I mean by that is you have to limit shallow work, you know. Limit all the stupid emails, right. Try your best, if you can, to get out of meetings that just could have been an email, you know. And do your best to try to increase deep work sessions, because I'm going to tell you, once you start doing this, especially your deep work sessions, you're not going to want to stop. I'm telling you, you're going to find out so much about yourself that you never even knew you could do or be. I'm telling you right now this if you take anything out of any podcast that I do, let this be the one. Okay, let this be the one, because I'm going to tell you if you can set up a distraction-free zone for yourself. To tell you, if you can set up a distraction-free zone for yourself, your creativity and the high-value tasks that you do will be so rewarding for you. I'm telling you, it just will. I promise that Because what a lot of people get confused about deep work as we're talking about this.
Speaker 1:They think it's hard work. Deep work isn't working harder. It's really about working smarter and more efficiently. Right, because there's a saying that if you can build your focus, you can build a bright future. Okay, you can build a bright future, okay.
Speaker 1:So what we're going to do next is I'm going to challenge you. I'm going to give you the deep work blueprint. Okay, I want you to choose a deep work slot. I want you to choose a time you're going to do it and then, once you choose the time, what are you going to be most focused on? What work are you going to be doing?
Speaker 1:Right, Create a distraction-free environment. What are things you're going to eliminate that will eliminate your distraction? Right? Okay. Next, will eliminate your distraction, right. Next, commit to 30 minutes of deep work per day. Just 30 minutes, right? Build the habit and increase it over time. I'm telling you you're going to want to. I promise the next thing is is track your progress. I promise the next thing is is track your progress Each day. Write down what you've accomplished in deep work mode.
Speaker 1:Right and number five identify your biggest focus killer, what distracts you the most and how are you going to remove it? Because I'm going to tell you you do all this right. The more you train your focus, the stronger it becomes and, honestly, the stronger your focus becomes, the more unstoppable you will become, I promise so. You learning this, you learning deep work, is going to give you a competitive advantage in this world of distraction. Right, right now, at this moment, you have the power to train your mind for clarity, for creativity and for impact, right? But the question you have to ask yourself and the question I ask you is are you going to take advantage of it? Right, you got to decide today to build your focus, to master deep work. Today, to build your focus to master deep work Because, in all honesty, your success depends on it. It just does. You do this, you do this right here. Your money problems go away, a lot of things in your life will go away, and you have all the capability to do it. You just have to decide. That's it. So, guys, thank you so, so, so very much for listening today.
Speaker 1:If you have a question on this or anything that we talk about, please, please, please, never hesitate to reach out to me. There's three ways. The first way is going to be texting me. If you look on this, it'll say text me. Go ahead and click on that little link. You'll be able to text me. We're going to have a conversation more about this back and forth, okay. Second way is going to be my email. My email is anthonyatgentsjourneycom. My email, my email, is anthonyatgentsjourneycom. Please, please, please, never hesitate to reach out to me. And, last but not least, you can go on my Instagram. My Instagram is mygentsjourney. Please feel free to drop me a DM there and we can continue this conversation. So again, guys, thank you so, so, so very much for listening today. And remember this you create your reality. Take care you.