How to Optimize your Workday by Achieving a State of Deep Work Between social media, text messaging, and open workspaces, it can feel impossible to stay focused on a work task for long enough to get in the zone.  Enter: deep work, a term coined by Georgetown University associate mathematics professor Cal Newport in his book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. If you find that you can’t seem to manage distractions or commit your attention to a task, getting into a state of deep work could be the solution to get you back on track. Not sure where to start? We’ve got tips to optimize your workday and improve your productivity using deep work tactics: 

Get In Some Movement

Although making it a point to get up and away from your desk throughout the day is common advice, it’s doubly beneficial when it comes to achieving that deep work status. If you’re having a difficult time focusing on an assignment or working out a concept, try going for a walk to clear your head and think about what you need to solve.  In Nina Semczuk’s Medium piece on deep work practices, she explains that using activities like exercising or commuting to figure things out “can train your mind to use trapped time to work on the knotty sections of your deep work.” So rather than flipping through music tracks or paying attention to a podcast, you can teach your brain to use exercise time as a space to focus. 

Make Time to Stretch

Even if you can’t find time for regular movement breaks, you can still incorporate stretching at your desk to help keep your body limber and your muscles relaxed. TinyPulse has got lots of ideal stretching suggestions, including ab flexes and elbow stretches, and Community Health has a few more to help release tension in your neck and hands.  Although you may feel a bit self-conscious about stretching, especially if you’re in an open concept office, just keep in mind that the energy boost to your brain from even mild activity can help you better focus on your work.

Streamline Your Surroundings

When your brain doesn’t want to pay attention to tasks at hand, it’s easy to become distracted and look for smaller things to take your mind off major, more complex priorities. That’s why it’s important to keep your workspace area free from things like unnecessary clutter, outdated printouts, and whatever else might give your mind reason to wander.  On that same note, you can cut down on distractions in your surroundings by choosing a comfortable chair to work from (we love a good ergonomic office chair!) and a desk lamp to minimize stress from harsh lighting. You’re going to want to create a low-stress, low-distraction environment in order to optimize your concentration.

Determine Your “Shallow Work”

Deep work has an opposite, and Cal Newport refers to it as “shallow work”; these are menial tasks that eat up your time and provide very little in terms of productivity. Nina Semczuk describes it as, “you essentially shuffled some papers instead of laying bricks to build a house.”  In order to figure out what your daily shallow work might be, you need to estimate how long it would take to complete a task, and sort out your priorities based on length of work rather than importance. That way, you’ll be doing the deep work that actually requires focus and thought, rather than the shallow work that you can complete while distracted. Doing deep work sets you apart in terms of the value you bring to the table because shallow work can essentially be done by anyone, or automated.

Cut Back on Social Media

It’s no surprise that social media is a huge destroyer of work productivity. Every time you feel the need to see what photos your friends are posting on Instagram or what your favorite celebrity is tweeting about, you’re not focused on vital tasks.  Workforce Software quotes Newport as saying, “We have a growing amount of research which tells us that if you spend large portions of your day in a state of fragmented attention — where you’re constantly breaking up your attention to take a quick glance at, say, Instagram — that this can permanently reduce your capacity for concentration.” If you can’t quit social media cold turkey, try downloading apps and plugins that can help manage your productivity by blocking various social networks at assigned times. Once you’re able to stop yourself from clicking through social feeds, you should be able to better direct your attention and energy towards tasks that matter.

Retrain Your Brain

With the amount of outside noise and distractions we have to deal with now, it takes effort in both the physical world (having an ergonomic design to your office setup, for instance) and the digital world (cutting back on social media) to learn how to truly focus.  Deep work just might be the key to having a more productive workday — not to mention a healthier and more engaged one. Be sure to follow The Back Store on Instagram to keep up with the latest in ergonomic design trends and wellness tips!