Every few years, I install an app where I track everything work-related that I do. Then I see how many hours a week I do anything that can be interpreted as work.
The result is always the same. I work between 21 and 26 hours a week. It was so when I was in my first year as a professor, and it remained the same now that I’m department chair.
My definition of work is very generous. It includes teaching, grading, research, chair work, emails, reading, writing, meetings, translation, watching educational videos, and even painting. Talking to students, talking to colleagues, public speaking, everything.
The reason why I manage to do all this in such a short time is deep focus. Deep focus is a semi-hypnotic state where you go deep inside, and everything gets done extremely fast. Except for talking with colleagues but those I simply avoid as much as I can.
To find out how prepared you are for deep work, I suggest the following exercise. Do nothing for as long as you can and observe how long you lasted and what you felt in the process. By doing nothing, I mean exactly that. Don’t use technology, listen to music, talk to people, etc. Just be alone with your thoughts. Did you last 15 minutes? An hour? Two? If you did 5 hours, I’ve got nothing to teach you about deep work.
It’s very important to track what you felt. Once you try the activity and figure out the feelings you experienced, I’ll tell you what they meant and how to proceed.
Clarissa's Blog 
“Just be alone with your thoughts”
No problem, but they go off in 6 thousand different directions…. is that a problem?
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No, absolutely not. If it doesn’t feel bad, it’s working right.
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Does it count for this experiment if you are walking around , not looking at your phone or any screens whatsoever, not talking to anyone, listening to anything, or tracking anything or moving in pursuit of a goal? Or did you have to be sitting and not lying down?
Not to be semantic, but what is the definition of “alone with your thoughts” and “not doing anything” for the purposes of this exercise?
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Walking is great. The mind should be allowed to roam free. If the feet are doing the same, it’s even better.
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Oh.
I can do a whole day then, if I’m hiking alone. I mean, at some point I’ll eat or drink, of course. When thinking about doing the same in civilization though, the instant thought is that I’m too busy for that.
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You can’t be too busy for what constitutes the actual purpose of life, right?
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