Deep Work and Voice Actors – Friend or Foe?

As a freelancer and even more importantly, a RIGHT Brained Creative Freelancer, practicing disciplined structure of any kind is definitely NOT my thing. But now that my productivity directly affects my own success because I own and run my own business, it’s become really important and somewhat problematic.  I started to notice and be frustrated, by my own propensity to drift away and just generally waste time, leaving me dismayed when I came out of the haze and realized how much time I had wasted doing nothing at all. I couldn’t get that time back.  I discovered two systems that could work in tandem and help me.  Bullet Journaling and Deep Work.  I’ll share how I discovered them and how I use them.

Bullet Journaling

My first step to putting myself on a more productive road to success was to find a fun way to organize my time that I felt I would actually participate in. I chose a system called bullet journaling. The inventor of this system started with Matt Ragland who bullet journals to increase his focus and productivity by creating yearly, monthly, weekly and sometimes even daily spreads in a journal, creating accountability that  can easily be seen. He uses task management lists and goal trackers that I can create in my own personal journal, that can change and grow as I do. Some people jumped on this wagon and went to very artful sides of drawing, lettering and doodling but Matt keeps his VERY minimal in style and functionality.  It’s really up to the individual and what important things they wanted to control more effectively in their lives.  I LOVED this bullet journal idea because I could structure it in any way that worked for me and I could also let some of my creative artsy side out when decorating it. I don’t think anyone can really say they have the final answer because what you need in a journal to help productivity is a constantly changing monster in the room which is tamed by your ability to shape it as you go in any way that works best for you at the moment.

I did a lot of researching bullet journal mavens and really enjoyed seeing how they use their journals.

This constant search for others who journal and learning of their bullet journal ideas to make mine better,  led me to a recommendation from Matt Ragland to a book by Cal Newton, about a system to take back time for work that was productive. Deep Work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. Cal writes that people need to rediscover the ability to focus on work, quickly master hard things and produce at an elite level with speed and quality.

Here is a link to a PDF that simplifies the book into some basics. https://www.productivitygame.com/upgrade-deep-work/

I have only begun the book and my journey with Deep Work,  but I know right away that some of these strategies are too brutal for me to begin with.  But, the more I get into the practice and start thinking about how I can use this system, I am rethinking some of my techie habits that are really sidetracking me. Here are a few strategies that I’m going to work on right away.

DEEP WORK -Strategies

Schedule Distractions

• I’m working on training myself to first identify the distractions that are derailing me from doing Deep Work. This would be Facebook, Instagram, Email and the really deep hole for me; Pinterest and YouTube.
• I am formulating a plan to allow the distractions. If I feel the tug to check Facebook, I can a time I have set aside for that.  Some of my time on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn are actually PART of Deep Work for me so that will take some discipline to make sure I get in, do the work, and get out before I fall into the “watching cute puppy video” traps.
• I will work to train my brain to build tolerance to avoid distraction.  This will take time but should be easier as I see success from the productivity this brings to my business.  For me, that will be with booking more work and building more clientele.

Develop Deep Work Sessions

This is probably the hardest change for me.

• Defining Deep Work – First, I think I need to define what DEEP WORK is for me. As a voice actor I think that is Auditioning, Marketing and Education. Developing a Monday morning ritual of what DEEP WORK projects along these targeted tasks I need to work on in the coming week and defining those projects in a written list, so I can refer to that list if I get lost (which happens A LOT), is a really essential first step.
• Generate a rhythm – I will work to generate a rhythm for focused attention, which for me will begin with an early morning session after I finish my daily habit of looking over my day, using my bullet journal for planning the day and checking email. This means scheduling in intervals of DEEP WORK during the day. Since the research shows that most new people can only use deep work for about an hour a day, with my right brained habit of drifting away, I know this will be hard for me.  My way to deal with this proactively is to add a time tracker to my bullet journal and also a very minimal DEEP WORK tracker for the week as a whole. Tracking the reoccurring time every day for DEEP WORK from the list of projects I made will hopefully wor and help me create it as a habit.
• I’m shooting for four hours a day, but I realize that is a heady goal.  I plan to work up to that.

Evening Shutdown

• I’m lucky to have a husband who will come in and nudge me to shut down for the night. This is important to people who work from home because that home office and any unfinished projects just lying around on the desk, seem to call out to you from a place only a few steps away. I’ve worked from home before though, so I already know how important this step is to my productivity.
• The best way to do this without going crazy is to set aside a time before I leave my studio every evening, to go over my bullet journal. see how the day has gone and write down anything that is essential for the next morning. Once it’s all settled, and I can see it in writing, I’m better able to leave it and move on to family time, working out. etc
• Step away and literally say, “Shutdown Complete”. Yes, it sounds silly but seeing the bullet journal all stashed away and hearing myself say Shutdown Complete just causes a little click in my brain that enables me to move on.

I’ll try to update this blog as my Deep Work self-experiment goes on but here is a link to a PDF of Cal Newport’s book with a VERY simplified explanation of the premise.  https://www.productivitygame.com/upgrade-deep-work/