Sometimes I can’t complete the deep work task as my activities change during the day, what is your approach to getting it done when this happens?

I don't beat myself up when I do complete the whole time of my deep work. If I can manage only a short time where I am working without distractions it still trains my ”focus” muscle. And by doing it every day I am strengthen it. The length of time is not as important.

I try my best to clear a space in my plans. Deep work time is really important for me so I try my best to keep it in my schedule. I’d also say, don’t worry! If you have lots of other important things to do, do them first!!! If you can’t do deep work, don’t wind yourself up about it. We are all only human and it’s okay for us to make mistakes.

I usually do it towards the night when I am in the zone. That is when I tend to relax and I can focus on work. One thing is to not force it when it's not working. That is when I start to hate my work and resist on trying now to finish it. Experiment on what time of day or night helps you focus on work 🙂 good luck!!

On days you expect this to happen: carve out time in the morning.

Otherwise – late evenings are full of opportunities (opt out of social activities).

Most importantly – be ok with the fact that you won’t always have time. It is better to have a 3 year habit you stick to 80% of the time than to stick to a habit for 30 days, and then give up.

My approach is to remember why I use the deep work tool, which is to lern to focus and concentrate better when I perform certain tasks. But it doesn't suit all the tasks of my job. I remind myself that this app offers tools but they don't always fit with real life situations. The deep work tools are to help us train our brain to focus for e.g. 25 minutes, or 45 mins, or 240 mins etc. There is also a pause button to pause the time if for example I get interrupted (if my boss comes to me to tell me something, I won't ask her to come back when the 25 min deep work are over). So these tools are here to serve us and we don't need to be too rigid when we use them. The deep work tool seems designed for tasks that are performed at a desk and/or a computer. I have days when I'm out with clients playing board games or walking in parks and I still mark my deep work as done because I was there with my focus, I was present for my clients.

Sometimes it's harder for us to stay on schedule because of the dynamic nature of our work or the collaborative environment where we are expected to deal with unplanned new tasks every now and then. But not every project requires you to focus deeply, some tasks are less energy consuming than others (replying to email vs. putting together a presentation). I found that concentrating on an important big task for just 30 minutes actually helps me reach the flow state where (if not interrupted) I end up working on it longer and can successfully finish something that seemed so daunting that I couldn't bring myself to even start for a while. It tricks my brain into thinking that I would just need to sit down for these 30 minutes which doesn't sound so bad.
To eliminate distractions I try to complete the deep work tasks in the early morning hours before everyone else needs my attention (you could choose evening hours when the rush is over, just make sure it's a time of day when your energy level is highest so you can actually concentrate). It also helps having a certain routine and knowing what goal I'll be working towards. Specific tasks may change but I always know that from 8am to 11am every day I am working on my top priority task to complete project X by the end of the month. It's an actual block in my calendar scheduled every day and I plan everything else around it. Hope this was helpful, good luck!