If you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet, you’ve probably heard of deep work.
The idea is to do intense, focused work, usually completed in short sprints.
It’s not a fad: Deep work is how we get most things done at Stacked Marketer. This newsletter, for instance, is completed in short, intense sprints of work—not a long slog.
Here is our best advice for making your time count
Stop tracking your hours.
Work expands to fill time.
When you plan to work, say, eight hours, your projects tend to slow themselves down to fit that timespan. Instead, focus on short bursts of distraction-free work. You may be surprised how much more you get done.
Separate busy work from deep work.
Checking emails and Slack messages is busy work. One tip for doing busy work: Set a timer for 30 minutes.
Open your email and Slack and rapid-fire responses to as many messages as possible. Don’t allow yourself to check messages outside of this window. Afterwards, take a break to mentally reset before going back to deep work.
Do fun stuff when you’re not working.
For most people, a healthy balance of fun, healthy life activities alongside work is far more productive than a workaholic, 80-hour week schedule with no room to breathe.
To do good work, you need good rest.
Respect your time
It’s easy to get sucked into the black hole of Slack messages, email, and 12-hour days.
Resist the temptation—you’ll thank yourself later.
