Dear reader,
If you get distracted easily and want to improve your ability to focus deeply without a lot of effort, this email will be very helpful.
I am writing this from the New York Public Library. At the time of writing this, it is 3:55 PM on a Monday here. It’s a sunny day and I had come out to relax and have a cup of cold coffee but while I was around, I thought why don’t I get some work done?
My initial plan was to edit my next YouTube video (which is live when you receive this email, watch it here). But when I came here, I remembered this principle I used to follow when I was deep into getting things done.
It is: having a station for everything
It is simply having a dedicated station(space) for everything, as in, having different places to do different kinds of things.
To illustrate, you could have a table where you do your deep work or studying and a different dedicated space/table where you watch fun YouTube videos, movies, and TV shows.
When you follow this principle, what ends up happening is when you come to a particular space, your mind automatically gets in the zone for that particular task, and reaching the flow state becomes a whole lot easier.
This might seem abstract but I can assure you this works. It has worked immensely well for me in the past and I’m certain that it will work again (for you and me).
That is the reason why today when I entered the study hall of the New York Public Library, I realized that I wanted to dedicate this space to deep work (including focused writing such as this).
So I dropped my plan of editing my YouTube video and began writing this week’s newsletter issue instead.
Even if you don’t practice this currently, it is totally okay. For the past 3 months, I haven’t practiced this either because I hadn’t had my regular schedule or even living space for that matter.
I am now going to gradually stop consuming content on my main work/study desk. My main desk will be used only for getting deep work and studying done. If I feel like watching YouTube or scrolling social media, I will stand up, pick up my laptop, and go to a different place.
It will be annoying in the beginning but after some time, once I come to my work desk, my mind will almost automatically switch to a focused state which will make me more efficient at getting important things done.
I think you will find this practice really helpful to focus deeply if you give it a try.
Takeaway: Try, at least for 3 weeks, to have different desks for doing different things. This will make it a lot easier to focus on things without getting distracted.
This week’s question for you: Do you struggle with focus? How difficult is it for you to get meaningful work done?
I would really appreciate it if you responded to this email with your answer to this week’s question.
I will write again next week.
Until then, take care!
Warmly,
Suraj
