Beware of Deep Work Fatigue: Strategies for Sustainable Productivity
In the early stages of my PhD journey, I often faced a perplexing dilemma: despite having numerous tasks to tackle, I struggled to know where to begin. With a mountain of literature to read, countless notes and ideas from discussions with my supervisors, and plenty of assignments, I frequently found myself overwhelmed. There were days when I would stare blankly at my computer screen, unsure of what to do next, especially at the start of a day or after returning from a break.
In contrast, I now have the ability to seamlessly start and stop work, entering a state of deep work whenever necessary. Even with thousands of tasks in my system, I know exactly what I need to accomplish each day without feeling panic or anxiety. However, this newfound productivity has led to another issue: Deep Fatigue. While I’m not sure if anyone has coined the term "deep fatigue," I use it to describe the state of exhaustion that follows prolonged periods of deep work.
Deep Work
My awareness of deep fatigue was sparked by reading Professor Cal Newport's book, Deep Work. Before that, I had been practicing deep work for quite some time and had experienced deep fatigue, but I hadn’t fully contemplated its implications.
As a researcher, my tasks during deep work sessions include, but are not limited to:
Organizing Notes:Â Enhancing my reading, meeting, idea notes, etc.
Processing Notes:Â Linking notes, adding tags, etc.
Managing Tasks:Â Creating tasks, adjusting task attributes, linking tasks to Kanban boards, reminders, calendars, managing project action notes, etc.
Executing Tasks:Â Reading literature, coding, simulating, analyzing results, writing articles, preparing presentations, etc.
Here are a few specific examples of my deep work experiences:
Organizing and Reviewing:Â I occasionally spend several days or even one to two weeks in a state of deep focus, organizing notes and tasks. After such intense sessions, I often feel mentally drained.
Extended Focus: Recently, while reviewing notes on a specific topic, I worked continuously for 2 hours and 40 minutes, losing track of whether I was sitting or standing. It wasn’t until I reflected on my physical state that I realized how absorbed I had become. 😂
Intense Writing Sessions:Â A few years ago, I spent an extended period in deep work to revise a journal article. At once, I even worked for over 5 hours straight without even taking a sip of water. The aftermath was predictable: I remember sleeping for a long time the next day and taking several days to recover.
Writing This Blog Post:Â While drafting this article, I gathered my notes and ideas from Obsidian into Ulysses, crafting a cohesive piece entirely in a state of deep thought and focus.
The Reality of Deep Fatigue
As illustrated by my deep work examples, without proper management, deep work can easily lead to deep fatigue. Newport emphasizes in his book that achieving five hours of deep work daily is a significant feat, often resulting in considerable exhaustion afterward.
As I age, I find myself more susceptible to deep fatigue, and recovery takes longer than it did in my youth. This realization prompted me to reflect on deep fatigue and explore strategies to alleviate or even prevent it, leading to this blog post.
Strategies to Alleviate Deep Fatigue
I can now easily enter a state of deep work while being mindful of my body’s signals. When I notice my focus waning, I follow these signals and make adjustments.
I might switch to tasks that require less energy and concentration, such as printing materials, confirming details with colleagues, or checking emails.
One of my favorite activities is going for a walk. During these walks, I might listen to audiobooks, podcasts, or music, or simply enjoy the sounds of nature. This process allows me to detach from my work and enter a state of mental relaxation.
I also engage in running, fitness, and other sports.
Of course, everyone has different preferences for how to adjust their state of mind, but it’s essential to find what works best for you.
The methods I use to alleviate deep fatigue significantly help restore my focus and ability to engage in deep work. Often, unexpected insights arise during these breaks, which can include:
Strategies for solving current or past work-related problems.
Realizations that previous concerns may not be as severe as I thought.
A heightened sense of urgency regarding upcoming deadlines.
Plans for future work or travel.
Ideas for social engagements.
Perhaps it is in this relaxed state that unexpected and delightful insights emerge.
These activities not only relieve my fatigue but also facilitate continued progress in my work while generating additional inspiration—truly a win-win situation.
Preventing Deep Fatigue
In addition to adjusting my work state, I’ve explored more fundamental strategies to prevent deep fatigue.
Strategy 1: Measure Daily Work by Deep Work Hours
To implement this, a feedback mechanism is essential. Newport writes down his daily deep work hours on a board to remind himself of his productivity and motivate improvement. If your work primarily occurs on a computer, consider using automation tools to track your deep work hours. For instance, tools like Timing can help you monitor your daily deep work duration and specific tasks completed. Understanding your deep work hours provides a basis for adjusting your workload and motivates you to focus on what truly matters.
By measuring deep work hours instead of just total work hours, you gain clarity on how much time and energy you invest in meaningful tasks that align with your goals. Even if your total work hours are limited, sufficient deep work hours can provide a sense of accomplishment as you progress toward your objectives.
Additionally, focusing on deep work hours allows you to allocate more time and energy to activities outside of work, such as spending time with family, exercising, or pursuing hobbies. These activities can, in turn, enhance your state of mind, benefiting your subsequent deep work.
Strategy 2: Estimate Task-Specific Deep Work Hours
With practice and experience, we can increasingly accurately estimate the deep work hours required for specific tasks, such as writing articles, conducting simulations, or preparing presentations. Reflecting on our estimates after completing tasks helps us improve future planning and accuracy.
Of course, the complexity and uncertainty of different projects can make accurate estimation challenging. Nevertheless, consistently practicing estimation and reflection is beneficial. Specifically, estimating deep work hours offers several advantages:
Proactive Preparation:Â Knowing the deep work hours required for specific tasks allows you to start thinking and preparing in advance, reducing last-minute stress.
Mindset Shift: Even if you can’t accurately estimate, knowing that more meaningful tasks await encourages you to allocate more time and energy to them, naturally reducing time spent on less important activities.
Holistic Planning:Â Estimating the total deep work hours for multiple tasks aids in managing and executing various projects, which is essential in both work and life.
To estimate deep work hours, consider using modern tools like Timing to track past work durations and inform your current estimates.
Strategy 3: Balance Deep and Shallow Work
While we may strive for deep work, shallow tasks are often unavoidable. However, we can choose how to balance deep and shallow work.
Let’s do some simple calculations. If shallow work consumes 50% of the energy of deep work, and you aim for 5 hours of deep work daily, you can mix and match as follows:
4 hours of deep work + 2 hours of shallow work
3 hours of deep work + 4 hours of shallow work
And so on.
From this, it’s clear that as deep work hours decrease, shallow work hours must increase to maintain the same total workload. Therefore, it’s crucial to manage and minimize shallow work time effectively.
Strategy 4: Pursue Sustainable and Balanced Work
We should consider whether high-intensity work, regardless of deep work status, negatively impacts our subsequent work and life. Over time, what are the implications for our physical and mental health? Is this approach sustainable?
If the answers are negative, it may be time to explore a more sustainable and balanced work style. Everyone’s balance point and style are different, and it requires personal exploration and adjustment.
Achieving work-life balance doesn’t necessarily mean accomplishing less; it means working smarter and finding joy in what you do. For instance, if you work 8 hours at 100% efficiency, you accomplish 8 units of work. But if you work 12 hours at 50% efficiency, you only achieve 6 units. Clearly, the first approach is smarter.
By evaluating the intensity of our work and its impact on our overall well-being, we can gradually adjust our approach to find a sustainable and balanced work style that suits us.
Conclusion
Deep work can yield valuable and meaningful outcomes, but it can also lead to deep fatigue. However, we can explore various strategies to alleviate or even prevent deep fatigue, such as measuring daily work by deep work hours, estimating task-specific deep work durations, balancing deep and shallow work, and pursuing sustainable and balanced work practices.
I have been exploring the PTKM (Project, Task, and Knowledge Management) system since my doctoral studies, using it to manage various aspects of my work and life for over six years now. PTKM is a system centered around task management, as recording notes, organizing them, and building a knowledge base are all tasks in themselves. After all, everything can be viewed as a task. However, our daily work and life involve more than just building a knowledge base (PKM, second brain); we also need to complete numerous projects and tasks and deliver tangible results. This is why it’s essential to manage projects, tasks, and knowledge systematically and cohesively, and PTKM can help you achieve that.
Feel free to follow me here on Medium and on other platforms to learn more about using PTKM for efficient work and life.
Website: https://ptkm.net
X (Twitter):Â https://x.com/PTKMInsider
Finally, I invite you to share your thoughts on this article in the comments. If you found it helpful for yourself or others, please like and share it!