Towards the middle of my graduate studies, I discovered the work of Dr. Calvin Newport and found myself particularly captivated by his book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World [1]. Though I am still working towards fully adopting his strategies, the concepts within his book (as well as his other writings and podcast) have resonated with me and greatly transformed the way I approach my own work.
I am sharing this philosophy both as a way to motivate myself and hold myself accountable to the principles I aim to adopt, and in the off-chance others find it useful or helpful in their own reflection on their working habits.
To start with a definition, Newport coins the term “deep work” and describes it as:
“Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.” — Cal Newport, Deep Work
Newport contrasts deep work with “shallow work” — the type of work that makes us feel busy but ultimately fails to really help us grow or advance. Emails, Slack messages, and phone notifications fall into this category. I know this all too well as my workday can easily disappear into shallow tasks, leaving me wondering where my time went. In fact, I could really use one of those the now-infamous signs that says “Please don’t talk to me. I have no self-control and will talk to you for two hours and get no work done.”
Among Newport’s proposed four potential “deep work” philosophies, I have found that the Rhythmic Philosophy best suits my doctoral studies schedule. It asks that we make deep work into a daily habit by pushing ourselves to set aside dedicated time for it every day. Though my schedule is not consistent enough on a day-to-day basis to be able to dedicate the exact same time to deep work, I have found it sufficient to block off chunks of my morning and afternoon in pursuit of this.
To optimize my deep work sessions, I have become an avid-believer of time-blocking which is the discipline of planning out every hour of my working day and holding myself accountable to those blocks. For this, I personally prefer the “Productivity Planner” created by Intelligent Change [2], though you could easily do this on a scrap piece of paper or an excel sheet, for example. By investing monetarily in a planner, I find myself more willing and devoted to intentionality in my time-blocking. More importantly, it serves as a reality check – I track my tasks and the hours spent on them in pen, and the planner encourages me to go back and review my progress on a weekly basis to make sure I am still on-track. I also have a separate notebook that I use to take daily notes on about my meetings, more in-depth ideas about the tasks I need to complete, and other work-related thoughts that pop up during the day. At the end of the week, I prefer to transfer these over to my Notion [3] page for easy access.
Given I am most productive in the mornings, I aim to start my working day with an hour of deep work before my colleagues arrive. I have a built a small, but deliberate set of rituals – like making coffee, filling my water bottle, and closing unnecessary tabs – that prime my body and my mind to get ready for a productive day. Ultimately, choosing a “deep” life is not about the number of hours invested but instead about the quality of those hours which yield meaningful dividends in terms of professional growth.
[1] Newport, C. (2016). Deep work: Rules for focused success in a distracted world. Hachette UK.
[2] Productivity Planner: Intelligent Change
[3] Notion
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” — Sir Isaac Newton
I first saw a piece of this quote on Google Scholar, and I was immediately captivated by how much the sentiment resonated with me. Indeed, I am who I am because of the “giants” who took the time to support my professional and personal growth. I am grateful to my parents, to the mentors I encountered in high school, college, and graduate school, and to the incredibly brilliant colleagues I’ve worked with and learned from these past few years.
As a mentor, I strive to pass on the knowledge I’ve been fortunate enough to acquire. I firmly believe that mentorship is a two-way street — often, I learn just as much (if not more) from my mentees as they do from me. My goal is to foster open communication, encourage growth through constructive feedback, and help my mentees unlock their full potential. I am committed to advocating for them both professionally and personally, offering guidance not just in the lab but also as they explore their career paths and discern their vocations.
Experience has taught me that I tend to overextend myself with commitments. To ensure I provide the time and attention my mentees deserve, I currently limit myself to mentoring two students in the lab at a time.
I myself am very much a work in progress. I recognize I do not or will not have all the answers. I also recognize that my mentoring style right now is under construction and will likely (and hopefully!) evolve as I continue to grow as a scientist and a person.
NOTE: The purpose of this page is largely for me to be able to flesh out my own thoughts on these topics.