Build consistency and continuity
While staying in the zone can be challenging, getting there in the first place is often the biggest hurdle. Procrastination. Avoidance. Easy, but not critical, work tasks. In order to mitigate the effects of the distractions that prevent us from getting into the zone, we have to reduce the friction. That friction is rarely caused by one thing. Instead, it’s an avalanche of tiny things just begging for your attention and preventing you from getting to the work that really matters.
Your email and chat clients plead for you to view those unread messages. As you open your applications or project folders to prepare to get to work, other ideas cross your mind. All of these little things serve as an alternative to your real work. They insidiously present themselves as other options that are still technically work. But it’s not about work. It’s about your most important work.
The more effort you have to make in order to get to your important work, the more opportunities for distraction. You want to get to the point where you can be doing deep work within moments of getting to your desk. Sure maybe you need a moment to get comfortable and acclimate, but you want to be a pro at getting to it.
Build and strengthen good habits
The best way to reduce friction and prime your brain for focusing and getting down to work is through habits, and some of the strongest habits you can build are those that help connect your work hours and bridge the gaps created by breaks and interruptions. That is, reduce your focus friction, and remember, habit building is about repetition. And studies have shown that if you commit to a specific time for a habit, it’s much more likely to stick. If you really want to focus on building habits, Atomic Habits by James Clear is an incredible read for developing tactics to help your habits stick.
One of the best ways to reduce focus friction is to lean heavily on your shut-down or pause ritual. Don’t just walk away from your desk when you take a break. Take a moment to tie up any loose ends and take a few measures to ensure that you’re ready to dive back in when you return. If it’s a short break like lunch, you’ll likely have slightly different steps than you will at the end of the day, but there’s always work you can do to minimize the amount of effort required to return to work.
Close all of your irrelevant applications, and, where possible, leave your most important work up on your computer’s desktop. No email. No chat. No news. Just your editor. When you get to work, your most important work should be staring you in the face and demanding your attention. Sticky notes can help too.
Outside of the virtual world, you can also take steps to ensure that once you sit down, your brain switches into work mode. Clean off your desktop of any potentially distracting notes. Bills sitting around? Pay them at the end of the day so your desk is clear for the next day. Pencil needs sharpening? Include it in your end-of-day ritual. By the time you’ve put in a full day’s work, there’s plenty you can do to ensure nothing can distract you tomorrow, and most of these tasks don’t require much mental energy.
Another handy tactic is to write scripts or shortcuts to open all of the correct windows and applications that matter for your important work. If one command can open your development environment, spin up your automated tests, and open the other applications you need, you’ll save yourself a lot of opportunity for distraction.
Create continuity across breaks in work
You can also string together your days with notes to yourself so that you start each day with guidance from yesterday you. Think of it as saving your state. Make notes about what you accomplished, what you were working on, where you’d like to pick up tomorrow.
This benefits you in two ways. First, when you set aside a few minutes at the end of the day to consolidate your thoughts and progress from the previous day, you help your brain prepare to commit that information to long-term memory. And your brain will continuously work through any lingering issues in the background. Second, when you start work the next day, you’re more easily able to pick up right where you left off.
The medium for saving your state isn’t critical. Hand-written notes work great for some, but capturing your thoughts in a text file can work too. Just make sure to explicitly record it somewhere. Don’t just think about it. Write it down or type it in. One great way to do this is to add comments directly to your relevant code to enable you to quickly rebuild your working state. Then leave your text editor open with that block of comments staring you in the face the next day. Then start every day by reviewing your previous day’s notes and translating those ideas into your plan for the day. It helps you quickly focus and prepare for a productive day.
Alternatively, if you’re working directly on code, you can leave a spec intentionally broken to ensure your brain is itching to get back to work the next day. The key is to make sure that it’s a broken spec from genuinely unfinished work. Just manually breaking something that already works won’t carry the same benefits. Our brains love unsolved problems, and our unconscious will often work on these problems in the background. In many cases, you’ll find that as soon as you start the next day, your brain has found the solution.
Finally, after writing your note to yourself at the end of your day, make time to clean both your virtual and physical desktop so you have a clean starting point. You don’t have to close every application, but take a second to close all of the applications that are distracting and irrelevant. If your chat or email app is staring you in the face with unread message counts first thing the next day, it’s that much harder to ignore and focus on your real work.
If you work at home, another option that can help is shut down your computer. This way, you avoid any temptation to just go back to your desk and check something real quick. It provides just enough friction and closure to help ensure your day has a clear cut endpoint.
We’re creatures of habit, and building habits can help you get in the mindset to do deep work. Think of it like warming up before a workout. It prepares your body and mind and creates triggers that help you more easily get in the right mainframe to do deep work.
In many ways, you can turn the other tactics from this book into the habits and rituals that help you get in the zone. Grab your water, tea, or coffee. Get your headphones or turn on your music. Turn your phone and other devices on silent. Jot down your plan for the day and the primary tasks you’d like to get done. Open all of the right applications on your computer, or get all of your tools within arm’s reach. Shut your door to your office. Close all unnecessary apps like chat and email.
Your next steps
- Design your “beginning of day” ritual.
- Get coffee/water/tea.
- If you must, glance at email/chat to ensure nothing urgent demands your attention, but then close it immediately if there’s nothing urgent.
- Create your day’s action plan from the previous day’s notes.
- Close your door.
- Put your devices into do not disturb mode.
- Select some work music and put on your headphones.
- Design an end-of-day shutdown ritual that sets you up to focus faster when you start work the next day.
- Charge your headphones.
- Clear clutter off your desk.
- Write a note about where your day ended and what’s next.
- Close distracting applications and set up your desktop to be focused on your next set of tasks.
- Handle any urgent requests from others.
- Fill your water jug with fresh water and put it in the refrigerator.
- Write some scripts or automation that can quickly set up your machine in the right working state for the most important work you need to do.
- Try to work the same hours every day to create consistency.
- While eating breakfast, getting dressed, taking a shower, and otherwise getting ready in the morning, think through your day and about the work you want to accomplish.