Rule #1 Work deeply

This section gives you some pointers on transforming deep work from an aspiration
into a regular and significant part of your daily schedule. There is an urge in all of us
to turn our attention toward something more superficial and we underestimate its
regularity and strength. To battle this we need to take certain deliberate steps in the
form of routines and rituals.
1 Decide on your depth philosophy. There are different choices in terms of this
but the most important take away for me is the need to map out when I will
do deep work during each week at the beginning of the week and then refine
these decisions as needed at the beginning of each day.
2 Ritualize: Build some rituals which get you into the deep work mode quickly.
Where will you deep work and for how long? How will you work, example will
you ban internet use or maintain a metric that keeps your concentration
honed.
3 Make grand gestures: Something like setting up a war room in an offsite
location, helps you focus but will only work for a specific event.
4 Dont work alone: By working side by side with someone on a problem can
push each other towards deeper levels of depth.
5 Execute like a business: 4DX framework (four disciplines to execute)
a Focus on the wildly important
b Act on lead measures
c Keep a compelling score card
d Create a cadence of accountability
6 Be lazy: Injecting regular and substantial freedom from professional concerns
in your day, providing you with idleness, is required to get work done!
Rule #2 Embrace Boredom
Efforts to deepen your focus will struggle if you dont simultaneously wean your
mind from a dependence on distraction. We will struggle to achieve the deepest
levels of concentration if we spend the rest of the time fleeing the slightest hint of
boredom. Once our minds are used to on demand distraction, it is hard to shake the
addiction even when we want to concentrate.
1 Dont take breaks from distraction, instead take breaks from focus: Schedule
your internet usage blocks in your calendar. That implies that you will only
connect to the network during those slots. The frequency of these slots can
be more or less based on how dependent on network your professional
demands are.
2 Place constraints: Restrict your work hours but work those with intensity. If
you have a high priority item that requires deep work, estimate the amount
of time that it would take and then give yourself a hard deadline that
drastically reduces this time. Commit publicly to that time and motivate
yourself with a countdown timer on your phone. Try this once a week so that
your brain practices high intensity work.
3 Meditate productively: Use the time when you are occupied physically but not
mentally (like walking, jogging etc.) to focus your attention on a single well
defined professional problem. This will help to improve your ability to think
deeply.

Memorize a deck of cards: Do some memory training this will help in general
ability to concentrate.

Rule#3 Quit Social Media

It does not mean a complete cut off (internet sabbatical for an extended period of
time like weeks is worth trying though!) but finding a middle ground between that
and the state of distracted hyperconnectedness that many seem to be having.
1 Apply the law of vital few aka 80/20 rule: Identify the main high level goals in
both your professional and personal lives and then list for each the two or
three most important activities that help satisfy the goal. And then evaluate
the network tools that you need for them.
2 Dont use internet to entertain yourself
Rule#4 Drain the Shallows
There is a certain amount of shallow work that we all need to do and that varies
based on the type of work you do. This means that we have to work this into our
schedule and not eliminate this. We therefore have schedule our day carefully. The
goal of the schedule is not so much to force you into a rigid plan but to get you to
think about how you are spending your time. This also allows you to quantify the
depth of every activity that you do. Make sure you finish your planned work by five
thirty or six as you deem fit. The commitment to fixed schedule productivity is key.