As finals approach in the coming weeks, one smidgen of study advice I can offer you is to work deeply. 

When I recently read Cal Newport’s book, Deep Work, I was taken aback by some of his anecdotes demonstrating the miraculous productivity of individuals. 

Take himself, an accomplished academic in computer science that during the past ten years has  published five books, earned a Ph.D and is currently on a tenure track at Georgetown, all while rarely working past 5 to 6 p.m. in the workweek. 

Initially, it seemed to me to be a bit far-fetched  – if not straight-up impossible –  for any person that hasn’t been born with some kind of savant syndrome, or otherworldly IQ level. 

But reading on, it became less mysterious why he was able to do so well – both in his personal and professional life. 

The most important case that Newport makes is that the people who can succeed doing less are extremely focused – and they do so by minimizing distractions, whether it’s in the form of reaching for your phone at the ping of a text or the mindless internet surfing during “study breaks” that soothes your present anxieties. 

In fact, some of the subjects Newport examines in his book even go as far as retreating to the woods to finish a project. This is clearly super realistic for us students, as we are never, ever constrained by time or finance – but you get my point. 

The rationale behind Deep Work lies in the concept of “residual attention.” In a 2009 paper, researchers from the University of Minnesota found that when you switch from Task A to Task B, your attention doesn’t immediately follow. Instead, there’s a “residue” left behind from Task A that carries over to Task B. And the thicker this residue is (which is more likely in cases where the subjects were working in a state of low intensity), the worse the performance on Task B. 

In other words, when you’re constantly distracted and not focused on your studying, your performance is going to deteriorate, making your productivity plummet. It’s precisely by skillfully leveraging this concept, that many people are able to do well professionally, and at the same time have a regular life outside of school and work. 

So, what does it mean for us students?

Well, Newport makes the extreme case to us that we should quit social media entirely. But that, along with retreating into the woods, is very unrealistic in this world where our professional and social lives are dependent on these communication tools. 

As students, then, it’s only reasonable for us to take a midway approach. 

To do this, Newport recommends scheduling specific time blocks for checking electronics. These time blocks can be done in different frequencies, whether hourly or daily, depending on the urgency of communication for your studies and personal life. But the overall goal here is to make sure that you minimize task switching, which if done frequently during the day, has been proven to deteriorate your quality of work. 

For example, if you’re insistent on watching TV, try to allocate a specific time block for it, like at 6 p.m. everyday. And if you’re someone like me who constantly needs to check their email, limit doing so to once every hour. 

The other quick (and easy) fix for lapses in concentration is to study in a quiet place.

I personally can vouch for this idea based on the stark differences between my productivity when I studied at two different locations at USask. 

At the first floor of the Murray Library, where stimuli like laughter or the movement of feet constantly permeated my ears, I wasn’t able to think clearly or memorize terms on my flashcards, and the rate at which I finished my readings was considerably slower than normal. Surely enough, when I moved to a quiet corner in the Health Sciences library, my overall studying quality improved. 

These are just two of the myriad strategies that Cal Newport highlights in his book. Some of them can be a bit intense, but I promise that the short-term pain is worth the benefits ahead.