What do you think are the most valuable skills in such a dynamic and complex world?
Last year I joined an Islandic software company and I met the Scandinavian way of working for first time. At the beginning I was super sceptic that such a work mindset could be successfully applied in countries like Bulgaria, where level of trust is not as high as I wished, companies are not very keen on giving employees more autonomy, on reducing working hours to 6 or 7 for example...
Recently, I have started reading more and more about deep work* and work minimalism, so I decided to post my thoughts on that. We all try to achieve one thing, not only at work, but in life in general, and this is: how to be more productive in a shorter time. Work minimalism has an end goal of making you more productive and your work easier, just because there is a definite connection between minimalism and productivity.
I can honestly say that concept is working for me. I can do more work for 3 hours instead of the standard 8 working hours, just because I do it in a smart way. Please believe, you don't need to spend so many hours and keep up the hectic pace; you don't need to be surrounded with stuff and maintain a never ending to-do list in order to achieve the goals. 'Deep work' is about working smarter, not harder. Having the work done instead of demonstrating you are staying 8 hours online, is what more and more managers are looking for.
I often receive the question: 'When exactly do you work?' or 'You don't seem to be busy' or 'Where do you find time for everything?' Well, this is how my 'work minimalism' look likes**:
📑 Working only during my productive hours in the day.
Mainly between 08:00 and 11:00 h. The rest of the time is checking e-mails and participating calls.
📑 Having every morning a clear vision on my to-do list.
This applies not only for my work to-do list, but also for my personal to-do list.
📑 Performing a task in as simple way as possible.
And this is what all books for management will teach you - efficiency, efficiency and efficiency.
📑 Dealing with all e-mails efficiently.
Yes, I need to say it, because unfortunately I still find people who do not have a good inbox organization established.
📑 Focus 100% on a task at hand.
Prioritize important work over tasks that can be scrapped. You should make a conscious effort to diminish the time spent on them in order to maximize the time you have for deep work activities.
📑 Clear work space and minimum distractions.
We want to do more work for less time, right?
📑 Active work when really needed, not 8 hours.
If not, you’ll be burnt out within a year. And in general, you cannot grow. Your mind needs time to relax and be inspired with new things. The intense concentration should be balanced with quality rest.
📑 Work-life balance.
This is something I learnt in the company I work now. As I said, I was super sceptic at the beginning when my Bulgarian colleagues told me 'Here they care about people, because they believe people cannot be happy at work, if they are not happy or something is not ok in their personal life'.
Please have a look at my commended readings, as it worth reading them:
Book 'Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World' by Cal Newport, 2016
Thank you!
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