Deep work - 21st century super power

Our amazing yoga teacher suggests that if you wish to have better results, spend more time in each asana with maximum intensity and focus. At the age of 71, he is in much better shape than a typical 20-year-old.

He insists that you don't try to do too many asanas and instead spend as much time as possible in each asana, including breathing exercises.

This philosophy is echoed in the book "Deep work - rules for focused success in a distracted world" by Cal Newport, where he talks about three kinds of professionals who are more valuable in today's world:

1. High skilled workers with high-demand skills,
2. Superstars who are in the top 1% of their respective fields, and
3. Owners such as founders and investors. While there is space for everyone else, the aforementioned groups command the maximum value.

To join one of these cohorts, you need the ability to quickly master hard things and produce at an elite level in terms of quality and speed.

Cal Newport explains that these abilities can be cultivated through the practice of deep work and by getting rid of shallow work.

Deep work is not only valuable but also rare and meaningful, as exemplified by what Bill Gates achieved and created at Microsoft.

So, how do you do deep work? Here are some rules that can help:

1. Work deeply without getting caught up in distractions,
2. Embrace boredom that can result from great focus and consistency ingrained in deep work,
3. Quit (optimize) social media, and
4. Get rid of shallow work that can be easily done by someone less skilled or even through automation.

While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, the fact remains that deep work can create wonders.

Author Walter Isaacson also explained in a 2013 article that while setting up Microsoft, Bill Gates worked with such intensity for such long lengths during a two-month stretch that he would often collapse into sleep on his keyboard in the middle of writing a line of code. He would then sleep for an hour or two, wake up and pick up right where he left off.

Others described this as "a prodigious feat of concentration."

Needless to say, deep work works.