In order to regularly do DEEP WORK, you need to set your life up so that it can happen. This is where RECOVERY is key. The important concept here is just as rare as deep work, and is one of the primary reasons deep work doesn’t happen.

This concept is known as Psychological Detachment From Work — which can only occur when you completely refrain from work-related activities and thoughts during non-work time.

The non-stop and highly competitive world we live in makes very difficult to psychologically detach from work.

Our technologies have been designed to be habit-forming, which means that if we are not intentional — we will regularly and subconsciously check-email, respond to texts, and check social media.

Even if we are not working, we will regularly be thinking about work because we are not absorbed in the other areas of our life. Research shows that it’s very difficult for most people to psychologically detach from work.

Yet, research also shows that proper detachment/recovery from work is essential for physical and psychological health, in addition to engaged and productive work.

Research has further found that people who psychologically detach from work experience:

Put simply — if you want to be AMAZING at what you do, you need to do less of it. Well, not exactly less, but you need to be far more focused and deep while you’re doing your work. And when you’re not working, you need to be absorbed and engaged in the other areas of your life.

The Length And Quality Of Your Recovery Matters (Which Is Another Reason To Wake Up Early)

If you wake up early, let’s say between 4–6AM and immediately get to work, you will get a lot of work done. Especially if you leave your cellphone away from your body, and especially if proactively avoid things like social media and email during the first few hours of your day.

The earlier and better you work, the sooner you can and should finish for the day.

One of the primary reasons to finish fast is so you can RECOVER longer. If you stop working sometime around 1–3PM, and completely psychologically detach from work, you will experience the opposite of deep work — you will experience DEEP RECOVERY.

Deep recovery is essential for deep work.

In fitness, you can only push your body to the extent you’ve given it proper rest and nutrition. It’s actually during recovery that your muscles grow and strengthen. And if you push yourself to the max, then you need more rest.

It’s an incredible feedback loop. The better and harder you push yourself, the deeper you’ll need to recover — which will not only make you stronger, but will enable better and harder performance in your future work.

This is how you get better overtime.

It’s also how you build a life.

Most people are living day-by-day. They aren’t actually making their days progressively better.

The longer and deeper your recovery, the better rested you will be and the better you’ll sleep, because your mind will be at ease.

If, for example, you stop working around 1–3PM, and just live completely presently with loved ones and engage in other hobbies, your relationships will be deeper. Your life will be more meaningful. You’ll be able to make incredible progress on things like learning a language, or developing relationships, or reading books, or traveling, or doing community service.

You’ll be focused on the things which matter most, and you won’t need more time for work, because the time you spend at work will be well-spent, and the time away from work will also be well-spent.

You will be building a life.

You’ll be building memories.

You’ll have more to draw from and more meaning to forge into the work you do. You’ll have experience and perspective, which will make your work more mature and contextual.

As you get better at recovering, you will find that your creativity and clarity spike dramatically.

Research shows that time away from work is where clarity and creativity actually happen. Only 16% of creative insights happen while at the work environment. Tim Ferriss explains in The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, how regular “mini-retirements” can improve your life and productivity.

Every 30–60 days, you absolutely should take 2–5 days off, as Ferriss recommends. That recovery is essential.

However, you can and absolutely should be RECOVERING daily for 6–8 hours as well, and this isn’t sleep. The more continuous and intentional that recovery is on a daily basis, the better your life will be. The better your sleep will be. And the better and deeper you work will be when you do it.

FAQ: But What If I Work For Someone Else And Can’t Control My Schedule?

Whether you work for yourself or someone else — the goal is the same. Get the best results you can in the most effective manner.

Results are the name of the game — and if you’re effective, you can get those results faster than most people because most people are living in a distracted state. Very few people do deep work. Very few people have organized their life to recover.

Instead, most people are living in a subconscious-lull, rarely if ever truly present where they are. Very few people know what true productivity means. Very few people experience deep creativity and growth on a daily basis.

Again, most people’s days are a repeat of the day before. They aren’t being deliberate like an Olympic Athlete is with their workouts.

If you’re not deliberate with your days, then you’re not getting better, but instead, you’re probably getting worse.

In the book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, author Greg McKeown explains that, as an employee, you can usually negotiate your work hours and even work activities. All you need to do is be candid about what matters to both you and your boss. If you can prove that you can get better results doing things a certain way, you can often get what you want.

In this way, you can say “no” to non-essential tasks and non-essential work routines.

Put simply, with many if not most jobs, you can work when you want, where you want, and how you want. But only if you can actually execute and produce results. The best way to produce results is by doing deep work on only the most essential things — and by removing all of the non-essential stuff from your life and day.

Break-Down Of How To Become Elite, Day-By-Day

According to Stephen Covey, most people focus all of their energy on Urgent activities — such as email, deadlines, etc.

We all have urgent things going on in our lives. But how much have we designed our lives to focus on the Important and Non-Urgent things, such as planning, fitness, learning, long-term projects, and creating memories with loved ones?

The most successful people in the world learn how to focus their time and days on the most important things. They learn how to delete, delegate, outsource, or automate most of the urgent stuff.

How much of your time do you spend on Important Stuff ?

How much of your time do you spend on Urgent Stuff?

How much DEEP WORK have you done in the past 30 days?

How many incredible and fun memories have you had with your loved ones?

Are you merely living, or have you built a life?