On Wednesday, 24 March 2021, HomeTree Coworking will be hosting their “Online Deep Work Training”. The session will be facilitated by HomeTree Coworking Co-Founder Semal Luthra.
With a Master’s in Innovation and Creativity in Industry from Cranfield University, UK, Semal, who was resolute to find work she was passionate about, was led to a varied career path. Starting out as a design researcher and data analyst before becoming a data visualisation expert, and eventually transitioning to a product management role at dunnhumby UK, Semal then worked as a customer insight consultant for Deloitte UK, before going to Yale University (US) for her MBA.
HomeTree was Semal’s first entrepreneurial venture, based on a lifelong dream to bring mindfulness into the way we work.
Speaking with Semal about the “Online Deep Work Training” session, she shared that they believe the event would be ideal for just about anyone looking to improve their productivity and experience better-quality work. She commented that they will be sharing the findings from the experience they’ve gathered over the past year at HomeTree Coworking.
Sharing that as a society our productivity has tanked, Semal noted that Google searches for “how to get your brain to focus” have increased 300%, and 96% of companies now say their productivity has been affected. Meanwhile, 75% of employees feel overwhelmed and significantly less productive as a result of working from home and pandemic-related distractions. The fact that many of us are working longer but feeling less able to get things done only adds to the frustration.
Commenting on what HomeTree Coworking has set out to do here, she said that in our core, we all want to experience the truest, fullest, and highest expression of ourselves, adding that the reality, however, is that although we are working harder and longer than before, we feel less productive, more exhausted, and directionless.
“Do you find yourself having trouble focusing on your work? Do you find it exhausting trying to deal with constant interruptions and distractions?” she questioned rhetorically, saying that these feelings are not isolated and you are not alone in feeling this way. A recent study by McKinsey found that 60% of our day is spent doing unproductive busywork, like answering emails, tracking down information, co-ordinating with colleagues, etc. And so it is not surprising that although we are working longer hours, we are getting less done.
“This was a struggle that was all too real for me, and so I have spent the last year figuring out different tools and techniques I can use to do high-quality work in a short frame of time,” she said, adding that one will be surprised to see how some simple principles, when applied, can make a huge difference.
Semal stated that she would love to share this approach with people, and unlike the plethora of productivity videos you may have surely seen on YouTube, what this programme offers is a practical, hands-on approach, which you can do together with your team or by yourself every day, to bring out your best.
Deep working is the work performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate. It will help you focus on what’s important, get it done on time, vastly improve the quality of your work, and get more time to do the things you love.
Breaking it down, Semal provided that the training will teach you how to: (i) Plan your work effectively, (ii) work on the important stuff, (iii) build positive work habits, (iv) improve your ability to focus, (v) prime your mind to work at its peak, and (vi) complete eight hours of work in four.
She shared that they believe the contentment is found at the intersection of passion, purpose, impact, and wellness. We all can relate to that feeling of contentment after completing a productive day, and with the majority of our lives spent working, the work we do and our relationship to work has a direct impact on our happiness and fulfilment, and so the work we do must be done in a way through which we optimise the “actual work” we put in.
