Imagine sitting on your office desk, trying to concentrate on your work and suddenly the phone rings. Well, you are not only distracted but also diverted from the thoughts you were initiating.
You might have seen a number of managers around the world getting excited the moment they come across a new way to improve the productivity of teams/individuals. They dream of that one ideal day with zero error tasks delivered on time. Deep Work can be a solution to this dream.
What is Deep Work?
Deep Work is a concept coined by Cal Newport, a Computer Science professor at Georgetown University. He defines Deep Work as the ability to critically focus on activities which are highly important without any distractions. By doing this, you can avoid “shallow” work.
Let us help you understand this better. Rewind your life and imagine a day where you had strict deadlines to meet. Calculate how many times you were forced to go through your email because someone wanted something urgently. You will debate and see that if things were prioritized it would not have happened, but often a number of things are not in your control.
Deep Work is a philosophy, not an initiative
Well, to initiate the process of Deep Work, Newport advices on developing an agile task list which has all tasks listed and is shared with your co-workers so that they are well- informed about their schedule and know when to approach you and for what. With remote colleagues, this philosophy continues as they can follow the same as per their time zones.
With remote workers, the biggest advantage is that they can follow their own schedule and every information exchanged is well thought of.
Why is Deep Work important for you as well as your team?
Deep Work helps to improve the core abilities for thriving in this competitive environment. It allows developers and designers to work on complex projects in a strict deadline with complete accountability. At Indus Net, we have created an ecosystem which fosters deep work from the onset. Teams based on the client’s needs and not skill sets are set up to ensure minimum distraction and maximum return.
Some real-life instances
In a survey of 450 remote workers, TalentLMS found that around 90% of survey participants get work done properly and adequately when working remotely. They have highlighted why concentration level is high if people work remotely and where they create a zero distraction zone.
At Crossover, managers use Deep Work, productivity and work habits using a number of customized tools to know how effective their culture is. At Toyota, managers often go for short walks through the factory floor to have a look at the work of the team members. They use tools to find out the blocks of time wasted and use these insights to create a rectification plan and provide training sessions correspondingly.
So how can you start?
Today, deep work needs discipline, efficient planning along with a change of mindset to understand why remote working can yield maximum results. Just imagine what you can do outside work with all those extra hours!
