Deep Work Fallacy

It's 9:00 AM, and the laptop is cranking up. The emails are dripping in slowly but steadily into the inbox. I open the 20 slide presentation and start clicking away thoughtlessly. I get a series of stings from WhatsApp—Ting ting ting. Notification from Facebook nudges from the background and demands my finite attention. A LinkedIn post —'10 ways to get more done' picks my curiosity.  The CPU is cranking away in no time, assuming its boss is on steroids. A phone call from a colleague, "did you check my mail?" a euphemism for, plant the phone on the valley between your neck and shoulder and give yourself nice spondylitis! Sure I say. As I do that, outlook asks me to lookout for an upcoming meeting as it warns me —5 minutes to go! That's me, the DJ, toggling away my daily chores, many tabs at a time, and my hands moving with swag as the jockey plays Billy Joel.  

"don't wait for answers

just take your chances 

don't ask me why."

Phew, that was a busy and productive day! or was it? 


Deep work affliction

As lousy and cliched metaphors go, the coronavirus has exacerbated another pandemic of sorts - Deep work fallacy - Our clear voice that is drowned out in a sea of noise. At the end of the day, the fallacy causes you to believe that you had a productive, busy day achieving so many things. But did you? There is no dopamine rush stronger than the urge to read the next unread email! Dopamine is that same feel-good hormone that releases when you are indulging in pleasurable activities - Binge eating, listening to music, exercise, and other carnal activities!


Cal Newport, the author of Deep work, says, "busyness is considered a proxy for productivity. Because this person is distracted continuously and cannot accommodate deep work, which requires long periods of uninterrupted thinking." He quotes a Mckinsey study that found that "the average knowledge worker now spends more than 60 percent of the workweek engaged in electronic communication and internet searching, with close to 30 percent of a worker's time dedicated to reading and answering email alone." We don't need a research study to confirm that. 


Many of us firmly believe that reading and responding to emails, attending virtual meetings, messaging on WhatsApp, and liking a post is deep work. Cal Newport has depressing news for us. He defines shallow work as "Noncognitively demanding, logistical style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend not to create new value and are easy to replicate." Now read the first sentence of this para again! 


When I challenge you on Twitter, #deepworkchallenge, you will retort that you would be laser-focused, switch off everything, and get it done when you really have to concentrate. Sadly you couldn't be more wrong. When you are asked to fly, you simply wouldn't flap your hands and take off! Once our brains are accustomed to on-demand distraction, it's hard to shake the addiction. Alas, Shallow work is addiction. 


Embrace Boredom

The antidote to this raging pandemic is surprisingly simple. Our brains are overstimulated. What it needs is de-stimulation—embrace boredom. Pull out your microwave's operating manual and read it in one go. You will notice a strong urge to move away like it is a plague- sneak at your phone, remember a sudden chore, a bio-break, sudden desire for a snack. When I tried, I realized that I needed a haircut immediately and ran out of the house! That simple test will confirm your worst fears —You are a distraction addict! Concentration and contemplation is a battle of wits against distraction and debilitation. The latter usually walks away with the trophy.  


Drain the shallows

It's a powerful experience, this bowel cleaning! You are one with yourself during that pristine moment of morning ablutions. Watch a baby's face as it expels the wastes. It's a moment of pure self-awareness! You really open the floodgates of deep thinking (pun desperately intended). Instead, when you whip out your phone or a newspaper while you are at your business, you are closing the sluice gates of deep thought (Now unintended!). Nothing can be more detrimental to deep work than losing that vital moment in the morning. While my homily, I concede, is a shallow remedy, why not make a simple start. Don't whip out your phones as you drain the shallows! Deep work, nevertheless, is a transformative experience. As JRR Tolkien said, "not all those who wander are lost." Why not wander as you sit and give deep work a thought. 


Multitasking is bad for your brain,

Says a study I read on the plane

While cleaning my purse,

Writing email and verse.

Now, where WAS I? That study's insane!

-Madeleine Kane

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mining the essence of a life well lived

I first met Harihara Iyer in 2009 in a hurried and anxious setting – not for him, but for me. He wasn't particularly interested in me, but I was hoping to win over his daughter's interest! I'll never forget his opening salvo to me 17 years ago. I would dread such a question from a prospective employer, but coming from a suitor's father, it was downright jarring. He skipped the pleasantries and cut straight to the chase: "Are you a CA?" (He knew I wasn't). The question pierced right through my gut!   But I rattled off my rehearsed response, highlighting my MBA and certifications (including Hindi Prachar Sabha, of course!). However, his attention had already wandered midway through my meandering response, and I could almost hear him mumbling, "Next groom, please." Despite that shaky start, our bond grew over shared interests in politics and macroeconomics. We'd discuss election results and India's economic landscape, and I'd nod enthusi...
Read more

The undertones of an Overton window

This is a momentous week to recall the pivotal year of 1991 in India's history. 1991 was a remarkable period in the country's history. India was at a crossroads, which was a fancy way of saying we were bankrupt. The cabinet secretary handed a note to the newly sworn-in PM. He looked at it bewildered and asked, " Is the economic situation that bad?"  The non challant response — "No Sir... It's worse!" Thus began unraveling the story of the reforms. The options for the intellectual and the diligent finance minister were straightforward: a simple three-point plan: devaluing the rupee, liberalizing trade, and disrobing the license raj.    Unlike a corporate leader who could simply draft a policy, issue a memo, and expect compliance, the economic reforms were not corporate boardroom drama. The Oxford-educated finance minister was not making chess moves but making strategic maneuvers. But there was a democracy at pla...
Read more

Stress-tastic: The Art of Worrying Well

The human capacity for stress is boundless. Give us a problem, and we'll worry. Take the problem away, and we'll find something else. Stress is such a stressful topic amongst the chatterati. To assess the quality of challenges in a given society, look at what the local newspaper in the city is fretting over.  I visited a country last month where food allergens and bullying at school were among the most stressful issues for the community. The local newspaper reported food mislabeling as one of the gravest crises of the century. The locals were stricken with grief when they heard about employees back in my country working nine hours a day! They claimed to have empathy burnout by merely hearing the story! A Child getting bullied at school can cause deep distress in this community. As a child, I remember getting thrashed at the playground. I come back home with a deep gash in my hand. My grandmother glanced at it and suddenly remembered that she urgently needed a half-liter of milk...
Read more