Bill Gates' productivity hack was really BASIC 😎
Introducing the monthly theme: Productivity.
In 1970, Bill Gates isolated himself from the world for 8 weeks, during which he created the first version of Microsoft (remember BASIC?).
Well, It’s time to keep march-ing ahead and this month, the theme for AtomicIdeas newsletter is Productivity - a topic lot of us struggle with (I certainly do).
But first, a quick announcement:
I mentioned last week that we will slowly start moving out of Substackand today, you will notice a simpler design of the email. We are experimenting with a better email system and would love to get your feedback (just hit the reply button)
Coming back to the topic, here is what I have learnt
Productivity isn’t about getting things done, but getting the right things done (tweet it).
For instance, I switched from maintaining an aggressive TODO list to having a ‘weekly top priorities’ list and derive my TODOs from that.
I attribute this change of attitude towards productivity to the book ‘Deep Work’ by Cal Newport.
In fact, one of the challenges with all these productivity BS gyaan we often see on web or social media is that they force you to keep tickmarking the checklist (to make you feel good, give you that instant gratification), which isn’t even the point.
The point is to go deeper and do things that matter.
Sharing 5 really #BigIdeas from Cal Newport’s “Deep Work’
[1] What is Deep Work
Let’s first answer: What is not a deep work? What’s a shallow work?
It is the low-value work that is done in a distraction-full environment, and most of the time it is done by multitasking.
Low productivity work.
Adds no improvement over time.
May be automated in near future.
What’s Deep Work then?
Professional activities performed in a distraction-free environment that push your cognitive abilities to their limit." Those efforts create new value, improve our skills, and hard to replicate.
Stretches your mind.
Gives meaning to your life
More valuable as it becomes scarce.
If we continue to do more shallow work, then our ability to perform deep work decreases over time. Here we use "business" as a proxy for "productivity."
Methods of Deep Work
There are 4 different methods for Deep Work -
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to NBW: Your Curiosity Copilot to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.