Turbocharge Your Programming Skills with the Superpower of Deep Work

As a full-stack developer in today‘s fast-paced world of technology, there is one skill that I believe separates good programmers from exceptional ones: the ability to perform Deep Work. Cal Newport coined this term in his 2016 bestseller to describe professional activities done in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your abilities to the limit. It‘s the kind of intense focus that allows you to learn hard things quickly and produce high-quality work in less time.

Deep Work is a superpower that is becoming increasingly rare at the same time that it‘s becoming increasingly valuable. Our always-connected digital world is not conducive to depth – the notifications, context switching between dozens of apps and services, open offices, and culture of instant communication all conspire to keep us in a state of distracted shallowness.

But those willing to resist these distractions and spend time single-tasking on their craft will be positioned to thrive in an era where most knowledge work is at risk of automation. For software engineers, the benefits are immense: better problem solving, faster learning of new languages and frameworks, cleaner code, and ultimately more successful products.

Let‘s dive into the what, why and how of Deep Work for developers.

Why Focus Is Essential for Full-Stack Developers

Full-stack development is one of the most cognitively demanding specialties in an already intellectually straining field. Rather than going deep into a single language or system, full-stack devs need to be adept at every layer, from front-end frameworks to back-end architecture to deployment and beyond. On top of needing a wide base of knowledge, we need to constantly update that knowledge as new technologies emerge at a breakneck pace.

Learning so many new complex skills requires intense concentration. A 2018 Udemy survey found that 73% of developers need to learn a new framework every few months to keep up with their field, and most spend 7+ hours per week outside of work developing their skills. Those hours need to be quality, distraction-free time to efficiently master unfamiliar topics.

Deep focus is equally essential when it comes time to apply our knowledge to real-world projects. Writing clean, well-architected code that will scale requires carefully thinking through abstractions and juggling countless details and edge cases in our working memory. Bouncing between Slack, email, social media and other distractions completely derails this deep problem solving mode that‘s so core to development.

The numbers back this up: a University of California study found that it takes over 20 minutes to regain focus after an interruption for demanding tasks like programming. Another study by Humboldt University showed that it can take up to 15 minutes to regain focus even after a quick 2-second distraction. Not only does task switching demolish productivity, but error rates spike right after an interruption.

All of this context switching and shallow work adds up to massive costs for individuals and organizations. David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of Ruby on Rails, estimates that 80% of programming time in a typical company is wasted due to distractions and poor processes. A 2018 Stripe survey of over 1000 developers found that the average developer spends over 17 hours per week on "bad code", which amounts to nearly $300B in lost productivity each year.

The rare developers who can avoid these distractions and spend hours deeply focused will learn faster, produce better work, and have a massive edge in their careers. As the legendary Donald Knuth put it: "I think one of the most important skills for any kind of scientist or engineer to develop is a good nose for what problems are solvable and which ones are too hard. You don‘t want to beat your head against a wall on something that‘s just going to waste your time."

How to Develop the Deep Work Skill

Cultivating Deep Work is challenging in an age of constant connectivity and open floor plans, but it‘s a skill that any programmer can develop. At its core, the goal is to retrain your brain to be comfortable focusing on hard things for long periods without craving novel stimulation. Here are some of the most effective strategies I‘ve found:

Make Deep Work a Priority and Ritual

Start treating your attention with respect and be proactive about how you spend it. Block out time on your calendar specifically for focused Deep Work on your most important and cognitively demanding tasks, preferably at a time when you have the most energy. Start with hour-long sessions and gradually increase the duration. Stick to this schedule consistently so it becomes a ritual.

Many of the most prolific developers throughout history used rituals to jumpstart Deep Work sessions. Donald Knuth would disconnect completely and write code with a pen and notepad. Bill Gates took "Think Weeks" twice a year where he isolated himself in a cabin to ponder the future of technology. Find the routines and triggers that get you into a state of focus.

Measure Depth and Gamify Focus

Peter Drucker‘s famous axiom applies to Deep Work as well: "What gets measured, gets managed." Use tools like RescueTime, Toggl, or pen and paper to track how many hours you spend in a focused flow state vs. task switching. Set ambitious yet achievable focus goals and try to beat them. See focus as a muscle that you‘re strengthening every time you successfully complete a distraction-free work session.

There are many ways to make a game of extending your focus. Try the Pomodoro method of working in 25 minute sprints with 5 minute breaks and see how many you can complete in a day. Or use a site blocker extension that plants a virtual tree when you start focusing which dies if you visit a blacklisted site. Compete with yourself or your colleagues to stay focused the longest or check off the most Deep Work blocks per week.

Aggressively Minimize Distractions

To do real Deep Work, you need to create an environment that is conducive to concentration. At the office, find a quiet space away from high-traffic areas, or work remotely if possible. Put up a sign or use headphones to signal to colleagues that you‘re in the zone. If you work in an open office, try to schedule an hour of overlap with your team for ad-hoc communication so you can use the rest of the day for focused individual work.

Engineers are fortunate to have an abundance of tools at our fingertips to block digital distractions. A few of my favorites:

• Cold Turkey – Blocks distracting websites and apps on your computer for a set duration. Much more effective than relying on willpower.
• Hatch – Replaces your new tab page with a minimal todo list and focus timer.
• Simplify – Removes distractions like comment sections and ads from popular sites
• Forest – Gamifies focus by planting virtual trees when you don‘t use your phone.
• Brain.fm – AI-generated music to increase focus and drown out background noise.

Single-Task to Go Deep

One of the simplest yet most effective changes you can make is adopting a single-tasking mindset to combat the myth of multitasking. Our brains simply can‘t efficiently focus on multiple things simultaneously – we just end up rapidly shifting our attention and doing a worse job at each task.

As tempting as it is to keep Slack or email open in the background while coding, close out of all communication channels during Deep Work sessions. Disable as many notifications as possible, put your phone in airplane mode, and give your full concentration to one problem at a time. Use breaks between tasks to check messages in batches. Immersing yourself in a single task leads to the satisfaction of craftsmanship and innovative breakthroughs.

Collaborate and Coordinate Depth

While Deep Work is inherently an individual activity, it paradoxically requires coordination with your team to be most effective. Have a discussion with your manager and colleagues about the importance of uninterrupted focus and experiment with ways to be more intentional about everyone‘s time and attention.

This could include things like:

• Establishing team-wide "focus hours" where meetings are discouraged
• Creating spaces for quiet individual work and separate spaces for collaboration
• Encouraging proactive communication and thoughtful async discussions to minimize reactive pings
• Having an on-call rotation so there is always someone available for urgent matters

The more your team respects each other‘s attention, the more people will feel empowered to single-task on hard problems. A culture of Deep Work is one of the best assets an engineering-driven company can have.

Deep Work: The Key to Outsized Results

Learning the skill of Deep Work doesn‘t happen overnight. It requires being deliberate with your time, creating an optimal environment, and continuously strengthening your focus muscles. But the results are more than worth it for any programmer seeking to do meaningful work and stay relevant in a rapidly changing field.

John Carmack, the legendary developer behind Doom and Quake, attributes his outsized success and prolific open-source contributions to an obsession with depth over breadth: "I do think that a conscious focus on a relatively small number of things, and doing a really good job of them, is key. Many of the best programmers I know have done their most impactful work when they have been tightly focused."

Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger echoes a similar ethos: "When you‘re in the zone, you can do incredible things. It feels like you have this superpower…if we could create an environment where more engineers felt that way more of the time, the cumulative productivity gain would be massive."

Ultimately, Deep Work is about more than just boosting productivity metrics. Cal Newport argues that a deep life is a good life: "A commitment to deep work is not a moral stance and it‘s not a philosophical statement — it is instead a pragmatic recognition that the ability to concentrate is a skill that gets valuable things done…. Deep work is way more powerful than most people understand."

For those willing to embrace depth in an age of distraction, the rewards are profound: accelerated growth, heightened creativity, maximum impact, and a deep sense of fulfillment. In a world of shallow work, choose to go deep. Your code and your soul will thank you.

Resources to Go Deeper

• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
• How to Focus Intensely by Josh Comeau
• Maker‘s Schedule, Manager‘s Schedule by Paul Graham
• The Complete Guide to Deep Work by Fadeke Adegbuyi