How to stop all work by 5:30 pm everyday
yes, this is possible
Recently, I finished reading "Deep Work" by Cal Newport, and I just had to share some of the key takeaways with you all.
The book talks about how deep work, which is a state of peak concentration, can help you learn difficult things and produce high-quality work quickly. Unfortunately, many people spend most of their time in shallow work, such as checking emails and running after small tasks, instead of deep work.
According to the author, we should aim to reduce our shallow work to less than 30% of our total workload. Instead of trying to schedule full focus work while avoiding disturbances, we can try scheduling specific time slots for disturbances. For example, you can allow yourself to check your phone twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, instead of allocating specific slots for focused work.
The book also highlights the idea that social media is not as necessary as we think it is. As a writer, you don't need to tweet every day; instead, you can hyper-focus on your work and produce quality content.
The "any benefit" notion is another important idea that the author emphasizes. Many people commit to different activities thinking that they will benefit them in some way. However, the total sum of these actions can sometimes lead to negative results. Thus, it's important to clearly look at the positives and negatives before committing to something and only proceed if the total sum is positive.
Lastly, if you want to force yourself to do deep work, it's essential to give yourself strict time limits during your work hours. The author suggests that most people can finish their work before 5:30 pm, given that they are knowledge workers. This forces you to focus on deep work without allowing distractions to get in the way.
I hope you found these pointers as interesting and useful as I did. Let me know your thoughts on the book or if you have any other suggestions for great reads.
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