Welcome back everyone, this is the second episode in the Deep Work series and it will cover a new lesson extracted from the book Deep Work by Cal Newport. This is a fairly short lesson, and it is maybe the most essential one. It lays the foundations for any change you may want to make to your routine, and it holds the key to the long term endurance of your resolutions. There are no introductions to make this time so with no further ado I wish you a pleasant reading.

Transliterated as "gnōthi seauton", everyone at some point comes across this renowned lesson that traces back to ancient Greece. The aphorism itself is never mentioned in the book actually. However, the concept lies at the heart of the discussion in chapter 1 (first chapter in the second half of the book). This is a chapter entirely dedicated to the first Deep Work rule: work deeply -let me remind you that Newport organises his advices throughout the book in so-called "rules". The first question to answer when picking up a new habit is "where to start?". Rule #1 is meant to help the reader taking his first steps into a more deep-work compatible routine. The chapter presents 6 strategies to "hijack your brain’s motivation center" and "recharge your willpower reserves at the fastest possible rate". In fact, according to Newport, the first thing you need to work on if you want to start "working deeply" is your willpower management:

This means that when you want to challenge your habits motivation is not enough (no matter how good your reasons may be): over time distractions will get the best of your intentions.
Although Newport is here focusing on the transition from shallow to deep work, this point applies to a more general context: it requires a lot of effort to switch to a vegan diet overnight, to quit smoking all together, or likewise to start following a full "deep work routine" after years of unstable focus. And most importantly, it is almost impossible to achieve any of the above goals purely relying on your determination.

Drastic, instantaneous change requires an infinite amount of strength to succeed.
However, Newport argues, it doesn't have to be this difficult. We can make things easier for us if we only know ourselves. The insight here is that acting on the environment is much easier than acting on ourselves. So, if we could find a way to make our environment help us stay on track, we'd need a lot less willpower.

Let me give you a personal example.
The majority of you will probably have experienced addiction to social media in the past, and many among you will have at least once considered getting rid of them permanently. I have now many times tried to decrease the time spent on apps like Instagram or WhatsApp. Ironically, if you open your apps provider nowadays you find it full of tools designed to help you stop checking your phone. Anyway, when you finally decide to decrease your social media usage, the first approach usually consists in "self-control": whenever you're about to open Instagram the third time in 10 minutes "simply" don't.
SPOILER ALERT: it does not work! At least, it did not cut it for me. You usually make it through the first day, and if your motivation is strong enough you can even make it through a week, but sooner or later you will feel depleted of any energy to resist the temptation and you will give in to the old habit. Addictive social media: 1 / Me: 0.

Having read this book I decided to adopt what we shall call the *be-smart-about-your-habits* approach. I started by observing myself. When was I most compelled to pick up the phone? What was happening just before the scrolling? I noticed that the gesture was unconscious, almost mechanic. Whenever I would take a break, or when I would have to focus intensely on a relatively boring task the instinct was to look at my phone and check it for new notifications, even if I wasn't expecting any. I also noticed that leaving text unanswered would make me feel bad, especially with close friends. To avoid this mix of guilt and fear, anytime I picked up the phone I would find myself half an hour later trapped into some conversation. Chatting is not the root of all evils, but it shouldn't be prioritised over any other activity.
I then proceeded to act on the environment. First of all, I established "chatting hours": every day I would allow myself to chat for one hour or more in the evening, but I would avoid answering non urgent texts during the remaining time. Knowing that at some point I would take the time to answer the texts resolved the feeling of guilt and fear that were pushing me to reply. Secondly, to help me get rid of the mechanic phone checking movement I decided to intentionally hide my phone from my sight, placing it at least at arm length distance, preferably in another room, so that I would have to make a conscious effort to reach it. In this way the habit had its legs cut off. Addictive social media: 1 / Me: 1.
I know what you want to ask now: did it work? Well, yes ... for a while. When my routine changed as it regularly does, I fell back into my old habit and I had to "get smart" once again. But that's another story.

You should now start seeing the point of this lesson. To know yourself (i.e. know what you crave and what you fear) is the most effective weapon available not only to fight bad habits but, I'd dare say, to achieve any goal. Evidence for this thesis is spread all over the internet in the innumerable articles on productivity (like one you're reading - self irony) that come out everyday with some fresh and promising tricks to try out ("try locking yourself in a room for a whole day" or "leave your house for a chalet in the mountains where you have no internet" kind of tricks). Whether it is indeed social media addiction, low levels of focus or a generally non-satisfying life style that you are ready to fight, the first step is always to take a deep look at yourself.
Later or in the same chapter Cal Newport exposes a few techniques to help you drag yourself into a deep work schedule, some good examples being: ritualize, make grand gesture and don't work alone. These tips mostly rely on some basic psychology principles which come in very handy such cases (for those of you interested in useful psychology tricks I suggest reading this book).
However, you don't need to be an expert in psychology in order to be productive: you "only" need to know yourself. And in order to get to know yourself better I suggest you start from observation. Ask yourself the right questions, and try to give honest answers. Self-awareness is a tremendously valuable asset in productivity and in life in general, "use it well".

We reached the end of a new episode. If you have any questions to ask, interesting stories to share or points of view that you would like to discuss I would be very happy to hear from you (email me or connect with me on Twitter). Otherwise, see you in lesson #3.