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Ask HN: I want to do “deep work” but I don't know what. I'm stuck

15 points by hemling ↗ HN
I completely get the benefits and necessity of "deep work" (as described in the book of the same name).

But I have a huge problem finding that work. I'm constantly changing subjects and never get anywhere. I'm stuck and desperate.

I think that "what to work on" is a much bigger problem than the "how". Yes, I understand the need to focus, to niche, to do the hard work and so on. But how to find such work?

My suspicion is that luck plays (again) a mucher bigger part in this than people like to admit.

How did you find your "deep work"?

9 comments

[ 3.8 ms ] story [ 32.1 ms ] thread
kobiguru
When you walk into a gym with information about what's available on the ether, you are too concerned about Nutrition, weights, lower and upper body exercises but If you ask any fitness trainer what his salt, he will tell you that first few weeks three most important things to do are:

1. Show Up every day (i.e. Days you want to come) 2. Learn how to lift weights( lift weights ) right way. 3. Drinking water.

The same, In my opinion, go for deep work. Doing it every day is important.

jackgolding
Yup I agree, best gym I signed up for the owner refused to do any personal training with me until I showed I was serious by doing the circuit he provided me twice a week for a month.
CyberFonic
You actually described your problem: "constantly changing subjects". Stop it!

Deep work is not the goal, an obsessive interest in a single subject leads to deep work ethic. When you are truly intrigued and/or passionate about something then deep work follows. Not the other way around.

One clue to finding your niche is to notice what you get very angry over and want to do something about it. Having found that is the beginning of finding the "juice" and the rest follows.

tushartyagi
As an extension to your comment, here's a decent advice which is based on the principle of DeepWork.

https://azeria-labs.com/the-importance-of-deep-work-the-30-h...

So basically, instead of just going through different subjects try to work on 1 subject/topic for 30 hours (across multiple days, maybe take a break between days) and then check if you want to go further on the subject. Apparently, 30 hours is a good enough time frame to realise if you have an interest on the subject of your choosing.

I'm struggling to actually start with something interesting, and after reading your comment I remembered the process outlined in the article. Thanks!!

hitsurume
You're basically asking people "What is my purpose?" and really no one here can tell you what you should be doing. Deep work is an art form of eliminating distractions and concentrating on the specific task at hand for a period of several hours uninterrupted. Whether its "work on a research paper" or "write a novel" or "learn a new programming language", these tasks are ultimately up to you to figure out what you should be doing.
Rainymood
There's some merit to the idea that you don't "find" your passion (i.e. what you mean with deep work) but that you "develop it"

Find something you enjoy doing but would like to get better at. I suggest coding/drawing for starters. Then buckle up and put in the hours. You WILL suck and it WILL suck but once you get the hang of it ...

Try www.drawabox.com

muzani
Yes, luck plays a part. The trick is to keep rolling the dice.

What worked for me was microcommitments. I committed to putting 15 minutes on whatever I felt I wanted the most.

At first, I spent a lot of it on game development. Eventually realized that I wanted another side project, involving training.

Microcommitments helped a lot. If I committed right away to deep work, I would have spent hours and days planning and building something I didn't really want to and burning myself out. But with 15 minutes, I learned quickly this was not what I want, this isn't working, partly because I need to do something else first.

It's tempting to sit around filling up a database for a day, designing tables and classes, and calling it deep work. But it's not really.

amorphous
You got the process wrong. It is not: first I figure out a subject, then I do deep work, it is the reverse: you start with deep work and go, step by step, into your subject. This does not mean you can not change direction, but the deep work is required before you carve out your niche.