I love listening to music when I get ready for work or while I am in the kitchen. However, I can’t focus on writing or reading if the music is on.
I usually open a lot of tabs to read but I don’t read. Only when I block (mentally) time to read those open tabs is when I read. Rest of the times, it is that feeling that I will get there. Some time during the day or week. Never happens.
When I read this article in the New York Times and heard about Cal Newport’s book, Deep Work, I got thinking that all this while I have been productive in my mind. Not in reality.
According to Cal Newport, “Deep work is my term for the activity of focusing without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It describes, in other words, when you’re really locked into doing something hard with your mind. “
So switch off the distractions, turn off those notifications on your phone and focus on the task in hand. The more you jump from this article to that or one job to the other, you wouldn’t have done either well. Value the time you spend on a task and make it count.
Have you observed that there is power in Deep Work? I feel it. This post’s first draft was done in less that 15 minutes.
Writing for MicroblogMondays #243 and Monday Musings today.
happiness and food 
One of my favourite books and one that I keep recommending to people over and over again. Changed my life, my work and my business completely 🙂
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I haven’t read the book yet Shailaja but I have got it. I am sure the book will help. Thanks for stopping by.
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I totally agree – I always work so much more productively when it is quiet. 🙂 I find meditation does this for me – it’s like closing all of the tabs even if it’s only for a few minutes.
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Yes, with you there. Makes sense. Thank you for stopping by!
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Yes! I agree with the idea that multitasking is a lie, because you can’t do any one task truly well. The art of focusing is something I struggle with as I get older, and with the dastardly phone as a distraction. I am a many tab person, which apparently slows your machine down, and I should really learn to bookmark things rather than keep them open for a future read. Interesting post, love it!
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I like that you mention bookmarking. I have my views on that but guess that’s also the need of the hour. The many tabs do slow the machine down. Thanks Jess. Glad you stopped by!
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Added this book to my TBR. I feel these days I find it difficult to concentrate, probably because there are too many distractions. I am going on a vacation for a month and plan to stay away from social media, I want to practice mindfulness and “deep work”..thanks for this beautiful post..amazing that you wrote it in 15 minutes.
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I think a vacation with no social media is the best. My first like that was in Andaman and as much I was dreading it, I loved the distraction free holiday. And on the 15mins on that post – this is a short one. Big one would sure take time. Thanks Balaka 😊
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I cannot agree more, Parul. I think this is true for all of us. We are so distracted and almost always spread our attention into too many things that we are unable to focus on anything in particular. Newport’s book is very good. I’m currently reading his other book on Digital Minimalism which is something that you must read as well.
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Give me the name and I’ll get that. Thank you Esha. Our attention span also has been impacted in this age.
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Jose is not a fan of multi-tasking and I can see how his style of working is ‘deep work’. I’ve never really thought of it this way. Thanks for sharing, Parul.
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I used to be a fan of multitasking but now I have observed that I don’t get a lot done. It’s just that feeling that I’m doing a lot. Ideally I’m not
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Focusing on the task at hand is excellent advice. I can’t do it without music, though. For me, silence is the distraction. 🙂
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I do write with music but the difference is it’s instrumental music as opposed to when I’m at the gym or driving to music I can sing out loud to. I find music helps ground me and helps me focus on the task. But yeah, I agree with one thing at a time – I think maybe that’s why I write more when I’m at cafes with headphones on – there’s no internet really to distract me!
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I so agree with the concept of deep work. I remember when I used to go to work I would really find it difficult to focus on work if my colleagues were constantly chattering.
I need a lot of silence and quiet spaces to focus and work. When I write in the mornings both for my blog and my company, I keep my phone away or on silent mode. Else it can be a great distraction. If I happen to see a call I don’t take it as I avoid such interruptions.
I’m fairly good with soft, soothing, melodious music playing in the background when I work though.
Sometimes it helps to unwind and get tackling the job at hand, in my case writing!
I play a lot of music when I declutter my closets. It’s therapeutic and fun.
Thanks for this lovely post Parul.
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I love to hear music which is Hindi movie songs from the 50s and 60s while I do housework and it is because I find housework boring. Music keeps me going. But while I write, I need complete silence and absence of any human from my surroundings. I am not good at multi-tasking but that doesn’t mean I am good at deep work. The mind keeps wandering back and forth, right and left. If only there can be a switch to handle this wandering.
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