Deep Work, Deep Joy!

"Sit tight, here comes the story"

This week, the story is mine. 

Yesterday was incredibly busy for me, both at work and at home. I had numerous meetings, emails, messages, tight deadlines, doctor appointments for the kids, and to top it all off, we had a plumbing situation last night that required my husband and me to stay up late cleaning up the minor flood in our house. As the day came to an end, I felt nothing but exhaustion and a sense of being in survival mode rather than thriving.

The day before yesterday, I made a conscious decision to cancel a few meetings to give myself time to take a step back and engage in deep work. I recognize that when I start feeling overwhelmed or enter “survival mode”, it's crucial for me to pause and readjust. This is especially true at work, where it's easy to stay busy without being truly impactful.

Spending several hours without my phone, with Slack messages muted, and emails closed allowed me to disconnect from distractions and immerse myself in my creative world. Sitting at my desk with soft music playing in the background. I deep dove into my work and organized my ideas, defined my priorities, and gained perspective. As I focused, ideas came to life on the page, flowing effortlessly as I connected the dots between projects, identified potential collaborators, and contemplated the impact we can have on the business. As the day finished, I felt fulfilled and motivated to start executing the things I prepared. I felt inspired. The deep work time really gave me a sense of control, joy, and fulfillment because it brought me back to my purpose of helping everyone (including myself) work smarter, not harder. These moments of creative immersion are not just about getting things done for me, but also about reconnecting with my true passion and finding pure joy in the process.

Deep work isn't only beneficial in professional settings. Whenever you engage in something you love and fully immerse yourself in it, you experience the advantages of deep work. Whether you're focused, undistracted, and concentrated on studying a new music sheet to improve your guitar skills, playing a tennis match, writing a book, or solving a puzzle, you direct your full attention and mental resources toward a challenging and meaningful task. This often leads to experiencing a state of flow—a deep concentration and enjoyment in the activity. Hours may pass without you even noticing.

Let’s talk about this

When was the last time you did “deep work”? Both men and women are capable of deep work when they create the right environment and mindset for focused and uninterrupted work. However, societal factors and expectations can sometimes affect how women approach and prioritize deep work. We women often juggle multiple responsibilities, including work, caregiving, and household duties, which can make it challenging to carve out uninterrupted time for deep work. 

As I write this post between dinner and the nighttime routine with the kids (bath and story time), I reflect on how beneficial it would have been to have a few hours to immerse myself in research about deep work, explore different writing styles, and craft various stories. However, today, I have only a few minutes here and there to make the most of my time for this post. And that’s ok!

When I do have the privilege of doing some deep work (whether at home or at work), completing such work successfully and the reduced stress from managing distractions brings me a profound sense of accomplishment and pride, which contributes to my long-term happiness, overall well-being, satisfaction and fulfillment in my professional and personal life. 

How do you feel after a day filled with numerous meetings? Personally, I value meetings as they facilitate collaboration, connections with others and foster teamwork, especially in today's virtual and global work environments. However, meetings can easily become major distractions in our work lives.

Many mistakenly equate busyness in meetings with impact and success. This misconception often stems from various motives such as a lack of trust in team capabilities (“I will set up a meeting so I guarantee that my team will get it done”), a desire to showcase importance to leadership (“if I present the project results, leadership will see how amazing I am”), or even uncertainty about personal responsibilities (“I have no idea what I am doing”).

Patrick Lencioni has a fun book called Death by the meeting and in it, he underscores the importance of structuring meetings effectively to ensure they are purposeful and productive. If we all create more awareness about the meetings we engage in, we can allow ourselves and others to have more time to do “deep work”. And since there are numerous benefits of deep work on our personal and professional lives, everyone (the business, our partners, our kids, our family) can reap the benefits of it. 

I can highlight numerous benefits of deep work such as achieving a state of flow, experiencing deep satisfaction from valuable work, increasing productivity and impact, fostering creativity and innovation, enhancing efficiency, and aligning work with personal values and purpose, among others. However, only YOU can truly assess what deep work can bring to your life. I urge you to give it a try. Take the initiative to set up your environment for deep work! It all starts with us. Let’s lead by example and inspire others to embrace a more fulfilling and satisfying life, both at work and at home!

What excellence looks like:

• Women excel in deep work when we use time management strategies, set boundaries, seek support when needed, and advocate for their needs in the workplace.

• By engaging in deep work we will be able to pursue our passions and interests, fostering a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in our personal and professional lives.

• When women successfully complete deep work, the outcome reinforces our confidence in our own abilities and enhances our sense of self-worth, contributing to overall well-being and mental resilience.

• When we embrace deep work, we challenge traditional norms and biases about our capabilities, helping us to showcase our strengths, skills, and contributions beyond societal expectations.

​​Food for Thought:

When we (women) prioritize deep work, we serve as role models for future generations, encouraging them to pursue their passions, prioritize focus and dedication, and strive for excellence in all endeavors.

Call for action:

Get ready for deep work! Think like you are getting ready for a big play. You gather your tools (computer, guitar, notebook, tennis racquet, etc) like an actor gathering their script, dim the distractions (close your email, take your phone away from you, silence your notifications) as if lowering the theater curtains, and enter “Do Not Disturb” mode (isolate yourself in the optimal environment for you) like signaling the start of a grand performance. With the stage set and distractions silenced, you step into the spotlight of creativity and focus, ready to write scenes of productivity and success that would earn standing ovations from even the toughest critics!

Resources:

• Deep Work is a book by Cal Newport that explores the concept of deep work.The book emphasizes the importance of deep work in achieving professional success and personal satisfaction in a world filled with shallow work and distractions.

• Death by the meeting - by Patrick Lencioni is a leadership fable that explores the common pitfalls of ineffective meetings within organizations. The book highlights the significance of clear objectives, active participation, and accountability in making meetings purposeful and impactful for achieving organizational goals.