Lucia Knight
A Joy At Work Experiment: Making Time for Deep Work
I’ve found a magic wand that had been missing in my work life forever. Deep work has become my secret weapon. I've used it to create new programs, masterclasses, books, TEDx talks, and podcasts. These are projects that might never have seen the light of day otherwise. And today I’m going to show you how you can achieve this too!
I read the book Deep Work by Cal Newport some years ago and it hit me like a brick. It connected a few dots of thoughts that had been floating around my mind for years and it changed the way I structured my work week forever. It felt like I'd found a magic wand that had been missing in my work life forever.
Deep Work is the antidote to the kind of shallow, time frittering, needle stuck in place work that many professionals drown in daily. Deep work is focused, distraction free, and high impact. It's the kind of work that shifts the needle on your biggest priorities and unlocks creative, innovative problem solving.
So, if you're someone who's ever glanced at a clock or at your watch at 5pm and thought Wait, what the heck did I actually do today? This Joy at Work experiment is for you.
[00:00] Making Time for Deep Work - A Joy At Work Experiment
[00:29] The Concept of Deep Work by Cal Newport
[01:50] The Three Enemies of Deep Work
[02:51] Implementing Deep Work - A Joy At Work Experiment
[04:32 ]Personal Success and Encouragement to Try Deep Work
The Joy At Work Experiment: Implementing Deep Work
What I want you to do this week is choose one specific work problem, maybe one that's been bugging you or something that if you made meaningful progress on it, you would really be pleased.
Now, jot down a few of the critical tasks that would allow you to move the needle on that problem. These should be actionable, tangible, and significant.
Now, rejig your diary so that you can block out two or three, ideally, hours when you can work on this problem alone.
I know, you're busy. You don't have hours to spare. Nobody does. And that's why you have to make them.
Take a hard look at your schedule and deliberately delete, delegate, or postpone something less important. Be ruthless.
That low-stakes meeting, you're dreading? Decline it.
The shallow task clogging your to-do list? Delete it.
Remember to put your phone on focus mode, or if you don't have that setup, just put it in a different room.
Tell your colleagues you're not to be disturbed, unless there is a real fire.
Shut your door, or wear those noise-cancelling headphones that one of my teenagers seems to wear all the time.
Here's the annoying truth. If you're to taste success in this deep work experiment, something has to give.
You can't do everything and still find time for the kind of deep thinking and deep action that matters most. But just imagine how good it will feel to finally get cracking on that tricky problem.
Next Steps:
If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy my Life Satisfaction Assessment. It's a 30-minute program where I guide you through a deep dive into 10 areas of your life to assess what's bringing you joy and what's bringing you down. I call it Derailed and it's a fabulous place to begin a joy-at-work redesign.
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Making Time for Deep Work - A Joy At Work Experiment
Lucia Knight: You're busy, yeah? There's never enough time to focus on your future work happiness. But if you don't focus on it, things just stay the same, don't they? In these short episodes, I wanna give you some tiny ideas, some mini experiments to try out this week to either dial down a pain point for you at work or dial up your potential for joy at work.
Let's dive in.
The Concept of Deep Work by Cal Newport
Lucia Knight: I read a book by Cal Newport some years ago and it hit me like a brick. It connected a few dots of thoughts that had been floating around my mind for years and it changed the way I structured my work week forever.
Since implementing his ideas, I've achieved levels of progress in important projects that occasionally leave me, honestly, feeling astounded with myself.
And believe me, that's not something I'm used to feeling about myself or my work. The concept that blew my mind is what Newport calls deep work. It's the antidote to the kind of shallow, time frittering, needle stuck in place work that many professionals drown in daily. Deep work is focused, distraction free, and high impact.
It's the kind of work that shifts the needle on your biggest priorities and unlocks creative, innovative problem solving. But most of us, we get stuck in shallow work, don't we? Answering emails, attending low value meetings, and chasing our tails in a fog of constant task switching.
The Three Enemies of Deep Work
Lucia Knight: Newport identifies the three arch enemies of deep work that keep us trapped.
Number one, distractions.
We know this well. Hello, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and endless doom scrolling on X or Twitter or whatever it's called today.
Two, constant task switching.
Every time you switch tasks, every time your brain loses momentum. Multiply that by 20 and suddenly boom, your day has gone.
Three, time sucking email and low level admin tasks.
You know, the ones they feel super urgent and they add little or no value to the day, but they do give us a tiny free zone of achievement from ticking off the to do list.
So, if you're someone who's ever glanced at a clock or at your watch at 5pm and thought Wait, what the heck did I actually do today?
Implementing Deep Work - A Joy At Work Experiment
Lucia Knight: This Joy at Work experiment is for you.
What I want you to do this week is choose one specific work problem, maybe one that's been bugging you, or something that if you made meaningful progress on it, you would really be pleased. Got it? Great.
Now, jot down a few of the critical tasks that would allow you to move the needle on that problem. These should be actionable, tangible, and significant.
Now, rejig your diary so that you can block out two or three, ideally, hours when you can work on this problem alone. I know, I know, you're busy. You don't have hours to spare. Nobody does. And that's why you have to make them. Take a hard look at your schedule and deliberately delete, delegate, or postpone something less important.
Be ruthless. Low stakes meeting, you're dreading? Decline it. The shallow task clogging your to do list? Delete it. Remember to put your phone on focus mode, or if you don't have that set up, just put it in a different room. Tell your colleagues you're not to be disturbed, unless there is a real fire. Shut your door, or wear those noise cancelling headphones that one of my teenagers seems to wear all the time.
Personal Success and Encouragement to Try Deep Work
Lucia Knight: Here's some personal proof that this works, but check out Cal Newport's book if you want more. In 2018, I started scheduling a three hour deep work session every Wednesday. At some point every Tuesday, I'd decide which project to tackle and outline a few of the steps that I wanted to complete within the three hours.
I honestly will never forget my first session. Three blissful hours uninterrupted except for a quick trip to the kettle. By the end I had made so much progress I was flabbergasted. It felt like I'd found a magic wand that had been missing in my work life forever. Since then, deep work has become my secret weapon.
I've used it to create new programs, masterclasses, books, TEDx talks, and podcasts. And these are projects that might never have seen the light of day otherwise. Here's the annoying truth. If you're to taste success in this deep work experiment, something has to give.
You can't do everything and still find time for the kind of deep thinking and deep action that matters most. But just imagine how good it will feel to finally get cracking on that tricky problem.
Picture coming home after a workday, knowing you've made meaningful progress on something super important.
Imagine how much better you'd sleep that night, knowing you're moving forward on work that truly matters. It's not easy at first, but once you've tasted the success of deep work, you'll never look at your calendar or your shallow task list. In the same way again.
So what's your big problem this week? And when are you booking in your first deep work session? Your needle shifting success awaits.
If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy my Life Satisfaction Assessment. It's a 30 minute program where I guide you through a deep dive into 10 areas of your life to assess what's bringing you joy and what's bringing you down. I call it D Railed. It's a fabulous place to begin a joy at work redesign.
