Let's get practical #2: Deep Work & Organization

[Raphael]

Leaning Through Intuition: An Idea

Warning: This is a recent idea that I had. I didn't think deeply about it, the following content probably lacks some depth.

We can use intuition in order to learn and discover things more effectively. This is done by implying new possibilities, for example:

• When an essay, if a person is used to follow a particular structure, it's possible to use intuition by asking ourselves: What if we change this or that, or use these words to make the content better?
• In programming, if a code is slow to execute, instead of searching for a solution on the web, it's possible to use intuition by asking ourselves: What will change if I remove this or that? What would be the difference if I do it completely differently?
• When building a new house, we can ask ourselves: What would happen if we use very varied materials and assemble them in unusual ways? Maybe we will create something great and original.

Using intuition in learning is about envisaging new possibilities rather than repeating existing patterns.

[Raphael]

Imagination And Big Picture Thinking To Accomplish Projects

I found out that this is critical to think about the final result before starting to take action.

Example: If we are building a Note-Taking App, we need to imagine and draw the app on paper before starting the development. Then, we need to list all the features. And then think about the different steps necessary to achieve the project.

Thinking that way creates a path to achieve results. Without a set of steps, it's difficult to know where to start and where to go. Where with a clear path we know what direction to take.

Of course, this idea needs to be balanced. Nothing will always be clear on the path and many times starting new experiments are necessary to succeed.

[Raphael]

Understanding Attention Residue

• When we switch from Task A to Task B, our attention doesn't immediately follow
• A residue of our attention remains stuck thinking about the original task. This residue gets especially thick if our work on Task A was unbounded and of low intensity
• People experiencing attention residue after switching tasks are likely to demonstrate poor performance on that next task. The more intense the residue, the worse the performance

The solution to avoid attention residue is to take a small break between two tasks, 5 - 15 minutes should be enough.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Raphael

[Raphael]

Deep Work Is Meaningful

Quote

A deep life is not just economically lucrative, but also a life well lived.

Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules For Focused Success In A Distracted World, 2016

[Raphael]

22 April 2020

• Wake Up Time: 05:40 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:18 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Deep Work Sessions:

• 09:40 AM - 10:30 AM: I reported notes from a book to my commonplace book. Deep Work Duration: 50 minutes.
• 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM: I improved meta titles and descriptions to improve a website SEO. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes.

 

• Total Work Duration: 2 hours 20 minutes, including 2 hours 30 minutes of Deep Work (objective 0 minutes)
• Total Reading Time: 32 minutes (objective 30 minutes - 1 hour)

Edited April 23, 2020 by Raphael

[Raphael]

23 April 2020

• Wake Up Time: 05:42 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 10:07 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Work Sessions:

• 10:07 AM - 11:49 AM: I installed Postman, MongoDB, and Compass. I also configured the database. I distracted myself on the actualized.org/forum for a few minutes during the installation. Work Duration: 1 hour 42 minutes.
• 01:04 PM - 01:22 PM: I had a communication with a client. He needs to fix some issues on his website. Work Duration: 18 minutes
• 03:20 PM - 04:44 PM: I needed to install the website on localhost to test it out. I got a lot of issues with MySQL and Apache, I lost a lot of time. Work Duration: 1 hour 24 minutes.
• 05:00 PM - 06:46 PM: Sometimes things go like shit. I was unable to restore the website from the backups and it took a lot of time. Work Duration: 1 hour 46 minutes.
• 07:57 PM - 09:48 PM: I corrected links on the website and also did other fixes. I was very distracted as the work was more repetitive than intellectually challenging. Work Duration: 2 hours 1 minute

Deep Work Sessions:

• 08:45 AM - 09:43 AM: I almost finished the registration form, I still need to manage errors and CORS. I realized that some tools are missing on my computer, I have to install them. Deep Work Duration: 58 minutes.
• 12:00 AM - 12:55 AM: I added error and success messages to the registration form. Work Duration: 1 hour 42 minutes.
• 02:24 PM - 03:05 PM: I fixed issues on a Wordpress website, but there are too many troubles. I'm going to use a backup. Deep Work Duration: 41 minutes.

 

• Total Work Duration: 9 hours 34 minutes, including 3 hours 21 minutes of Deep Work (objective at least 6 hours)
• Total Reading Time: 0 minutes (objective 30 minutes - 1 hour)

Edited April 23, 2020 by Raphael

[Raphael]

24 April 2020

• Wake Up Time: 05:28 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:36 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Work Sessions:

• 09:00 AM - 09:30 AM: I installed created a Dropbox account and installed it on my computer. I also did a quick website review. Work Duration: 30 minutes.
• 10:12 AM - 10:44 AM: I had a conversation with a client. Work Duration: 32 minutes.
• 10:58 AM - 12:25 AM: I had a chat communication with another client. I tend to be very distracted while I communicate by text message because I don't know when the client will respond. This work session was very shallow. Work Duration: 1 hour 28 minutes.
• 02:05 PM - 02:56 PM: I installed a chat plugin on the website. Work Duration: 51 minutes.

Deep Work Sessions:

• 04:23 PM - 05:30 PM: I completed another component for my personal project. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 7 minutes.

Today's has been a difficult day. I didn't work well because I didn't sleep enough and didn't sleep well. I'm unable to work correctly when I have less than 8 hours of sleep. I have been tired and very distracted in most of my work sessions. Fortunately, I still did some work even if it wasn't quality work.

• Total Work Duration: 4 hours 28 minutes, including 1 hour 7 minutes of Deep Work (objective at least 6 hours)
• Total Reading Time: 0 minutes (objective 30 minutes - 1 hour)

Edited April 25, 2020 by Raphael

[Raphael]

25 April 2020

• Wake Up Time: 07:04 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:55 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Work Sessions:

• 11:57 AM - 12:43 AM: I had a communication with a client. I was distracted. Work Duration: 46 minutes.
• 12:43 AM - 01:10 PM: I updated links to make them dynamics on a Wordpress website. I was distracted. Work Duration: 37 minutes.
• 02:06 PM - 02:46 PM: I continued to update the links on the Wordpress website. I was distracted. Work Duration: 40 minutes.

Deep Work Sessions:

• 09:40 AM - 10:09 AM: I created the beginning of a data format and made a web service call. Deep Work Duration: 29 minutes.
• 11:24 AM - 11:51 AM: I added alt text to images in order to improve SEO. Deep Work Duration: 29 minutes.
• 03:07 PM - 04:25 PM: I completed the login page of my personal project and merge a pull request. I was distracted because I was speaking to my sister at the same time. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 18 minutes.
• 05:15 PM - 6:22 PM: I completed the forgotten password page and merge another pull request. I had a lot of negative thoughts during the session as my dad has been abusive towards my mom yesterday and I couldn't stop thinking about what happened. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 7 minutes

This day has been pretty difficult too. I woke up late and have been sad all-day after seeing my dad verbally abusing my mother yesterday. When I encounter this kind of negative events they tend to stay stuck in my head and make me unable to work. I also didn't do my affirmations today and yesterday, it didn't help me and I know that they are useful.

• Total Work Duration: 5 hours 26 minutes, including 2 hours 23 minutes of Deep Work (objective at least 6 hours)
• Total Reading Time: 0 minutes (objective 30 minutes - 1 hour)

[Raphael]

26 April 2020

• Wake Up Time: 06:35 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:30 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Work Sessions:

• 3:55 PM - 4:18 PM: I had another Skype communication with the same client, he wanted to work on some stuff and make it ready for tomorrow morning. I told him that I wanted to have empty time on Sunday evening and that I will probably not work on it before tomorrow. Work Duration: 23 minutes

Deep Work Sessions:

• 7:49 AM - 10:43 PM: I didn't expect to work today, but a client came back to me. We were working and sharing ideas through Skype and I solved his issue. Deep Work Duration: 2 hours 56 minutes
• 11:30 AM - 12:09 AM: I fixed an issue on a client application. Deep Work Duration: 39 minutes
• 02:40 PM - 3:42 PM: I reported notes from a book to my commonplace book. I had a lot of negative and angry thoughts against my dad so I wasn't highly focused. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 2 minutes

 

• Total Work Duration: 5 hours 0 minutes, including 4 hours 37 minutes of Deep Work (0 minutes)
• Total Reading Time: 0 minutes (objective 0 minutes)

[Raphael]

27 April 2020

• Wake Up Time: 05:45 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:25 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Deep Work Sessions:

• 9:43 AM - 10:32 AM: I added web service calls to the client's website, I got some CORS errors. He will have to fix that before I can continue. Deep Work Duration: 49 minutes
• 10:58 AM - 12:31 AM: I worked on a password recovery component. I got interrupted by a client in the beginning. I still have a lot of negative thoughts while working. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 33 minutes
• 02:07 PM - 04:03 PM: I did another session of coding where I worked with Redux. I distracted myself a little in between on the actualized.org/forum. I also had a lot of negative thoughts. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 56 minutes
• 04:41 PM - 05:51 PM: I continued the previous work with Redux. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour
• 06:01 PM - 06:41 PM: I lack data to continue the work correctly. I will look at this tomorrow with the client. Deep Work Duration: 39 minutes

 

• Total Work Duration: 5 hours 57 minutes, including 4 hours 37 minutes of Deep Work (at least 6 hours)
• Total Reading Time: 0 minutes (objective 30 minutes - 1 hour)

Edited April 27, 2020 by Raphael

[Raphael]

28 April 2020

• Wake Up Time: 06:40 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:30 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Work Sessions:

• 08:37 AM - 09:01 AM: I calculated my working hours for a client and send him the invoice. I also merged a pull request for another client's project. Work Duration: 24 minutes
• 01:51 PM - 2:07 PM: I raised an invoice on the freelancing platform and answered to a client question. Work Duration: 16 minutes

Deep Work Sessions:

• 09:06 AM - 10:11 AM: I did many some fixes on my personal project and also merged two pull requests. I was quite focused. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 4 minutes
• 10:47 AM - 12:36 AM: I work on cookies management and authorization. I was quite focused, I only got a few out of context thoughts. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 49 minutes
• 02:10 PM - 2:52 PM: I created a new API and did a few other fixes. Deep Work Duration: 42 minutes
• 02:59 PM - 4:16 PM: I worked on authorization on the front end. I now call an API each time that the user changes route to verify the token validity. I was focused and only had a few negative thoughts. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 17 minutes
• 04:41 PM - 4:42 PM: I created a modal to indicate the user that its session is expired. It looks good. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 1 minute

I woke up late today, but despite that, the day went really well. I worked a lot, was quite concentrated, and very productive even if I had some parasite thoughts. I'm very satisfied with this day.

• Total Work Duration: 6 hours 27 minutes, including 5 hours 51 minutes of Deep Work (at least 6 hours)
• Total Reading Time: 33 minutes (objective 30 minutes - 1 hour)

Edited April 28, 2020 by Raphael

[Raphael]

29 April 2020

• Wake Up Time: 07:20 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:29 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Work Sessions:

• No work for today

I woke up very late today. I had a lot of difficulties to sleep at night and it impacted the rest of my day. Fortunately, today wasn't a working day. I hope that I will be able to wake at 6:00 AM or before tomorrow.

• Total Work Duration: 0 minutes (objective 0 minutes)
• Total Reading Time: 40 minutes (objective 30 minutes - 1 hour)

[Raphael]

30 April 2020

• Wake Up Time: 06:37 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:30 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Work Sessions:

• 01:49 PM - 3:03 PM: I searched for projects online and sent a few proposals. A potential client answered to one of them (yeeaaah!). Work Duration: 1 hour 14 minutes

Deep Work Sessions:

• 08:52 AM - 10:07 AM: I created a new mongodb schema and did a lot of research on delete cascade functionality. I was surprised that I had to do it manually rather than adding an option in the schema. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes
• 10:24 AM - 12:41 AM: I created a new webservice, made the call from the front end, and fixed a lot of issues. I encounter a problem concerning the app loading process that I need to sort out. Deep Work Duration: 2 hours 17 minutes
• 03:17 PM - 04:47: PM: I fixed the loading error and I added a message if it happens. I did the translation into French too. I'm very satisfied with this session. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
• 8:00 PM - 9:05 PM: I wrote a website analysis. I didn't expected to work that late, so sometimes potential client comes from anywhere. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 5 minutes

Today was a great day. I woke up late, but damn I worked really well. It's incredible how fast we can get things done with deep focus. I still feel that I'm not at my best and that there is a lot of progress that I can make, but overall this day was a very satisfying and happy day.

• Total Work Duration: 7 hours 21 minutes, including 6 hours 7 minutes of Deep Work (at least 6 hours)
• Total Reading Time: 30 minutes (objective 30 minutes - 1 hour)

[Raphael]

01 May 2020

• Wake Up Time: 07:15 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:30 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Work Sessions:

• 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM: I updated my profile on multiple recruitment and freelancing platforms. Work Duration: 1 hour

Deep Work Sessions:

• 02:15 PM - 03:01 PM: I added meta titles to the components that I created and also make automatic translations in case if the user changes the language. The sprint 0.1 is finished. Deep Work Duration: 46 minutes

I think I experienced a backslash after yesterday's progress. I had trouble to sleep at night and woke up late, I was craving distractions during the day and couldn't start working. I only worked a little in the afternoon.

• Total Work Duration: 1 hour 46 minutes, including 46 minutes of Deep Work (at least 6 hours)
• Total Reading Time: 31 minutes (objective 30 minutes - 1 hour)

[Raphael]

02 May 2020

• Wake Up Time: 06:40 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:30 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Work Sessions:

• 09:25 AM - 10:30 AM: I searched for freelancing jobs websites. Work Duration: 46 minutes
• 11:18 AM - 12:56 AM: I filled my information on several recruitment and freelancing websites. Work Duration: 1 hour 38 minutes
• 02:11 PM - 02:44 PM: I completed my profile on LinkedIn and answered a potential client's question. Work Duration: 33 minutes
• 03:05 PM - 03:32 PM: I did some project planning. I planned the sprint 0.2 with all the tasks needed for this period. Work Duration: 27 minutes

Deep Work Sessions:

• 4:07 PM - 05:34 PM: I created and completed the application header menu. I went on Facebook at the moment to check a design example, but I checked the feed at the same time. I think I'm going to install the FeedEradicator extension. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 27 minutes

I didn't work a lot today too, but it was better than yesterday. I started late in the morning and took way too much time during breaks. I'm thinking about using blocking plugins on Firefox too because I distracted myself on useless sites.

• Total Work Duration: 4 hours 51 minutes, including 1 hour 27 minutes of Deep Work (at least 6 hours)
• Total Reading Time: 0 minutes (objective 30 minutes - 1 hour)

[Raphael]

03 May 2020

• Wake Up Time: 06:42 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:14 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Work Sessions:

• No work for today

 

• Total Work Duration: 0 minutes (objective 0 minutes)
• Total Reading Time: 0 minutes (objective 0 minutes)

[Raphael]

04 May 2020

• Wake Up Time: 06:35 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:15 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Deep Work Sessions:

• 10:20 AM - 12:30 AM: I created the settings page, I still need to do a few stuff here and then I will be done. I had negative thoughts that distracted me. Deep Work Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes
• 01:37 PM - 02:40 PM: I merged a pull request and started to design the general settings component. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 3 minutes
• 02:53 PM - 04:10 PM: I continued the work on the general settings. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 17 minutes
• 04:29 PM - 05:10 PM: I continued the work on the general settings. Deep Work Duration: 41 minutes
• 05:15 PM - 05:45 PM: I created a new backend API and updated the settings API's prefix routes. Deep Work Duration: 30 minutes

 

• Total Work Duration: 5 hours 41 minutes, including 5 hours 41 minutes of Deep Work (at least 6 hours)
• Total Reading Time: 30 minutes (objective 30 minutes - 1 hour)

Edited May 4, 2020 by Raphael

[Raphael]

05 May 2020

• Wake Up Time: 05:43 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:00 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Work Sessions:

• 01:28 PM - 03:13 PM: I searched for job opportunities online and send some proposals. Work duration: 1 hour 45 minutes

Deep Work Sessions:

• 08:55 AM - 10:15 AM: I created the select component to better deal with HTML selects and used it to change the language on the application. I also fix the language loading error on the app startup. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 20 minutes
• 10:34 AM - 11:57 AM: I added the delete account functionality for the user. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 23 minutes
• 12:10 AM - 12:28 AM: I did a code review and merged the pull request. Deep Work Duration: 18 minutes
• 03:22 PM - 04:40 PM: I created an algorithm to load the Terms Of Service in the specific language, pushed it, and merged it to the main branch. I also did a little of project planning. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 18 minutes

 

• Total Work Duration: 6 hours 4 minutes, including 5 hours 41 minutes of Deep Work (objective at least 6 hours)
• Total Reading Time: 34 minutes (objective 30 minutes - 1 hour)

Edited May 6, 2020 by Raphael

[Raphael]

Love VS Discipline

I realized with the help of people on this forum and Leo that Love is far more important than discipline.

Discipline is about using force to achieve results. If we take as an example a kid who doesn't like to eat fish, his parents need to use force in order to make him eat, it's a difficult and painful action for the kid. Where if he likes fish, he would eat it quickly without any difficulties.

Most bosses, directors, managers, and self-help coaches talk about discipline. They need discipline because they don't love themselves enough and don't love what they are doing, so they need to use force to accomplish things. They feel tight and stressed all the time, their lives are fake, they think they are better and superior, they brag about how good they are, where in fact they are depressed and anxious.

Discipline is for low-conscious people that cannot evolve higher, it feels hard and painful.

Love is for high-conscious people, it feels smooth and creates results in a relaxed manner. With Love everything that someone wants or needs to do in his/her will life happen naturally, smoothly, happily, and without any difficulty.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Raphael

[Raphael]

06 May 2020

• Wake Up Time: 05:25 AM (objective 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM)
• In Bed Time: 09:15 PM (objective 9:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Deep Work Sessions:

• 09:40 AM - 10:42 AM: I reported notes from a book to my commonplace book. Deep Work Duration: 1 hour 2 minutes

 

• Total Work Duration: 1 hour 2 minutes, including 1 hour 2 minutes of Deep Work (objective 0 minutes)
• Total Reading Time: 0 minutes (objective 30 minutes - 1 hour)