When I get stuck on a task I don’t enjoy or did not do before or that has a lot of ambiguity, I feel I need to muster my strength and power through it using the practices I learned and proved to work before; like research, analysis, using timers for deep work sessions. I think to myself get focused and get it done. I noticed I never pray for guidance and feeling ease because my work task is so earthly and Divine guidance is not part of the equation for me. Not only that, but I had a limiting belief that this is not where we use spiritual practices, and that we should only use them in relationships and managing emotions.
During working hours I try to keep my focus and track my deep work sessions using the below tools;
Keep a daily tally of 30-minute focus sessions using pen and paper according to Cal Newport’s’ advice. My personal minimum target is a total of 90 minutes per day.
Use Forest app to keep me from touching my phone for any reason while also growing trees as a proof of my focus. I highly recommend this app.
Turn on Do Not Disturb Mode on my phone.
Turn off Bluetooth so my smart watch won’t buzz.
Use noise cancellation headset.
Play music with no lyrics, just instrumental music.
The below are other tools I use that I pay some premium for , but totally worth it:
Time blocking at work has been an indispensable productivity and focus technique for me in the past months. I learned it from Cal Newport and Charlie Gilkey.
At the start of each workday I write what I plan to do on a time schedule. I use my weekly passion planner to do that and I use erasable pens as I edit it when needed.
I have been choosing a word of the year for 2 years now and this year I decided to choose a mantra.
My word of the year 2019 was Teach because I wanted to start sharing what I learn through weekly instagram videos. My word for 2020 was Clarity which I was seeking through three pillars inspired by the book Clarity First, mindfulness, questions and self-care.
I couldn’t choose just one word for 2021 as I have been thinking about several themes to live this year.
One of the themes is The Practice, which is committing to my creative practice day in and day out as Seth Godin so brilliantly explained in his latest book with the same title. My practice for this year is going to be writing. I want to take my writing very seriously and hone this skill by committing to daily writing on this blog starting Feb 1st 2021. Writing more can only improve my podcast and my learning capabilities because writing will help me synthesize the information I’m consuming.
Another theme I’m thinking about is Life of Focus based on the amazing course I enjoyed by Cal Newport and Scott H. Young. I have been fascinated by the ideas in this course which you’d be familiar with if you listened to Cal’s podcast or read his books Deep Work and Digital Minimalism or Scott’s book Ultralearning. In this course Cal and Scott defined focus as “The ability to guide your attention in ways you desire, not just following the random tugs of the environment.” I believe that our attention is one of our most valuable and limited assets and that’s why I have started my year with the digital declutter challenge. I believe that we need to be stingy with how we spend our attention and that improving our focus is a skill we can learn through practice. Here is this word again.
I have also been trying to commit to tracking my deep work (focused) sessions at work and keeping a tally of them as advised by Cal over and over. Deep work session are 30-minute intervals where I focus solely on one task which requires mental effort, no task switching, no glancing at my email inbox or God forbid my phone. This year I want to contribute more value with less time. Committing to such sessions will improve my focus muscles and my attention quality and help me exaclty do that.
I’ve been also wanting to better redirect my attention to the present moment where life happens after completing The Power of Now Book discussion series (Arabic) in 2020. This way I will feel more alive. My family will feel my attention with them too as I practice being present. My morning meditaiton practice will support that. My improved digital wellbeing -after the digital declutter challenge ends and implementing the rules I’ll set moving forward- will create strict boundaries between family time and work time. I also recently realized that my social media time is work time. I’m not there to scroll. I’m there to share my work that I do here in my blog and in my podcast. It’s not ok to work during family time. It’s not ok to do it when I’m at my 9-5 job. I’d better start setting proper work hours for my personal creative work including my social media.
Practice Focused Attention
Practice: Writing, Podcasting, Meditating & Deep Work consistently.
Focused: Tracking Deep/focused sessions at my job. Creating Boundaries between work and family with digital wellbeing rules.
Attention: With a life of focus and minimized distractions I will have more attention to spend on meaningful connections and be more present wherever I am.
What about you? Have you chosen your word/mantra of the year? It’s such a beautiful exercise, here are some resources to help you that I shared in my newsletter.
