In Cal Newport’s book Deep Work, he talks about the importance of closing down your working day properly, so you can enjoy leisure time. Ovidiu Cherecheș, a developer, has built an web application called Jobs Done! to help with that:
This app is built on Cal Newport’s shutdown ritual concept from his book Deep Work.
The need for a shutdown ritual comes from the following (oversimplified) reasoning:
- Deep focus is invaluable for producing great work
- We can only sustain deep focus for a limited amount of hours per day
- To be able to focus deeply consistently our mind requires rest (ie. complete disconnect from work) between working sessions
It makes sense to me. So here’s how this app works:
You decide it’s time to call it a day.
You are guided through a set of (customizable) steps meant to relieve your mind from work-related thoughts. This often involves formalizing thoughts into tasks and creating a plan for tomorrow. Each step can have one more external links attached.
Then you say a “set phrase” out loud. This step is personal so choose a set phrase you resonate with. Verbalizing your set phrase “provides a simple cue to your mind that it’s safe to release work-related thoughts for the rest of the day.”
Finally, you’re presented an array of (customizable) pastime activities you could do to disconnect.
I think this is one of those things you use to get into the habit, and then you probably don’t need after that. Worth trying!
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