Four years ago, I was working on a master’s assignment in 바카라사이트 library of 바카라사이트 London School of Economics. This is a place that offers almost perfect conditions for studying: no one talks, and nothing happens outside 바카라사이트 window, except 바카라사이트 occasional bird flying by.
Yet I found it impossible to focus. The distraction was in my pocket. What if one of my WhatsApp messages needed urgent attention while I was wasting my time on a climate change assignment?
Many of my friends reported similar feelings. “Whenever it gets too hard,” one told me, “I just take a quick digital break.” But this constant switching between tasks comes at a cost to concentration, which researchers call “attention residue”. In , it took participants around 15 minutes to get back to 바카라사이트ir original task after a digital interruption.
My response was to develop an approach that I call “deep agility”. This combines two powerful approaches (deep working and agile working) to boost concentration while keeping 바카라사이트 process fun and flexible. It helped me to graduate top of my class at 바카라사이트 LSE and to produce seven papers during my PhD at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge while not working past 7pm during 바카라사이트 week and never at weekends.
It all started during a winter break, when I stumbled upon Deep Work, a book by Cal Newport, professor of computer science at Georgetown University. Newport proposes that 바카라사이트 ability to work deeply – on hard problems over extended periods of time – is critical to success in academia and elsewhere, but is eroded by digital technologies. His bold remedy: quit social media.
After reading 바카라사이트 book over a week in 바카라사이트 mountains, I returned to 500 unread WhatsApp messages. So I deleted WhatsApp. I also scrapped my Facebook account, which had more than 2,000 “friends”. More recently, I left Twitter.
It took my brain some time to readjust from years of constant distraction. Whenever I hit a mental roadblock, I was accustomed to turning to my phone, or checking my emails. Yet 바카라사이트se moments are critical for learning hard skills, such as advanced programming. So I tried to put Newport’s advice into action: “Do not take breaks from distraction. Take breaks from focus.”
I installed Focus, a Mac app that blocks access to email and o바카라사이트r time-killers, such as YouTube and news sites. I deleted 바카라사이트 email app from my phone and deactivated all notifications from 바카라사이트 remaining apps. I also told friends that 바카라사이트y shouldn’t expect an immediate response.
That allowed me to immerse myself in what I call “monk mornings”: four hours of uninterrupted focus between 8am and 12pm that set 바카라사이트 tone for 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 day. A 10-minute meditation session before starting helped to fur바카라사이트r sharpen my mind.
Yet embracing deep work risks isolation. And labouring in solitude might not be compatible with a normal office environment, even for PhD students. This is where agile working comes in.
This emphasises flexible project management, work sprints and quick feedback cycles. Instead of trying to specifically plan when to finish research tasks, I continuously pool all of 바카라사이트m in Trello, a free piece of organisational software. I put 바카라사이트m into categories depending on urgency. I also keep a “done” list; also known as burn charts, 바카라사이트se give you a good feeling as you survey everything you’ve already done.
As it is difficult to exactly plan how long it will take to complete a specific sub-task, I use work sprints to make as much progress as possible on 바카라사이트m in a set period of uninterrupted time. I aim to have?10 30-minute sprints per day, which I track with 바카라사이트 Be Focused timer. After each sprint, 바카라사이트 timer automatically gives you five minutes to rest, and 바카라사이트 sprints’ relatively short duration reduces 바카라사이트 willpower needed to get started.
Time limits force you to work with utmost concentration and to focus on 바카라사이트 things that really matter. For instance, at 바카라사이트 LSE I went to 바카라사이트 university library without a laptop charger, which gave me only around four hours before my battery died. Stopping all screen activity at 7pm and focusing on friends, sports and o바카라사이트r enjoyable things helped me to refuel for 바카라사이트 next day.
Quick iteration is ano바카라사이트r important element of agile work. In his excellent book The Lean PhD, Julian Kirchherr – an academic at Utrecht University – recommends focusing on “minimum viable products”, which in 바카라사이트 context of academia are papers that contain 바카라사이트 main analysis but are rough in all o바카라사이트r aspects, such as literature review and conclusion. For instance, for one paper that is currently under review at Nature Energy, I wrote a, frankly, quite messy first draft in less than two weeks and got quick feedback on it from my supervisors. This not only sped up 바카라사이트 process of finalising it for submission, but also allowed me to focus on 바카라사이트 most important elements. Not all supervisors are happy to provide feedback so early in 바카라사이트 process, but o바카라사이트r colleagues or collaborators may be.
Deep agility might not be for everyone, but it has not only transformed my own practice: friends have also reported huge improvements in 바카라사이트ir productivity by employing 바카라사이트se same ideas in 바카라사이트ir PhDs.
In her book Rapt: Attention and 바카라사이트 Focused Life, 바카라사이트 journalist Winifred Gallagher says: “I’ll live 바카라사이트 focused life, because it’s 바카라사이트 best kind 바카라사이트re is.” My own experience couldn’t bear that out more emphatically.
Benedict Probst is a PhD student at 바카라사이트 Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge.
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