Jumping into Deep Work

class: center, middle, title-slide, qr-title-slide
      # Jumping into Deep Work

## Jon Johnson (he/him)

.left-column[
 .boxes[
 .icons[
 jrjohnson 
 jrjohnson_ 
 jrjohnson-ucsf 
 ]

.avatar[
        ![Jon's avatar](../shared/avatar.jpg)
        ]
      ]]

.right-column[
        ### Plain Text and Slides At:
        ![](media/talk-qr.svg)
      ]
      .full-width-column[## UCTech Slack: https://uctech.slack.com]

---
 class: logos
 <svg version="1.1" id="Layer_1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" x="0px" y="0px"
 width="450px" height="450px" viewBox="0 0 450 450" enable-background="new 0 0 450 450" xml:space="preserve">
 <g>
 <rect x="83.8" y="66.6" fill="#0093D0" width="282.4" height="282.4"/>
 <g>
 <defs>
 <rect id="SVGID_1_" x="83.8" y="66.6" width="282.4" height="282.4"/>
 </defs>
 <clipPath id="SVGID_2_">
 <use xlink:href="#SVGID_1_" overflow="visible"/>
 </clipPath>
 <path clip-path="url(#SVGID_2_)" fill="#FFFFFF" d="M325.84,177.185V164.97h-46.508v45.039c-0.245-5.273-2.173-9.372-5.825-12.247
 c-2.507-1.986-6.298-3.578-11.359-4.769l-11.527-2.737c-4.464-1.024-7.369-1.927-8.73-2.705c-1.27-0.689-2.157-1.59-2.644-2.676
 h-0.019c-0.014-0.017-0.014-0.017-0.014-0.029c-0.336-0.737-0.536-1.623-0.536-2.569c0-2.002,0.69-3.717,2.127-5.078
 c0.031-0.014,0.045-0.061,0.077-0.075c0-0.016,0-0.016,0,0c0.336-0.291,0.672-0.55,1.054-0.811c2.154-1.422,5.044-2.14,8.685-2.14
 c3.256,0,5.978,0.55,8.181,1.652c3.285,1.665,5.042,4.479,5.305,8.423h13.192c-0.246-6.986-2.844-12.306-7.783-15.977
 c-4.951-3.669-10.929-5.504-17.947-5.504c-8.394,0-14.771,1.942-19.096,5.84c-2.644,2.386-4.493,5.152-5.518,8.304h-0.017
 c-0.213,0.686-0.399,1.39-0.535,2.094c-1.621,7.583-6.497,12.719-14.662,12.719c-13.058,0-17.979-11.1-17.979-22.122
 c0-11.59,4.921-22.688,17.979-22.688c7.215,0,13.513,4.981,14.448,11.572h14.08c-1.759-15.291-13.989-23.805-28.528-23.805
 c-19.524,0-31.357,13.898-32.414,32.214v-30.638h-14.554v41.124c0,9.816-3.332,14.341-13.715,14.341
 c-11.771,0-13.622-7.124-13.622-14.341v-41.124h-14.539v41.124c0,17.964,10.38,26.572,28.161,26.572
 c17.688,0,28.269-8.698,28.269-26.572v-5.166c1.056,17.841,12.89,31.738,32.414,31.738c8.027,0,14.875-2.583,19.904-7.198
 c0.323,0.256,0.627,0.504,0.982,0.73c2.611,1.819,7.428,3.501,14.416,5.046l7.109,1.561c4.156,0.888,7.201,1.911,9.11,3.073
 c1.927,1.19,2.89,2.874,2.89,5.043c0,3.72-1.957,6.257-5.871,7.615c-2.062,0.718-4.756,1.072-8.054,1.072
 c-5.534,0-9.435-1.348-11.698-4.053c-1.254-1.483-2.078-3.73-2.508-6.727H224.92c0,6.833,2.459,12.199,7.43,16.113
 c4.951,3.898,11.758,5.856,20.396,5.856c8.485,0,15.027-1.973,19.676-5.948c4.266-3.654,6.574-8.164,6.91-13.531v18.483h14.558
 v-27.32h27.7v-11.297h-27.7v-15.289H325.84z"/>
 </g>
 <text transform="matrix(1 0 0 1 118.292 280.8896)"><tspan x="0" y="0" fill="#FFFFFF" font-family="'HelveticaNeue-Thin'" font-size="72.5442" letter-spacing="1">Li</tspan><tspan x="51.216" y="0" fill="#FFFFFF" font-family="'HelveticaNeue-Thin'" font-size="72.5442" letter-spacing="1">b</tspan><tspan x="93.001" y="0" fill="#FFFFFF" font-family="'HelveticaNeue-Thin'" font-size="72.5442">r</tspan><tspan x="113.169" y="0" fill="#FFFFFF" font-family="'HelveticaNeue-Thin'" font-size="72.5442" letter-spacing="1">a</tspan><tspan x="150.892" y="0" fill="#FFFFFF" font-family="'HelveticaNeue-Thin'" font-size="72.5442" letter-spacing="2">r</tspan><tspan x="173.815" y="0" fill="#FFFFFF" font-family="'HelveticaNeue-Thin'" font-size="72.5442">y</tspan></text>
 </g>
 </svg>
 <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" viewbox="0 0 392.11 392.11" aria-hidden="true" class="ilios-logo">
 <title>Ilios Logo</title>
 <path d="M371.83,461.83c-77.62-89.13-98.6-113.11-30.25-93.76-62.12-34.35-30.23-36.41,87.67-44.87-117.91-8.47-149.8-10.52-87.67-44.87-68.34,19.35-47.37-4.63,30.26-93.76-89.12,77.62-113.11,98.6-93.76,30.25-34.35,62.12-36.41,30.23-44.87-87.68-8.47,117.91-10.53,149.8-44.87,87.68,19.35,68.34-4.64,47.37-93.76-30.26,77.62,89.13,98.59,113.11,30.25,93.76,62.12,34.35,30.23,36.41-87.68,44.87,117.91,8.47,149.8,10.52,87.68,44.87,68.34-19.35,47.37,4.63-30.25,93.76,89.12-77.62,113.11-98.6,93.76-30.25,34.35-62.12,36.41-30.23,44.87,87.68,8.47-117.91,10.52-149.8,44.87-87.68C258.71,363.23,282.7,384.21,371.83,461.83Z" transform="translate(-37.14 -127.14)"/>
 <text x="50%" y="50%" alignment-baseline="middle" text-anchor="middle">Ilios</text>
 </svg>

???
      # UCSF Library Educational Technology
        - Team Supports, Hosts, and Develops Moodle, Kaltura and Ilios

---
 class: center,middle,highlight
 # Deep Work
 ## Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. **It’s a skill that** allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work **will make you better at what you do** and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is **like a super power** in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep—spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there’s a better way.
 .footnote[-Cal Newport https://www.calnewport.com/books/deep-work/]

???
      - I named this talk after this book
      - It gave me the vocabulary to talk about something I'd been messing with for years
      - I remember it being a good book, and I'm not going to summarize it here, other than this quote you probably shouldn't think of anything I'm saying as being from this book
      ---
      class: center,photo-slide
      # The Problem
      ![Manager vs Maker with managers schedule borken into small chunks and the maker having huge blocks of focus time](./media/manager-maker.jpg)

.footnote[
        @Miguel Rodriguez https://uctech.slack.com/archives/C0BMLRVT7/p1660060679338289
      ]

---
      class: center,photo-slide
      # The Problem
      ![Fragmented Schedule Split Up deep work all in big chunks](./media/deep-fragmented-work.jpg)

---
 class: center,photo-slide
 # My Journey to Finding Focus 2007
 ## (hopefully you'll get there faster than I did!)
 .whitespace[]

.left-column[
 ### 2007

#### Started Building Software
 #### No clue what I was doing
 #### Needed Time to Focus
 #### Work From Home Wednesdays
 ]

.right-column[
      ![Jasper (a black terrier) waiting at the window for me to come home](media/jasper-whats-that.jpg)
      ]

---
 class: center,tuesday-night,photo-slide
 # My Journey to Finding Focus 2007
 ## (hopefully you'll get there faster than I did!)
 .whitespace[]

.left-column[
 ### 2007

#### Started Building Software
 #### No clue what I was doing
 #### Needed Time to Focus
 #### Work From Home .strikethrough[Wednesdays]
 ## Tuesday Nights!
 ]

.right-column[
      ![Jasper (a black terrier) standing up on the beach](media/jasper-standing-up.jpg)
      ]

???
      What I discovered was that I could accomplish huge amounts of work between 8pm and 2am.
      I've always been more productive at night, so I initially thought that was all that was going on.
      As I moved departments and teams and projects I kept to this schedule, stacking up work and pushing out
      huge amounts of code or content on Tuesday nights.
      At first I tended to hide this, but with success came more confidence, this was a proven method for me and I became more
      open with my team about what I was doing

---
 class: center,photo-slide
 # My Journey to Finding Focus 2017
 .whitespace[]

.left-column[
 #### Started Managing a Team (kept building software)
 #### Calendar 80% Recurring Meetings
 #### Increased Communication Overhead
 #### Struggling to Stay Ahead
 ]

.right-column[
 ![Jackson (a black and brown chihuahua with his head on Jasper sitting on the couch)](media/jackson-and-jasper.jpg)
 ]
 ???
 Meetings aren't inherently bad, neither is email, slack, twitter, etc... but when you spread them
 out exactly right (as I tended to do) 3-4 hours of meetings in a day ends up taking the entire day
 ---
 class: center,photo-slide
 # My Journey to Finding Focus 2017
 .whitespace[]

.left-column[
      # Also... society was starting to come apart
      ]

.right-column[
      ![Me at the 2017 Women's March throwing up the horns with marchers behind and in front of me reflected in my sunglasses](media/womens-march-2017.jpg)
      ]
      ???
      Meetings aren't inherently bad, neither is email, slack, twitter, etc... but when you spread them
      out exactly right (as I tended to do) 3-4 hours of meetings in a day ends up taking the entire day

---
      class: center,middle
      # Taking Control of My Calendar
      ## and by extension my focus
      ### and discovering deep work

???

By blocking off huge chunks of my calendar (Monday morning, all day Wednesday and Friday, Thursday afternoon) I
      was able to guarantee time to focus.

---
 class: center,middle,photo-slide
 # Deep Work Achievement Unlocked
 ![Calendar with Mornings and all day Wednesday and Friday blocked off, recurring meetings pushed together into blocks](media/calendar.png)
 ---
 class: center,middle
 # Better Meetings

???
      Not only did focus time become more productive, but squashing all my meetings into specific slots
      made it easier to focus on those meetings. I didn't need to by halfway present, I could be all-in because I knew
      I'd have time to finish my work.

---
 class: center,middle
 # Inbox Zero

???
      Inbox zero was possible for the first time (like dishes I didn't need to worry about the next email coming in, I'd get to it)

---
 class: center,middle
 # Planning Stacked Work

???
      Stacking work like this allowed by time to plan what work I would stack. Instead of reacting to the idea de jour I was able to
      work on what was most important and know I could finish really big projects.

For example we replaced our entire authorization system incrementally and securely with no interruption to users over an entire year
      of small focused projects

---
 class: center,middle
 # All In
 ## bringing in the team

---
 class: center,middle
 # Making Deep Work our Policy

.boxes[
 ##
 ##
 ]

???
      Block off at least 20 hours a week for deep work
      Establish, and socialize, a communication policy

---
      class: center,highlight
      # Communication
      .whitespace[]

## To **foster deep work** and allow the most flexibility in scheduling meaningful work, the following guidelines apply to any communication within our group and as much as possible should be the **default for all internal and external communication**.

---
      class: center,highlight
      # Asynchronous Decision Making
      .whitespace[]

## Give meaningful discussions a meaningful amount of time to develop and unfold. Allowing time for everyone to take part in any decision allows time for new ideas as well as **reducing the stress from missing out** if you're not plugged into chat at the exact time decisions are unfolding.

---
      class: center,highlight
      # Response Times
      .whitespace[]

## Messages should be answered **within two working days** if a response is required. It's OK to not respond to every message. It is also OK for your first response to be "I need to think about the implications further". When you need more time to respond, let everyone know. We're a **very small team** and everyone having time to fully digest and consider information is critical for avoiding many types of issues. When you are engaged in meaningful deep work, you should **ignore all communication channels and focus** on your work knowing you will have time to read and respond later.

---
      class: center,highlight
      # Checking in to say hi
      .whitespace[]

## It can get very lonely working in isolation. These requirements are not meant to cover casual conversation. Reach out, be around, say hi, **we're a team** only as long as we all take part in a community.

---
      class: center,highlight
      # Emergencies
      .whitespace[]

## Critical response is rarely needed, but you should leave team members a way to **break into your work for emergencies** only. If this communication channel is used more than once a year, then we should re-tool our process to have **fewer emergencies**. Phone, text, or Slack (breaking Do-Not-Disturb mode) are fine. Use whatever you need, but make everyone aware of how to reach you in crisis.

---
      class: center,highlight
      # External Communication Requirements
      .whitespace[]

## You should check external communication channels (email) **once per day** to be responsive to external emergencies and information requests from important campus partners. Even for critical requests from important constituents, an 8-hour delay in responding is acceptable. **We have very few true emergencies**, but waste a significant amount of our potential when monitoring email is a top priority. I would much rather us **do very good work every day** and occasionally have a delay in responding than to waste time every day on the off chance there is an emergency.

---
      class: center
      # Along Came Covid
      ## Untethered From Time

.icon-row[
 ## 
 ## 
 ## 
 ]

???
      ## Work When you're ready to work
      - I used to get so stressed on Sunday, felt like I couldn't relax. Now I work on Sunday afternoon and take Wednesday morning off
      - I used to come in really early to get focus time in, but I was regularly told the leaving early didn't seem fair to the team
        - Perceptions mater a lot, COVID has made this much easier to play around with
      ---
      class: center,middle
      # How's it Going?

.left-column[
        ## Ilios
        - ### 86 releases in 2021
        - ### Since January 2022 62% Faster and 75% less memory
        - ### First to Meet AAMC Curriculum Inventory Standards
        - ### Fully Deployed in Containers
        - ### 99.1 Siteimprove Accessibility Rating
      ]

.right-column[
        ## Moodle
        - ### Up To Date on v3.11.8
        - ### Significant Deployment Automation
        - ### Removed 80K Unneeded User Accounts
        - ### Shorter Maintenance Windows
        - ### Zero Unplanned Downtime in more than a Year
      ]

---
      class:center,middle
      # Organizational Limits
      ## such a thing as too productive

???
      - It's a weird thing to say, but you can be too productive.
      - An organization can only absorb so much change.
      - Because we've maximized our time it has allowed us to focus on other UCSF mission areas to advance health worldwide
      including:
        - building small tools for data extraction and pandemic communication,
        - contributing to open source maintenance of Moodle, it's plugins, and many other libraries we depend on.

---
      class:center,middle,set-photos
      # What Will You Do With More Time?

.photos[
      ![library staff watching an eclipse](media/watching-eclipse.jpg)
      ![view up into the canopy of redwoods](media/redwoods.jpg)
      ![sitting cross legged at the end of yoga class with my dog jackson](media/yoga-with-jackson.jpg)
      ![laying down in the grass enjoying the day](media/laying-down.jpg)
      ![two dogs sitting looking up and waiting to see what is happening](media/jayden-jackson-waiting.jpg)
      ![with Jen, my wife, on a boat on the water](media/with-jen.jpg)
      ]

???
      # Hard To Prioritize Yourself When Our Mission is So Critical
      ## If you have as much trouble as I do throwing off your capitalist conditioning
      Remember:
      - You're an incredibly expensive and difficult to replace asset and it's your job to take care of you
      - Keep track of your hours and accomplishments. You'll find UC is getting its fair share.
      - I solved a long standing performance issue while walking my dogs on the beach, taking care of yourself takes care of UC

---
      class:center,middle
      # Four Day Work Week
      ## (and other awesome things to try)

???
      ## Four Day Week
      - Lots of studies show no productivity loss
      - Tons of gain in personal happiness
      ## 4th Friday
      - Communication Holiday
      - One Person On Call
      - Work on whatever you want
      - Especially Yourself

---
      class: center, middle, title-slide, qr-title-slide
      # Thanks!
      ## Hope to see you on UCTech Slack

## Jon Johnson (he/him)

.avatar[
        ![Jon's avatar](../shared/avatar.jpg)
        ]
      ]]

.right-column[
        ### Plain Text and Slides At:
        ![](media/talk-qr.svg)
      ]
      .full-width-column[## UCTech Slack: https://uctech.slack.com]