Are You Doing Enough to Facilitate Deep Work?

Every business wants a productive team. In an ideal situation, employees will come into the office, dedicate a chunk of uninterrupted time to important tasks, and leave feeling like they’ve had a productive day. For many, however, this simply isn’t a reality. Indeed, there are plenty of employees out there who face a constant battle with the distracting environments they work in. Phones ring constantly. Conversations take place in the open. Noises bounce off the poorly soundproofed corridor walls. Sound familiar? Well, the good news is there an antidote to this problem, as written about in the seminal book Deep Work by American author Cal Newport. In this blog, we look at Deep Work in more focus and offer suggestions on what can be done improve productivity. What is Deep Work? Knowledge worker in a state of deep focus ‘Deep work’ is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. According to Newport, employees (or “knowledge workers”) can achieve more if their environment and approach to work is adapted to facilitate deep work. Simply put, if an employee can focus, then they will produce better work in less time. So, what can businesses do to help employees focus in an increasingly distracted world? Let’s find out… Tips on How to Facilitate Deep Work Invest in Quiet Zones – The J.K. Rowling Effect Max furniture pod designed for deep work and improved focus Deep work office zone for improved productivity Max furniture pod designed for deep work and improved focus Deep work office zone for improved productivity In the winter of 2007, author J.K. Rowling was struggling to finish The Deathly Hallows, the last book in the Harry Potter series. “As I was finishing The Deathly Hallows, there came a day where the window cleaner came, the kids were at home and the dogs were barking,” Rowling said in an interview. With immense pressure on her shoulders to tie up the series and satisfy the millions of expectant fans, she needed to find a place where she could work deeply. The solution? Rowling checked into a suite at the luxurious Balmoral Hotel in downtown Edinburgh, where she worked without distraction. The rest, as they say, is history. The point, however, is not simply that Rowling found a quiet space, but that the change in environment and money spent increased the “perceived importance of the task” and, in turn, delivered “an injection motivation and energy”. Therefore, a company that can invest in an area dedicated to quiet work – say, a zone with acoustic pods or a well-designed soundproofed room – can have a similar effect on its employees. Encourage Deep Collaboration – The Whiteboard Effect

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