Focus · 7 min read

Deep work: how to focus for hours

Short answer: deep work is focused, distraction-free work on something hard, like writing, studying or coding. To focus for hours, give it a fixed time every day, choose one task with a clear outcome, put your phone in another room, and start with 25 to 45 minutes, growing towards 90. Check email at fixed times, and end every block by writing down the next step.

What is deep work?

The term comes from Cal Newport's 2016 book Deep Work: professional activities done in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your abilities to their limit. It's the work that moves things forward: the chapter, the exam topic, the feature, the plan. Its opposite is shallow work: email, chats and admin, which you can do while distracted.

Why focusing is so hard

• Switching leaves a residue. When you jump from one task to another, part of your attention stays on the first one. The researcher Sophie Leroy called this “attention residue”: people did worse on the next task, especially when the first wasn't finished.
• Your phone pulls even when silent. In a well-known 2017 study, people did better on tests of working memory with their phone in another room than with it on the desk. Later studies found smaller effects, but moving the phone costs nothing.
• Everything feels urgent. Messages arrive all day, and each one invites a quick look that turns into ten minutes.

7 rules to focus for hours

1. Same time, every day. Pick a fixed slot, ideally your sharpest hours, often the morning. When the time is already decided, starting takes no willpower.
2. One task, one outcome. Before you start, write down exactly what you want to have at the end: “draft section 2”, not “work on thesis”.
3. Phone in another room. Not face down on the desk. Turn off notifications on the computer too, and close every tab you don't need.
4. Start small, then grow. 25 to 45 minutes is plenty at first. Add a little each week; 90 minutes is a strong block for most people.
5. Batch the shallow work. Email and messages at two fixed times, like 11:00 and 16:00, instead of all day. They can wait an hour; your focus can't come back that fast.
6. End with the next step. Before you stop, write down where to pick up. Tomorrow's block then starts in seconds, not minutes.
7. Rest on purpose. Breaks, a walk, a real end to the workday. Focus is a resource: you get more of it when you don't spend it all day on small things.

Example: a deep work day

A real routine the Dots set up from one sentence: “Set up my deep work routine: every weekday a 90-minute deep work block on my thesis at 8:30 with my phone in another room, and check email only at 11:00 and 16:00.” They added three repeating weekday tasks: the thesis block at 8:30, with “Phone in another room” as its first step, and two email check-ins.

Repeats every Monday to Friday, with a reminder at the start of each.

How to build up to 90 minutes

If 90 minutes sounds like a lot, it is at first. Start at 25 minutes for a week, then add 10 to 15 minutes each week. Our 30-day deep focus challenge does exactly that, from 25 to 90 minutes in five weeks. For shorter, more frequent blocks, use the Pomodoro technique.

Frequently asked questions

How many hours of deep work a day are realistic?

Start with one. Cal Newport, who coined the term, suggests that around four hours a day is the limit even for experienced people. Two good hours a day already add up to a lot of serious work.

What's the difference between deep work and shallow work?

Deep work needs your full concentration and creates real value: writing, studying, coding, designing. Shallow work is everything you can do while distracted: email, messages, admin. Both are needed; the trick is protecting time for the first.

Is deep work the same as flow?

Not quite. Deep work is what you do: focused, undistracted work on something hard. Flow is a state you sometimes reach while doing it, when time seems to disappear.

Can I do deep work in an open office or at home with family?

Yes, with a few signals: headphones, a fixed time people know about, notifications off, and the phone out of reach. Early mornings are often the quietest slot.

Sources

• Newport, C. (2016). Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. Grand Central Publishing.
• Leroy, S. (2009). Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 109(2).
• Ward, A. F., Duke, K., Gneezy, A. & Bos, M. W. (2017). Brain drain: The mere presence of one's own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2(2).

More guides: The Pomodoro technique · 30-day challenge ideas for focus and study · How long does it take to form a habit?