Strategie per dosare la concentrazione

Working in a focused manner is a fundamental value for every knowledge worker. In the previous article, I presented how a work environment can be designed so that everyone can enter a state of deep human development, maximizing their personal abilities.

However, human beings, by their very nature, are in constant struggle with their desires. It’s no surprise that among the most common ones are: eating, sleeping, and having sex. Following closely are: taking a break from work, checking email and social media, browsing the web, listening to music, watching TV. After all, every day we must come to terms with our willpower, that force which, in a world full of distractions, brings us back to the path of focus. Unfortunately, it is available in limited quantity, finite. We can, in fact, think of willpower as a water tank that, when used throughout the day, inevitably tends to empty.

That’s why it’s important to define a strategy to balance focus and willpower throughout our workday. In this article, I will present four different philosophical approaches.

The Monastic Philosophy

Some knowledge workers, in order to focus on their work, need to eliminate entirely any side activities such as checking email or answering phone calls. In this case, concentration must necessarily be continuous and without interruptions. Such a choice requires, in advance, a well-planned activity with clear goals, often guided by the philosophy: do one thing, but do it in the best possible way.

The Bimodal Philosophy

While in the monastic philosophy side activities are completely eliminated, in the bimodal philosophy they are banned only during certain periods. As the name of this particular strategy suggests, the knowledge worker operates in a monastic way during periods of intense work and dedicates the rest of the time to activities that do not require special concentration. The division between the two modes of work does not follow a strict pattern and can occur on different scales. For example, on a weekly scale, one might dedicate three full days to intense work and the rest to other activities, or on an annual basis, reserve an entire season for more demanding tasks. The minimum unit of division tends to be at least one full day.

The Rhythmic Philosophy

Followers of this philosophy believe that the simplest way to start having sessions of deep work is to turn them into habits. The goal is therefore to create a rhythm, eliminating the need to spend energy deciding whether and when to dedicate oneself to activities that require concentration. In contrast to the bimodal philosophy, blocks of deep work often last ninety minutes. The level of concentration might not be as high, but it’s an excellent compromise, as it aligns more closely with the reality of human nature. Choosing one over the other depends on one’s willpower to maintain the set habit.

The Journalistic Philosophy

This strategy does not follow any fixed schedule but simply aims to dedicate time to deep work whenever a free slot becomes available. This approach is called journalistic because of its resemblance to that profession. A journalist, in fact, the moment they learn about a piece of news, must immediately start a focus session to write the article to be published. This can happen completely randomly throughout the day. Such an approach must necessarily take into account that the rapid and frequent context switching between activities at various levels of focus can quickly deplete the limited reserve of one’s willpower.

The Importance of Choice

Choosing a strategy with which to approach your work is essential for a proper distribution of focus throughout the day and an optimal use of your willpower. Reducing the time spent deciding on the spot when and how to start a deep work session helps preserve the mental energy needed precisely for concentration.

Bibliography

[1] Newport, C. (2016). Deep Work. Piatkus.