Deep Work, which has the meaning of "Focus." With a short and catchy subtitle from the back that clearly explains the purpose of this book, it is written: "Learn to concentrate in a world that easily distracts us." Why is concentration or focus so good and extremely important in performing various tasks? According to the explanation of the author of this book, he claimed that the ability to do a task with a steady mind, with a clear and fresh state of mind, in a quiet and undisturbed environment, is when we can use our cognitive abilities to think through all aspects and can use our brain's energy at the maximum level. Some tasks require intense focus, and you need to be in an environment without distractions to accomplish them. As for other tasks, we can do them without needing to focus much, and we can even accomplish them well. Even if you are in an environment that is easily distracted. But unfortunately, the ability to perform tasks with concentration is declining for everyone who is living in this world, which can easily distract us.
Therefore, only by knowing the methods to overcome it can we continue to live, grow, and move towards success. While many skills and jobs are being replaced by machine systems and intelligent robots, many people have been and are losing their jobs and will not be able to find a living to support themselves. Only one group of people, which the author mentions below, can continue to live and overcome the process of change in this era of technology. Who are all those people? What skills do they have? Why can they continue to live and overcome the rapid evolution of these things? I will bring up this group of people and explain them one by one to all of you. The first group of people is the group of highly skilled workers. They have high-level skills in commanding and using complex machine systems, and those highly complex machine systems have been and are replacing the work of workers who have fewer skills or no skills at all in the job market every day. The second group of people is the group of people that we all know as the superstars for their fans, "The Superstars."
This group of people understands very well that having just one skill or a very good expertise is not enough in a market full of competition, unless they have a skill that is better and stronger than the other experts in their field. With a level of expertise that we know is the level of "the best of the best." The third group of people is the group of people who are the owners of a product or service. The owners. This third group of people is the group of people who have a huge amount of capital for investing in new, cutting-edge technologies that can change the way we live. After knowing about these three groups of people, what are your perspectives and opinions? Do you agree or disagree with the author? Below, I will bring up two skills that can help us achieve victory and continue to live in an economy that is mostly controlled by machine systems and intelligent robots. The first skill is the ability to learn and manage difficult and complex tasks very quickly.
The second skill is the ability to create amazing products continuously with a very high level of expertise, both in speed and quality. Now, let's go back and understand the first skill in detail together. It is the ability to learn and manage difficult and complex tasks as quickly as possible. In this era of the technological economy, all systems commanded by machines and intelligent robots that have brought us many revolutions in our daily lives are becoming more and more complex to learn and manage. Those highly intelligent machine systems are used and managed by a code system for commanding the machines, which they call SQL. And this system is becoming more and more complex. Therefore, to be able to keep up with this rapid evolution, you must have the ability to communicate and manage all the operations of those machine systems with efficiency and intelligence. Even though the two skills above are important, there is another skill that we cannot overlook, which is the ability to do any task with concentration. The word "concentration" here means to focus your mind, keep your mind stable and quiet first, then start doing your work by concentrating and focusing all your attention on that task. If you don't have that skill, you will have a lot of difficulty in learning those machine languages, which are full of complexity and you will not get amazing results with a high level of expertise. So why has focusing become so difficult to do these days?
Through many studies, it has been shown that performing tasks with concentration is becoming more difficult to achieve in the present time. However, it has also become something more valuable in our current economic situation. Because anything that fewer people can do, whether it's a skill, knowledge, or rare item, it becomes more valuable. There are not many people who can practice and cultivate this skill, and make it a valuable asset and a crucial part of their work life, and continue to grow and live to respond to the rapid evolution of this world. It's not that people don't like to focus their minds before starting work. Because it takes a lot of time and is not fun. It's very stressful and requires cutting off or reducing contact with colleagues, or even staying in a quiet room alone. Because of this, not many people like to do it. Not only that, tasks that do not require focus to be done are encouraged by many businesses, even large companies like Facebook.
These large companies have encouraged the practice of working in an open-plan environment, being able to talk to each other, in a shared workspace that provides an easy and flexible environment. For example, the company Facebook has a goal of creating the largest shared workspace in the world, with more than 3,000 employees sitting and working together, with office furniture that can be moved and is flexible and well-designed. Therefore, they can communicate with each other very quickly and can respond immediately to any problems that arise. Doing this can promote connection between all employees very quickly and can also respond to any problems that arise in a timely manner and can reduce the sluggishness and slowness in performing tasks very well.
Working in this kind of environment does not require much focus, and it does not require a quiet, undisturbed environment. Coming to this point, if you were to choose, what kind of work environment would you choose? Sitting secluded, focusing on work alone in a private room, or would you choose an environment where you can talk and have fun with others while working? I know that most of you have already chosen one answer. You don't have to tell me, I can guess. Because there is such strong encouragement from large business institutions, the practice of performing tasks with concentration is declining in a world that is easily distracting. If we look closely, we will find that it's not that people don't like to focus their minds before starting a task. Because it takes a lot of time and is not fun, is very stressful, and requires cutting off or reducing contact with colleagues, or even staying in a quiet, secluded room. Because of this, not many people like to do it.
Not only that, tasks that do not require concentration to be done are encouraged by many businesses. Even large companies like Facebook. Those large companies have encouraged working in an open-plan setting, being able to talk to each other, in a shared workspace that provides an easy and flexible environment with good facilities. For example, the company Facebook has a goal of creating the largest shared workspace in the world, with over 3,000 employees sitting and working together with office furniture that can be moved and is flexible. Therefore, they can communicate with each other very quickly and can respond to any problems that arise in a timely manner and can reduce the procrastination and sluggishness in performing tasks very well. Work in this kind of environment doesn't require a lot of focus and doesn't require a quiet, undisturbed environment. At this point, if you were to choose, what kind of work environment would you choose? Sitting secluded, focusing on work alone in a private room, or would you choose an environment with colleagues, chatting and playing, and working? I know that most of you have already chosen an answer.
You don't have to tell me, I can guess it. Because of this kind of encouragement from large business institutions, the practice of performing tasks with concentration is declining in a world that is easily distracting. If we look closely, we will find that it's not that people don't like to focus their minds before starting a task. Because it takes a lot of time and is not fun, is very stressful, and requires cutting off or reducing contact with colleagues, or even staying in a quiet, secluded room. Because of this, not many people like to do it. The author of this book also mentioned that most employees do not understand what the value of work productivity is. Productivity, which is a word translated from the English word "productivity," refers to the result or outcome of the work that you have achieved with efficiency and in a short amount of time. Most employees understand productivity to be the busyness of working without a break. Sometimes, the image of that busyness does not create excellent work results. Because of this misunderstanding, they like to show an image of busyness in performing those tasks to their superiors. According to a study, doing multiple tasks at the same time can lead to low work productivity. And focusing on one task at a time can help us increase work efficiency to the maximum.
When you perform any task in an environment without distractions, you will accomplish more tasks, be more efficient, and spend less time. This means that the more you concentrate while performing a task, the higher your work efficiency will be. What is attention residue? This situation occurs when a person switches from one task to another. At that time, his 100% focus will be reduced because he cannot maintain that level of focus as it was before, because his mind is still with the previous task. Even if you have already completed the previous task. Your focus will decrease every time you switch from one task to a new one. And as for the new work efficiency, it will not be as good as it could be. Therefore, it is better to take a short break to let your focus level recover. Do not start a new task right away to avoid wasting time and energy but getting low productivity. Regarding being easily distracted, I would like to give an example. You are performing a task when suddenly you glance at your inbox and see a new message pop up from your department head. At that time, you decide to open it and you get the news that you have to perform a new task. Believe it or not, you can still be focused on continuing the old task. Whether it's a little or a lot, you will definitely be distracted. At this point, the author advises that you should turn off anything that can easily distract you while you are focusing on a task to get high productivity.
You should turn off all emails, don't leave your email inbox open on your computer screen all the time. Don't play Facebook while working, or you can put your mobile phone far away from you for a while, or you can turn off the notifications on your mobile phone to avoid being disturbed by various things until you finish that task. You might raise the question back that, what if at that time my boss calls and my phone is not answered, it is certain that you will lose your job or be scolded by your boss, right? It's not like that. The author suggests that you should show your superiors your work efficiency and results instead. By giving reasons that you will focus on completing that task within a specific period of time, such as one hour or two hours, or one day, and you must inform the relevant people about your work either by email or by text message, that please do not disturb you while you are performing that task with a specific time frame, and then come back with amazing work results. Then your boss will be happy rather than scolding you, for sure.
Next, I will extract the methods to achieve concentration in order to perform all tasks with efficiency to share with all of you. At this point, you already know how important it is to focus on performing all tasks. People are most easily distracted and are very good at doing a little bit of this, a little bit of that, starting this, starting that, without a clear direction. That is why the author shares the following methods that can help you learn to focus well when performing all tasks. Method one: focus on your work as much as possible. Method two: learn to value solitude. Method three: learn to disconnect from social media. Method four: learn to define and categorize the types of tasks. Now, let's look at the first method together. Focus on your work as much as you can. As mentioned from the beginning, because concentrating the mind before starting to perform a task is very difficult and it also takes a lot of time to be alone, and it also takes a lot of energy, so some people don't like to do it. And combined with the environment of working in a group in the same office, it is even more difficult to do. Therefore, to be able to practice this first method, you have to practice it until it becomes a habit for more than 21 days. Then you will feel that it is not difficult for you to do it anymore. And it will become natural for you in performing various tasks. Method two: learn to value solitude.
The skill of focusing immediately, no matter what the situation, is a skill that you must learn and cultivate decisively because it is extremely important. It is no different from a professional athlete who always trains and takes care of their body and exercises regularly. Even if they are not in a period of training or practice, they always continue to exercise and review their skills regularly. Therefore, you should also learn to focus more in your daily activities, even if you are not in a period of focusing to perform any task. Because it will create an efficient habit for you, and you can use it immediately when you are proficient in using this skill well. You can learn to control your mind to overcome a situation where you always feel bored because you have to be alone to focus on doing that work as a start. By controlling your mind not to worry, not to be distracted at all, even if there is a message or notification sound from your mobile phone, which is sent from various social media programs, you must control your mind not to touch or take a moment to check it at all. Doing this little by little, it will become a habit and a nature of yours through training your mind to overcome various distractions that may arise at any time. Method three: learn to disconnect from social media. Social media is a source that easily distracts you and greatly affects your work productivity.
And if you don't use it correctly and it doesn't bring you any benefits, you might think it's a small or trivial matter, but in fact, it has a very strong influence on your daily life and living. It has a very negative influence on some people who have no discipline and don't know the rules of taking advantage of those social media. It has made them waste their time and lose their sense of ownership, spending one day after another just staring at their mobile phones, almost going blind, and spending many hours for no reason. Method four: learn to define and categorize the types of tasks. You need to know which task is a task that requires focus and which task is a task that does not require focus and requires a quiet environment. Then, allocate a lot of time for the tasks that require focus and allocate a little time that is appropriate and reasonable for the tasks that do not require focus. You need to know which task is a task that requires focus and which task is a task that does not require focus and requires a quiet environment. Then, allocate a lot of time for tasks that require focus, and allocate a little time, just enough, for tasks that do not require focus. Next, I will bring up four more principles that will further enhance efficiency on top of the four methods that I have already described.
Principle one is the principle of creating a concentration like a monk. This principle is similar to the method practiced by monks in monasteries. That is, monks have a discipline that requires them to cut themselves off from various media outlets that would easily distract them completely. The method of practicing this concentration can make the monks feel peaceful and happy, not straying from the path of following the monastic rules in Buddhism, in the search for happiness and liberation from suffering that is truly real. Principle two: this is a "half-cut" principle, where you can use both your normal life and your life like a monk. This means you have to take the middle path, not too strict and not too lenient. However, you must be able to use your concentration whenever you need it. Principle three is the principle of setting a specific time of day for tasks that require focus.
For example, the author himself set a period of two hours every day, from 5 am to 7 am, to use this time to accomplish all the tasks that require high focus. Principle four is the principle of the professional journalist. This is a principle that requires you to use your concentration whenever you need it. It is like a journalist whose writing requires them to write a news article immediately to be published in time for the situation, just like that. If you are a journalist, you will understand this principle very well, no matter the time or place. If the news needs to be published, you will have to spend time making that news immediately, whether it's at night or during the day, or wherever you are. And this activity requires focus to write it out well. High work productivity does not depend on the number of hours you spend to do the work, but it is about spending time correctly with high work efficiency and having enough time to rest and regain your energy when you are free from work. In this book, the author mentioned that we should have enough and regular time in our lives to spend on rest and relaxation. From the very busy work of our daily lives.
It is a very special time when you can cut off worries and anxieties in your mind that are related to your daily work life, so that you can regain your energy to perform important tasks that require high focus and concentration to accomplish. Leisure time can really help you feel refreshed, help repair your emotional state, help your heart and your brain have enough time to work together with high efficiency. You can take advantage of this good opportunity when your state of mind is calm and fresh, by being able to make decisions on difficult matters or some large tasks with high efficiency. You need a certain amount of time to recharge, to regenerate your mental energy, because this mental energy is limited and can be depleted when you use it too much to focus when doing any task. After you have focused on completing a task, you must rest for at least three to four hours. Otherwise, even if you try to continue with a new task, that new task will not have good results. The author also suggests that even if you don't have enough time to rest and relax by going to the beach or to some resort, you can still rest and relax after you have completed your daily work, by simply cutting off your mind from your work completely and waiting until the next day to continue thinking about those tasks.
If you listen to this, it may sound easy, but it is very difficult to do. It is true, but everything depends on your mind. You can do it by just training your mind to overcome the various distractions that may arise at any time. For example, when you get home after you leave work, please cut off thinking about your work completely. Do not take work calls during your rest time, unless it is absolutely necessary. A boss who is understanding and considerate will not disturb you outside of working hours. Therefore, you should wait until the new day to continue your mission and thinking about your work. Try to spend your time at home with your family, relax your mind with music, or spend time with your family to relieve the stress from your work during the long day, and let it all go. The author practiced this method and found that he got very satisfactory results. After 5:30 in the evening, he never spent time doing work at his office. Even though he had to write many more books, rest time is for rest. Work time is to focus on work with all your mind and body.
Conclusion: you must overcome the various distractions that are always nagging you. Focus as much as you can when you are doing an important task. Try to cut off and stay away from various social media. And don't spend too much time on the internet, but use a little bit of time with it and take advantage of those social media as much as you can. Set your work time, your rest time from work, and your leisure time clearly for each day. However, if you want to get the best work efficiency, focus and use your thinking to the maximum, and try to accomplish that task in a short period of time as much as you can.