How to schedule deep work: Time blocking | Cal Newport and Lex Fridman

Lex Fridman Podcast full episode: • Cal Newport: Deep Work...
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Cal Newport is a computer scientist who also writes about productivity.
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[@awake-dust4525]

To sum up the video; 1. be a planner before starting your day 2. 30 min, 90 min blocks with specified topics of work/ deep work 3. quarterly(season; winter summer..,etc.), weekly(week targets) and daily planner(precisely to one day) 4. Big picture vision of what you want to get done 5. Get rid of distractions (distraction is evil) 6. If you're rolling, keep it rolling (the flow state) 7. bonus; successful people really enjoy the thing they do, don't force yourself..make it fun or pick up a new one!

[@gabrielalmeida6085]

30 up to 90 min time blocks?

[@sushantsapra2819]

Thanks man! Great Summarisation!

[@kasontsebastiano]

Step 7!!!

[@rahulshendre7089]

the 7th one is not for students

[@dryburn]

It’s nice to hear others express difficulty with writing and keeping schedules.

[@spiralofinspiration3653]

@@genzdiplomat Yes, you really can't plan good writing. You never know when the inspiration will strike! 🍥

[@anybody4802]

@@spiralofinspiration3653 but is it? some say it can be trained

[@kenichi1132]

Its not about being busy. Its about having a life. There is so much in life, so much I want to get done. Scheduling is the only way to do what you want to do every day by spending a reasonable amount of time on each thing. And you realise how much more hours there are in the day to get stuff done and still get 7-8 hours sleep.

[@Taskade]

Amazing advice! What looks like multitasking is really switching back and forth between multiple tasks, which reduces productivity and increases mistakes by up to 50 percent.

[@CameronKalegi]

Hearing a lot of comments on 'zoom fatigue', which conflicts with my own experience... It's like my lifeline to connect with coworkers. I value it. Sure, have to be ruthless in declining when it doesn't make sense - but - a productive discussion, or a meeting turned 'social chatter' is really valuable.

[@samgreene7961]

Agree - Cal argues against endless emails and says a face to face or phone call is better.

[@sudoLife]

The Zoom fatigue iirc refers more to students and other type of listeners. It's really hard to keep focused when you're in passive mode. Actively engaging in a (pleasant) conversation or work discussion is a different thing.

[@alishasethi5646]

"I do not want to be busy, I want to be right"

[@bobbyv3]

"My spirit is destroyed by even a 10 minute Zoom meeting." I felt that, deep.

[@IlyaZub]

Thank you, I found answers to some of my questions. Finally, someone's story about using time blocking without being overly positive and shares the hard parts and the ultimate goal.

[@robertmaxey5406]

Some others have suggested that rather than put important things on a to-do list, put them on a daily schedule or calendar. There are far too many old ideas sold as new ideas, too many productivity and notes apps, to much redefining of old ideas as new ideas and too much BS in the productivity space. Great video ... I am a fan.

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

3:55 I did this for a looooong time and voilà! Here i am. I discovered that this unstructured work time just made my work unfocused and without a goal, which made me easily distractable by other things and by my own work since never knew when to stop. It's like reading a book and "planning" "study this book for 2h or more" or "read just till you get tired", like you're going to read a full book in a day instead of setting a chapter or subchapter number. As a result i would constantly get just one thing done, with a lot of interruptions and not knowing if i had progressed in some way besides "reading more" or "doing more", having Checkpoints is crucial (even games have that!), not using it is like going to the gym and doing some things and instead working out with (daily, weekly and monthly) goals and intentions. For me this approach is best for work - so you don't overwork by asking the impossible (like do a full project in a day instead working on parts of it) or underwork by being lost, overwhelmed and distracted - but It's bad for free time. After thinking and moving too hard and forcing yourself to be disciplined the last thing you want is to be that totalitarian with your fun; i schedule "free time" and i don't strictly plan what to do but i have some desires (the things we put off while in work) and i indulge myself by being unstructured by design, you can call "Artistic Time" or "Creative Tim", for me things usually figure themselves out. I know what i want to do once i start and i don't run out of videos, episodes or game missions (because, well, those things are Inifinity Pools, endless sources of fun, now i can use that to my advantage instead of against me). P.S. I also don't do little pauses, i like to finish it in one batch, give me a hand and i will want the entire body. So none is better than some. It's also hard for me to regain my Flow once i stop (especially since my entainement is frequently cognitive demanding).

[@billieball1]

Brilliant. How it going of late?

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

@@billieball1 Oh thanks! I forgot about this long ass self serving brain dumb, i feel a bit bad now, but i'm glad it was useful for someone! There were some things there i needed off my chest cause people didnt talk about it and i'm glad to be reminded cause this was insightful. I was so desperate for order at this point and i learned a lot. But ironically i don't use almost any of this right now (but probably will use later) and do the opposite a lot, cause of my intentions and tools. Planning is like Physical Training, a cookie cutter program can be great but it's not as good as a tailored one.

[@lisi2261]

so many great convos in this ep

[@Itaivarochik]

Quarterly, weekly, daily.. F'ing saved my life. And color coding of course 🤗

[@TABWA6]

I just put this podcast on and in just one minute time I got so.much out of it. Now I know just what to do. Thanks Cal and Lex. You're both brilliant. Wendy wifefridman

[@henry.harper]

"Kierkegaard with an internet connection" 🤣😅

[@user-lb2gu7ih5e]

By YouSum Live 00:00:02 Implementing deep work through time blocking. 00:00:11 Plan daily tasks in advance for efficiency. 00:01:12 Quarterly, weekly, and daily planning structure. 00:02:12 Avoid excessive meetings to focus on deep work. 00:03:33 Flexibility in deep work sessions' duration. 00:04:17 Intentional time blocking for varied responsibilities. 00:04:52 Prioritize deep work despite potential interruptions. 00:05:40 Embrace challenges of writing and deep work focus. 00:06:26 Overcoming procrastination in transitioning tasks. By YouSum Live

[@rahulshendre7089]

Thank you so much !!

[@punnaroothsrimongkolsilp1543]

Thank you.

[@elliotskunk]

I wonder if the cold start motivation could come from spending time visualising what it could be, letting your mind rn about where it could lead, getting excited about the forest and trees and woods ahead. like a child.

[@questionable-ethics]

This doesn’t really work for most employee’s. Trying to schedule ultimately leads to running out of time due to a manager or senior staff member dropping in new tasks whenever they see fit.

[@stevebennett2447]

this is what I think Cal calls the "hyperactive hivemind"-workflow which is a topic in itself. But yeah my opinion is the problem here would be how the senior staff members are assigning tasks. And if there's no way to tell them off or negotiate that's a work environment issue, after all the goal is to get things done

[@stevebennett2447]

My problem has been almost the opposite, having almost too much freedom organizing and even dictating my job, which ends up with the work taxing too much of my whole capacity to have a life after work. In this case tools like this are absolutely great.

[@stephengusi6867]

If i wake up should i try to do a hour of deep work right away or wait until after i eat and then go into an hour of deep work

[@RanjanRout665619]

Excellent

[@jannik6714]

Zusammenfassung von Jannik: - setze dir feste Zeitblöcke für deine To Do´s (z.B. 90 Min.) - setze dir Wochen- und Tagespläne - passe deine Tagespläne der Woche an (kontrolliere dich selbst) - Zoom- oder Teamsmeeting sind nicht sinnvoll, da sie einem aus dem Flow bringen

[@Xyos212]

In engineering at least I find that meetings are necessary sometimes to effectively brainstorm, define requirements, milestones... Some of those don't gel well with slack messages or back and forth emails. Troubleshooting an issue for instance can be much easier in a call while screen sharing. The problem is meetings with no agenda or goals in mind when it starts. You need a defined agenda ahead of time and someone leading the meeting. I get why he doesn't like them though. Recurring meetings, meetings with no agenda, these can feel draining and useless. I guess the need and frequency differ depending on the project goals and level of collaboration needed across teams.

[@lilbroomstick7914]

working with salesforce and AWS is requiring me to also learn deep work the two seem to go hand and hand

[@awake-dust4525]

interesting, iguess the line of work requires one to do so

[@AriKariG]

I work at AWS building/maintaining these monster distributed cloud architectures.

[@shirinkaul6661]

Kriekgard with an Internet connection 😂

[@joeys7519]

nice

[@jaimegutierrez5520]

I do it before go to bed

[@bp7666]

This is not how I imagined cal newport from the book haha

[@MrScofflaw]

People are obsessed with productivity and working obsessively. You can create realties that require minimal work and maximum reward. We need more leaders that understand energy and how to make things come to you.

[@CJ2K]

Be that leader

[@strictnonconformist7369]

Proper planning and time use while being productive doesn’t need to be paired with being a workaholic, and for deep work, it’s a better tradeoff to not try to be a workaholic, as your ability to not hose things up degrades with fatigue.

[@MrScofflaw]

@@CJ2K I am.

[@Jarrettmonty99]

@@MrScofflaw "People are obsessed with logically planning their day to avoid wasting time, we need more people to mumbo jumbo energy their day, like me the mumbo jumbo energy leader"

[@vladislavno]

Why would we want minimal work with maximum reward. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Like how half the nation is obese.

[@cowboylemonheadmedia]

What is 'deep work'?

[@LearningDevgarg]

🔥🔥

[@clifb.3521]

You could almost do your your time blocking in those square wrinkles on the curtains behind them. I’m totally getting off on that mess.

[@robertmaxey5406]

Don't you think that people often cram too much stuff into their daily schedules? I think we need to work a bit less and add some time during the day to breathe.

[@tomharner83]

I love meetings. I don't get why so many people hate them... I can get so much done in a well structured/run meeting! But so much of what I do involves translation of business jargon to techno babble and vice versa...

[@strictnonconformist7369]

In my experience the value of a meeting tends to be inversely related to the number of people in the meeting, as the number of people goes up, the chances of any meaningful decisions being made with interactive feedback goes down. In such meetings as just described, it’s far more efficient to just send out emails with decisions, instead of eating the time (often prime working hours) forcing synchronization with other people so all can be distracted. I especially detest meetings outside of standard working hours, which has been increasing over time with my current employer.

[@tomharner83]

@@strictnonconformist7369 ohh, yeah! More people rarely improve the outcome of a meeting. Unless there's a damn good reason for an after hours meeting... I always decline those.

[@lmack6596]

I agree. Good, necessary, well structured meetings are gold. Our team meets daily to deal with those lil' questions that crop up each day (saves a tonne of back-and-forth emails!) and ad hoc to discuss more complex things as they crop up. The rest of the time we work alone, in peace to think and concentrate. Of all the teams I've worked with this, I think I'm happiest here, and most productive

[@hermes_logios]

Meetings are beneficial for communicators, which is an inherently social task. They’re generally wasteful for technical workers, who operate in terms of things, not people.

[@cheffs6598]

Fun Fact - They both can play a guitar.

[@asefsa9102]

Lol I was playing guitar watching this

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

3:22 So i don't know why people do that, wasting precious life time, life time that could be invested in being productive. It's dumb.

[@mrclandestine9000]

his blink rate is 1,279 blinks per minute

[@davidzangwill2545]

bro schedules deep work to write about deep work.

[@VGLV888]

✅☑️

[@sacreds9118]

Opposite of Naval lol

[@MilanElan]

Naval is a narcissist who likes to hear himself talk. He got lucky rich and now pretends to be a philosopher.

[@taasinbinhossainalvi9173]

What did Naval say?

[@informaticapowercentertuto7209]

Why dont you guys start a company and recruit me. I would love to work at a place where you can do endless deep work

[@ByWayOfDeception]

My work colleagues think I am anti-social because I chose a cubicle at the opposite side of the room. No, it is just how I can have any hope of Deep Work in our workplace. I will walk over when I have a break. Aside from the impromptu interruptions or distractions when someone is four feet from you, at least one person monologues. She will turn around and talk about work, which is great, but then do it for an hour and drone on and on without a purpose, which is not so great. I like her insights, but I don't understand people who think everything they say needs to be shared. Maybe she is helping herself by thinking aloud. idk. I just know that I have a choice in the matter.

[@BartvanderHorst]

Nothing new here, it is just logical things you have to do when you want something to accomplish, I would find actually quite impossible to accomplish something without doing things like this... How could you ever accomplish differently from this...

[@John-3692]

This is a revelation. I had the privilege of reading something similar, and it was a revelation in itself. "Dominating Your Clock: Strategies for Professional and Personal Success" by Anthony Rivers

[@flor.7797]

How to burn out quickly, adhd edition

[@EATALLGINGERS44]

He blinks a lot

[@5CRALREADY]

THIS IS HIS DEEP WORK FOR HIS EYES COMMON ...

[@mrclandestine9000]

he does....

[@HallowedManhattan]

Great interviewee, terrible interviewer. I don't want to hear about the interviewer's unique problems or as hoc opinions.

[@joeroganpodfantasy42]

It's a conversation not an interview. CNN is on the channel on the right side of your screen you seem to be lost and confused