If you’re looking for focused success in a world full of distractions, you’ve come to the right place.

Important note: This masterclass was originally published on deanbokhari.com and has now been made available for members of Club 12. You may hear me reference terms like “the materials tab” which you can safely disregard, as those terms apply to the original platform this course was launched on.

Overview: The Deep Work Course

Most people have totally lost the ability to go deep and stay focused on any given task, project, or goal for a prolonged period of time.

Instead, many of us spend our days procrastinating on our work…

• Erratically checking e-mail + social media

• Constantly attending useless meetings that could’ve been summed up in a memo

• “Working” with 30 browser tabs open

• Fielding disruptions from people and devices

☝️ Do any of the above sound familiar to you?

If so, let me tell you that there’s a better way to work than constantly searching for the next dopamine hit…

And it can help you advance your career, grow your finances, find your focus, and dramatically improve your productivity…

What’s this better way, you ask?

It’s called “Deep Work” – a term coined by author Cal Newport who wrote a best-selling book of the same name.

In a nutshell, deep work is when you’re able to concentrate on your work without distraction for prolonged periods.

But living the deep life isn’t easy these days. Especially when you’re constantly trying to recover from distraction after distraction:

• 66 percent of workers say they’re unable to focus on one thing at a time.

• The typical office worker loses over 2 hours per day to distractions and interruptions (that’s a full workday lost—every week)

• Knowledge workers are interrupted with a new distraction every 10 1/2 minutes.

With stats like that, how can any of us expect to find the focus we need to work deeply?

And to top it all off, 44% of the disruptions we experience are self-imposed! (For example, you might randomly stop working on Project A and switch to Project B; after a few minutes, you glance at your phone, then check email, then—wait… what was I working on again?)

But it’s not all bad news…

The fact that nearly half of our distractions are self-imposed means that we can DO something about them. And that’s a good thing – because you have direct control over many of the distractions that derail you from working and thinking deeply. (As for the other half, I’ll show you how to deal with those too).

In the lessons that follow, I won’t be harping on and on about the destructive nature of distraction…

Instead, I’ll be celebrating the power of its opposite: unlocking deep focus via deep work.

Because where focus goes, energy flows.

And when you’re locked-in and focused on your most important priorities, you can become absolutely unstoppable…

Finding your focus and working deeply will make you more productive + effective at what you do. It’ll also provide you with a sense of true fulfillment—the kind that comes from putting genuine effort into what matters most to you.

Deep work is like a superpower in a world full of highly distractible people. And I see it as my mission to teach you how to use this superpower in your own life.

Here’s a brief overview of what you can expect:

This course is split into two parts and is based on the principles and actionable insights outlined in the book, Deep Work by Cal Newport.

Here’s Cal’s “Deep Work Hypothesis” as he lays it out in the book,

“The Deep Work Hypothesis: The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.“

Part I. The Deep Work Philosophy

• Using the Deep Work Hypothesis as a starting point, we’ll begin Part 1 of the program by learning about the Deep Work philosophy, why it works, and how cultivating it can produce massive benefits for you no matter what line of work you’re in.

Part II. Implementing Deep Work into Your Life

• This is where the real action starts to happen. Once we’ve covered the Deep Work philosophy and why it works, we’ll get into how you can implement Deep Work into your own life by leveraging proven methods and strategies to support this skill. We’ll also cover how to train your brain and transform your habits to place deep work at the center of your working life. I’ll also share simple productivity techniques, tactics, and tools you can utilize to mitigate distractions and work with focus.

By the time you’ve finished this course, you’ll understand how to bring more depth into your work life—so you can spend more time doing meaningful deep work, and less time doing meaningless shallow work.

So get ready to sharpen your focus and embrace the deep life.

It’s gonna be a fun ride.

Next up…

Let’s start by clarifying exactly what deep work is…

Deep Work is any professional activity or work that’s performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit.

When we immerse ourselves in deep work, we’re able to:

• produce high-value work,

• improve our skills, and

• create something that’s hard to replicate

So, if you want to wring every last drop of value out of your current intellectual capacity, deep work is a necessity.

• Deep work is when a writer’s ideas just flow and their writing is clear, creative, and crisp.

• Deep work is when an entrepreneur can make profitable business decisions and focus on long-term execution with ease and effectiveness.

• Deep work is when a consultant can analyze market conditions, develop long-term plans, and forecast future scenarios like a boss.

• Deep work is when a doctor can diagnose complex cases, research and find the right treatment options, and perform intricate procedures with precision.

Doi…

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In his book, The Talent Code, author Dan Coyle writes,

“The talent code is built on revolutionary scientific discoveries involving a neural insulator called myelin, which some neurologists now consider to be the holy grail of acquiring skill.

Here’s why. Every human skill, whether it’s playing baseball or playing Bach, is created by chains of nerve fibers carrying a tiny electrical impulse— basically, a signal traveling through a circuit.

Myelin’s vital role is to wrap those nerve fibers the same way that rubber insulation wraps a copper wire, making the signal stronger and faster by preventing the electrical impulses from leaking out. When we fire our circuits in the right way— when we practice swinging that bat or playing that note— our myelin responds by wrapping layers of insulation around that neural circuit, each new layer adding a bit more skill and speed.

The thicker the myelin gets, the better it insulates, and the faster and more accurate our movements and thoughts…

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If you’re an advocate for multi-tasking, I’ve got bad news for yah: it simply isn’t possible. Especially when we’re working deeply.

When people say they’re “great at multi-tasking,” what they’re really saying is that they’re great at rapidly shifting from one thing to another, giving them the illusion of multi-tasking.

But the reality is this: we can’t do two things at once without dramatically diminishing our performance in both tasks. (Ever try rubbing your belly and tapping your head at the same time?)

Even if you totally understand that multi-tasking is ineffective and you strive to focus on one thing at a time, it’s likely that you’ll still experience sub-optimal focus… Because as we move from one task (or thought) to another, one part of our attention is still focused on the last task. There’s a “residue” from it that diminishes our capacity to fully focus.

For example, let’s say you’re working on Task A. When you finish up, you decide to move on to Task B. As you star…

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If you haven’t already done so, download your CourseBook below:

Deep Work CourseBook

857KB ∙ PDF file

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by Dean Bokhari

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In Part II of the course, we’ll go from ideas + theory (covered in Part I.) to practice + implementation.

Let’s get started…

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In this lesson, I’ll share a number of different approaches for establishing a deep work habit.

Note: This lesson contains three sub-lessons. Press Play above to get started, then scroll down for the rest.

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Here are each of the 4 Disciplines of Execution:

• Discipline #1. Focus on the Wildly Important

• Discipline #2. Act on the Lead Measures

• Discipline #3. Keep a Compelling Scoreboard

• Discipline #4. Create a Cadence of Accountability

Let’s break each of these down, one by one.

Discipline #1.
Focus on the Wildly Important.

“If you want to win the war for attention, don’t try to say ‘no’ to the trivial distractions you find on the information smorgasborg; try to say ‘yes’ to the subject that arouses a terrifying longing, and let the terrifying longing crowd out everything else.” —David Brooks, The Art of Focus

When it comes to doing deep work, concentration is KING. And when we’ve got too many priorities, our concentration gets divided. As th…

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Note: this lesson contains four sub-lessons.

• Start with the first one by hitting Play above.

• Then, scroll down for the rest.

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You should now be familiar with the fundamentals of Deep Work and how to practice it on a daily basis.

In this two-part lesson, we’ll dive into two powerful practices that can take your deep work game to the next level. Push Play above to start Part 1. Then, scroll down to start Part 2.

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• Make a deliberate decision today (as in, right NOW) to start living the deep life.

• If you haven’t committed to deep work yet, start now—by asking yourself the following question: What’s one area of my work in which I can really go deep?

• Once you’ve answered that question, choose one thing you can start—or stop—doing today that will help you become more effective with the work you do.

• Lastly: If you really want to master deep work and make these lessons “stick” – Go back to lesson 1 and listen to every lesson again. You’ll pickup new insights you may have missed the first time around, and it’ll help you ingrain these ideas in your mind—helping you turn deep work into a habit.

Thank you, truly, for allowing me to be your guide in this program. It’s my life’s work to help others improve their lives and achieve their goals. I hope this program helps you do that in some way, shape or form.

Sincerely,

Dean Bokhari

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This morning ritual for deep work is the perfect way to prepare your body + mind for those long work days when you’ve got to be fully-focused + locked-in.

It only takes 15 minutes to do, and the benefits will stay with you almost all day long.

The core elements of this morning ritual for deep work are:

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