All Things in Their Own Time…

Deep Work vs Shallow Work: A Time Management Method

Tri State 2016: “4-H Grows Here” ConferenceApril 21-22, 2016, Spokane WA

Sheila L. GrayWSU Lewis County, Chehalis “WA

Life & Career: It’s a Balancing Act

Today’s presentation

• Learn how to recognize the difference between “deep work” and “shallow work.”

• Learn effective methods and tools to organize time in a manner to achieve individual programming and publishing goals.

What is “Deep Work”?

• Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capacities to their limit.

• These efforts create new value, improve your skill and are hard to replicate.

The “Deep Work” Hypothesis

• The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasing valuable in our economy.

• Why is this happening?

• We are getting bogged down by shallow work or distracted (squirrel) too easily by other tasks.

Deep Work Helps You Quickly Learn Hard Things -Sertillanges

• “Let your mind become a lens, let your soul be all intent to absorb wholly…”

Who is Sertillanges?

• Antonin-Gilbert Sertillanges, 1863 –1948, was a French Catholic philosopher and spiritual writer

• Wrote Intellectual Life, a practical guide for how to structure one's life so as to make progress as a scholar.

Learning through Active Listening

• Listen and respond with full attention to what is being said by the speaker.

• Concentrate on what the speaker is saying, rather than on what you want to say.

Make Sure What You Heard is What was Said

• Provide verbal and nonverbal feedback to the speaker.

• Summarize to ensure that what you heard is what was said.

The Formula

(Time Spent) x (Intensity of Focus) =

High-Quality Work Produced

Deep Work is Rare

• Our work day lives are so full of meetings, projects, trainings, publishing and grant writing expectations that when asked, “How’s it going?”

• The common response is:

BUSY!

So, what is considered shallow work?

• Noncognitively (thoughtless, easy-peasy) demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.

• In short, those tasks that eat up time in your day and do not provide any or very little evidence of accomplishment relative to a goal.

Just What is “Busy”?

• Being “busy” as proxy for productivity.

• Doing lots of “stuff” in a visible manner.

• For some, their jobs really do depend on being busy.

• However, we know that being busy isn’t always productive.

A Typical Day in Extension

• “Going from one meeting to the next, starting to work on one project and soon after having to transition to another is just part of life in organizations.”

• Sound familiar?

• How can I possible do more?

Steps to Work Deeply

• Organize your day, week or month

• Fight desires to do “other stuff” during designated deep work time blocks

• Take a brain break!

Scheduling for Deep Work

• The bimodal method is to divide your time, dedicating clearly defined time blocks to work solely on deep projects then opening up the rest of the day for everything else.

• Hold on, we will get there.

Does Your Desk Look Like This?

Wait! Don’t all extension educators desks look like this?

Well, probably not everyone's and besides, this is not what we mean be “deep work.”

The Journalist Approach aka Extension

• Fitting in deep work whenever possible in your schedule, often lead by deadlines and due dates.

• Hmmm, sound familiar?

• Does it work? Sometimes.

• Is it stressful? A lot of the time.

Ritualize

• Create an environment that is free of distractions to allow focus on the deep work at hand,

• This may mean clearing your desk, working somewhere other than your desk,

• Pre-determine how long you will work in deep mode.

Personal & Personnel Support

• Get that cup of tea, set a timer on your phone…

• This too needs to be within a ritualized habit of preparing for deep work.

• Communicate to your staff/colleagues that you are going into deep work mode.

• Set yourself up for success!

We ALL need Down Time

• Down time helps recharge the energy needed to work deeply.

• This could be a meal break, a walk around the block, personal reading time, handwork; something unrelated to deep work yet not shallow work either.

• Take breaks from focus time.

How to Set Aside Time Blocks

Deep Work Scheduling Methods

• The monastic method attempts to maximize deep efforts by eliminating or minimizing shallow obligations.

• In other words, block out the time!

The “Cult” of the Internet

• Internet-centrism has crept into our daily lives.

• It’s convenient!

• Is this a good thing?

Quit Social Media

You want me to what?! Okay, maybe not quit, but get it under control.

Resist the temptation!

Unplug.

Not forever, just to give your brain a time out.

It doesn’t even fit into shallow work.

Your Work How Many Hours?

• Very few people work even 8 hours a day, let alone more. We are at work often more than 8 hours.

• Actually, we are lucky to get a few good hours of deep work in between the many meetings, interruptions, web source surfing, office politics and personal business that is included in a typical day.

One Size Fits All?

• With great relief, our country is finally beginning to understand the value of employee well-being as a critical factor in workplace productivity and innovation.

• Another aspect is the effect of plant’s in the workplace.

Contributing Factors to Success

• Perhaps the most important factor in one’s well-being is good sleep. Each of us has a natural circadian rhythm which dictates our needed sleep pattern.

• Employees should set their work schedules based on these patterns (if this is an option).

• For some, working from 6:30a to 2:30p is best, while for others 10a to 6p is a better fit.

To Master the Art of Deep Work

• Take back control of your work life!

• Stay on target.

• Retrain your brain from distractions that gobble up time from your day.

• Remember retraining takes practice and determination.

Manage Your Time Blocks

“But I have so much to do!”

By using tools to designate dedicated time for deep work then you are in control of your time and the things that need to be accomplished.

Let’s take a look at some examples…

Spending Your Time Wisely

• Just as when we have limited amounts of money to spend, limiting our time forces us to use it more wisely.

• Now that we understand the differences between deep work and shallow work.

• Our next step is to use a tool(s) to help you stay on track.

Where to Begin

• Some of us have the traditional hard copy planners (Franklin, DayPlanner, etc).

• Others of us are using smart phones to schedule daily events

• Many of us may need a worksheet to get started.

Sample Daily Schedule: “Regular”

• 9:00a My County ‘Tis of Thee• 10:00a Leaders are Writers (This is the Deep Work time slot)• 11:00a Happy Hour• 11:30a E-triage• NOON Socio-lunchy (varies from person to person, we know that…)• 1:00p Administrivia (stuff like travel paperwork, etc.)• 1:20p At Your Service• 1:50p Air Break (Go outside, breathe different air!)• 2:10p Leaders are Readers• 3:00p Home Away from Home• 3:30p E-wrap (End of the day email round-up)• 4:00p Livin’ the Dream• 5:00p Go home happy!

Sample Daily Schedule: “Special”

• 9:30a Pick-up event supplies• 10:00a Local event• 12:00p Lunch w/key leaders of the event• 1:30p Return to the office• 1:35p Prepare for volunteer interviews• 2:00p Volunteer interview I• 2:45p Volunteer interview II• 3:30p Volunteer interview III• 4:15p Home for supper break• 6:30p Evening meeting I• 8:00p Evening meeting II• 10:00p Home

• How many of you recognize this schedule?

The Benefits of Deep Work

• The completion of a project (a draft submitted to Fasttrack, presentation for a conference, completing a grant application).

• A record of how long a project took in deep hours

• Planning for the next deep project knowing about how long it will take to complete.

Deep Work vs Shallow Work Summary

• Recognize the difference between Deep Work and Shallow Work.

• Schedule Deep Work using the method that best fits your work environment.

• Stick to It! Use the tools that bring you success.

• Celebrate Success through completion of projects.

Thank You for Your Interest.

Questions?

Resources

• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Cal Newport, Grand Central Publishing, New York, 2016. ISBN978-1-4555-8669-1

Tanner, T. (2015). Organizing chaos: My county ‘tis of thee. [Program of Studies]. Available from the Ohio State University Extension website: http://go.osu.edu/orgchaos