Develop the Skill of Deep Work

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“Better work, done faster”

Mr. Josh Lyons based his forum on the book Deep Work by Cal Newport and spoke to the students about the importance of developing the skill of “deep work”. He went on to explain the problem that “deep work”’solves, what it means, and the practical steps the students can take to achieve the skill.

The Problem

In today’s society, concentration spans are shortening, and the ability to think deeply is decreasing. This is affecting our personal and work lives. Phones, with the many various apps they contain, have increasingly consumed more of our attention. At the same time, our ability to focus for long periods has decreased. He pointed us towards a news article on how technology has affected our ability to concentrate, which further emphasized the point that we are all becoming less focused.

The Solution

Mr. Lyons then went on to explain how “deep work” can help us overcome the problems we see today which lead to ineffective work and a lack of focus. According to the book, “deep work” is defined 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” ( (Newport 3). It is a meaningful and rare skill that adds value and leads to thriving at work. “Deep work” means being steady, diligent, earnest and energetic. Proverbs 22:29 states “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men”(NKJV). “Deep work”  can be equated to diligence and will be noticed by others, increasing our opportunity to succeed.

Practical Ways to Achieve Deep Work

  1. Do as little shallow work as possible: menial tasks that don’t require skill should be completed in batches to avoid wasting so much time.
  1. Ruthlessly block distractions: try blocking notifications on your phone. We must be intense and intentional with getting rid of and avoiding distractions that affect our work.
  1. Block out chunks of time to do “deep work”
  1. Good location for “deep work”
  1. Learn to love“deep work”. Embrace the challenge of trying to reach your potential in terms of work output and quality. This adds value to work, family, your life and your success rate.
  1. Be intentional in improving your ability to do “deep work”.  “Deep work” is not a habit; it is a skill that you need to train and practice. The more you exercise the skill, the more you will strengthen your mental ability to perform it.

Final Thoughts

The skill of “Deep work” can aid us in overcoming the effects of technology and the many distractions around us that seem to stop us from producing quality work in a decent time period. Mr. Lyons ended by reading a few quotes on the topic of concentration.

Resources:

Newport, Cal. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. Grand Central Publishing, 2016.

Katelyn Wissinger

Living A Life of Creativity 

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Are you creative? Mr. Jonathan McNair began the recent forum by posing this question to the students. He put forth a passion for this topic and how it relates to our Father in Heaven.

The Creative Process 

After presenting the question, Mr. McNair used a video to demonstrate the process of creativity. The video was of a man who sat down at the piano, and wrote a short piece of music for himself and an orchestra in 10 minutes. All he used for inspiration was a few lines of text from a program of the evenings musical performance. He asked the audience for a “key” in which to write, and began to create. The end product was a powerful mini-ballad, amazing the audience as they listened to his work brought musically to life. 

God Is Creative

Mr. McNair dug in and emphasized just how creative the Creator of this world is. God did not have to make such a variety of scenery or taste, yet he did.  Genesis 1:26 says:  “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  Mr. McNair pointed out mankind was created in the image of God, and he also instilled in us the desire to be creative.  

Biblical Craftsmanship 

He went on to show examples from the Bible of God’s guidance concerning creative projects.  The guidance that God gave to Noah in Genesis chapter 6, is very detailed. “Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15 And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.” Exodus 31 shows God’s guidance to create works of art as well; “And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, 5 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.”

Making it Personal 

To make the topic real in the student’s daily lives, Mr. McNair brought out a personal story of how remarkably man can use the creativity he was given.  He shared how he is reviewing the project for the new hymnal and that it is inspiring to witness just how much creativity God has provided within the church. He then went on to warn that creativity must be used, lest it be taken away.  

Keys To Creativity 

To wrap up his forum, Mr. McNair brought to light what he called three keys to achieving creativity.  The first was, “Use patterns for success.” He said that when you look at it, there are patterns everywhere; use these patterns to your advantage. The second key is, “Get the little things right.” Mr. McNair established that when a chance for a grand creative endeavor appears, if you do not have the fundamentals down then that chance will pass you by.  The final point is, “Work in harmony.”  He told the students that they shouldn’t view others as stepping stones to get them where they want to go and then leave, but instead care for the people and the connection during the creative process

 Mr. McNair left the students with a challenge.  “I challenge you to live a creative life!”

The 7 Laws of Success

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Recently, Mr. Hernandez gave a forum on the importance of following the seven laws of success. He started by explaining that success should not just be thought of in physical terms, but also spiritual terms. Spiritual and physical success are connected. Mr. Hernandez showed that by practicing the 7th law of success, seeking God first, all other laws can be achieved.

Seek God and Put Him First

Our relationship with God must be of the utmost importance to us. As students, Mr. Hernandez pointed out, it could be all too easy to think that we are right with God just because we are attending classes and learning about the Bible. He reminded us that we should continue in daily prayer and Bible study, in addition to our classes here at LE. If we put God first, starting and ending our day with prayer and Bible study, we will be successful. 

Jesus provides an example of this in Mark 1:35; “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place, and there He prayed”.

If we are making the time to study and pray and develop that personal connection with God, then His word will fill our minds and guide us throughout the day. This personal relationship enabled Joseph to be successful even when he was a slave in Egypt (Genesis 39:2).

1. Set the right goal: Matthew 6:33 states our overall goal should be to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”. Mr. Hernandez emphasized that seeking His righteousness means we should be keeping His commandments. Staying loyal to Christ will lead to future success. Our focus should be on putting the knowledge we have about God’s way of life into action. 

2. Seek knowledge and the right education: As Living Education students, our primary source of knowledge is the Bible and Mr. Hernandez encouraged us to read the whole Bible. In Deuteronomy God stated that he wanted those appointed as kings to write a copy of the law for themselves and that they were to read it their whole lives (Deuteronomy 17:18-19).

3. Maintain good health: Mr. Hernandez emphasized watching what we eat. We should be mindful of the effects of different foods on our bodies and be careful to observe the examples of clean and unclean meats listed in the Bible. He mentioned the booklet, Biblical Principles of Health as a useful resource.

4. Drive: “The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich” (Proverbs 13:4). Working hard leads to success and blessings from God.

5. Be resourceful: Resourcefulness involves wisdom, which “is the ability to solve problems by applying God’s law in the right way”. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:4). 

6. Have endurance: The only way we will get into the Kingdom of God is if we endure to the end. Start working towards your goals today, don’t wait for tomorrow. 

7. Seek God first:  These 6 laws of success would not be possible without the 7th law- Seeking God and putting Him first. If we fail to put God first, we won’t see the right goals to set and we will be seeking the wrong kind of knowledge. Without the Bible, where can we find health laws on what we should and shouldn’t eat? The proverbs instruct us on how to act and how to work. Without spending time in prayer and Bible study, how will we have access to God’s wisdom? Finally, how can we achieve success if we do not endure to the end? 

Remember to put God first in all things.

Katelyn Wissinger