A Healthy Business And Happy Life - Prune That Shallow Work
“No matter what’s happening, anyone can efficiently fight the battles of just one day. It’s only when you add the battles of those two abysmal eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, that life gets overwhelmingly complicated.”
There's a common belief that entrepreneurship means you no longer get stuck with work you don't want to do. You'll only work on projects that you're passionate about. It's a large part of what drew me in, the thought that I'd never deal with soul-sucking busy work again. Except with any business, there are elements that feel anything but passionate. The key to making it all run smoothly is giving yourself some rules to play by.
No matter what stage of business you're in, there is always room for improvement and a need for reflection. Success brings a whole new set of obstacles that countless entrepreneurs struggle with. As your business grows, so do the demands on your time.
A majority of what sucks up your attention can be deemed as shallow work.
In the bestseller Deep Work by Cal Newport, he describes this work as "noncognitively demanding, logistical style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend not to create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate."
Think checking email, spending an hour choosing a font for your presentation, or using social media without a strategy.
The work can seem important but does little beyond suck up your time like a mindless game of Farmville.
Avoiding shallow work completely is not an option. It's just part of doing business. But I will argue that you need to give yourself a set amount of time to work on this stuff and stick with it.
So, what percentage of your workday should be spent on shallow work?
Newport says that "the answer to the question will be somewhere in the 30 to 50 percent range."
If you do less than 30 percent, you run the risk of being disconnected from the business. You're not getting back to people in a timely manner, bills aren't getting paid and your hermit-like habits will make it tough to have a viable business.
And once you're above 50 percent, you're no longer investing energy in the high-value work that allows you to stand out in your field. Newport defines deep work (high-value) as "Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate."
This is work that centers on creating new products or services, writing, and training.
When do you schedule work that needs to be done, but falls into the shallow category?
Always start with deep work. Use the 8-step process Tim Ferriss used to create his entrepreneur empire. This gives you a framework for making sure your most important work is getting done first. You don't want to use up all your mental energy on mindless tasks.
If I'm working on brainless tasks, I'll crank the music and turn it into something enjoyable. I'll set a container for how much time I'll spend in that area as well. If I set aside an hour for my shallow work for the day, I'll have a set intention for what I want to accomplish. I'll have it written down who I'm going to email, what I want to post on LinkedIn and if I have time, respond to any emails, messages or comments I received since I last checked-in.
Having a plan for when you're going to do shallow work frees up the mental energy that drives your business forward.
As Newport points out, "If you work for yourself, this exercise will force you to confront the reality of how little time in your 'busy' schedule you're actually producing value." And "Without these numbers, it's difficult for an entrepreneur to say no to any opportunity that might generate some positive return."
It's made a huge difference in how I approach my days. It lets me engage with all the elements that are needed to keep a business healthy, as well as keeping me focused on work that matters. This is after all the work you're passionate about. It's why you got into entrepreneurship in the first place, because it gives you the freedom to do more of what you love.
What percentage of your day is spent on low-value work? How do you plan your day? What are you going to do differently after thinking about your high-value work?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
