When I first started graduate school, I read a book by Cal Newport titled Deep Work. The main idea of this book is that quality, uninterrupted time-blocks for work are far more effective than longer hours of distracted work. He argues that this approach to work results in a better quality production. When I read this, I couldn’t help but to think about how important this idea is for pastoral ministry. There’s much about a pastor’s schedule that is unpredictable, as pastors are often pulled in so many different directions. In this essay, I hope to discuss the concept of deep work and how it can be utilized in a ministerial context.
What Is Deep Work?
Newport defines deep work 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.”[1] On the other hand, shallow work is “noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.”[2] Both types of work are certainly necessary, but if one never commits to going deep with work that benefits from this level of focus, he is missing out on potential value.
In ministry, many examples manifest both deep work and shallow work. Deep work would include tasks such as preparing a sermon, Sunday school lesson, or a Bible study. Also included in this category is the sharpening of skills that help a pastor perform these tasks; skills such as biblical language study, theological study, and hermeneutics. To use Newport’s definition, these efforts create new value, improve skills, and are difficult to replicate.
Examples of shallow work in ministry also abound. Shallow work may include administrative work such as e-mail, phone calls, and planning the church calendar. This designation might sound negative, but is not intended to diminish the importance of these tasks in any way. Based on Newport’s definition, these are simply the noncognitively demanding tasks that may not require as much focus and creativity as deep work tasks.
Deep Work in Pastoral Ministry
Many of Newport’s arguments for working deeply in the business world are also applicable to ministry contexts. He discusses a concept called attention residue, a term coined by a professor at the University of Minnesota to describe the effect of trying to accomplish multiple tasks simultaneously.[3] Newport argues, “The problem this research identifies with this work strategy is that when you switch from some Task A to another Task B, your attention doesn’t immediately follow—a residue of your attention remains stuck thinking about the original task.”[4]
In my limited experience as a pastor, I’ve already seen this issue manifest in my own sermon preparation. Interruptions often arise when preparing sermons. Sometimes it’s a phone call. Sometimes it’s an unexpected email. Sometimes it’s randomly remembering that I better order more bulletins because we ran out this past week (this situation actually happened to me this week). Once I switch my attention to one of these interruptions, regaining complete focus on my original task of sermon preparation takes a while.
Sometimes these interruptions are unavoidable and must be dealt with. Other times, however, prioritization is the issue. Newport contends, “Many other ideas are being prioritized as more important than deep work in the business world.”[5] He lists rapid communication (the expectation that you are always available) and an active presence on social media as the primary culprits to preventing deep work.
Newport points out that we live in a culture of connectivity, “where one is expected to read and respond to e-mails (and related communication) quickly.”[6] And even though studies have shown that less connectivity results in better quality work, Newport argues that the reason cultures of connectivity persist is because it’s easier. People tend to do what is easiest in the moment. He refers to this phenomenon as the principle of least resistance.[7]
As convincing as Newport’s argument is for less connectivity and quick communication, pastors know that the potential application of these ideas will look different in the context of ministry. Availability is part of the pastor’s job. We need to be available for our parishioners during their times of need, and these times are not always predictable. However, we don’t need to use this unpredictability as an excuse for not giving other aspects of our work the attention they deserve. With good planning, we can have the best of both worlds: focus for work that requires depth and availability to members of our congregation. One could make the argument that, by scheduling time to work deeply, you make yourself even more available to your church than if you didn’t.
Without scheduling time for deep work, it’s easy to slip into the tendency that Newport calls “Busyness as proxy for productivity.” He explains, “In the absence of clear indicators of what it means to be productive and valuable in their jobs, many knowledge workers turn back toward an industrial indicator of productivity: doing lots of stuff in a visible manner.”[8] In other words, we may find things to do that on the outside look productive when we are really putting off the more difficult work on our plate.
Personally, I’ve always preferred working on things that allow me to see progress in the physical world. For example, in high school I preferred putting trim on cabinets in the wood shop over doing my geometry homework out of a textbook. One example of how this tendency has manifested itself in my ministry is that, when I get stuck on something in my sermon preparation, I may clean off my desk or organize my bookshelf to make myself feel like I am accomplishing something. While these things aren’t bad, and I need to do them at some point, I would benefit more from persevering through these difficult times and pushing my cognitive capabilities to their limit.
Implementing Deep Work in Pastoral Ministry
Newport points out that we have a finite amount of willpower that becomes depleted as we use it. Therefore, he says, “The key to developing a deep work habit is to move beyond good intentions and add routines and rituals to your working life designed to minimize the amount of your limited willpower necessary to transition into and maintain a state of unbroken concentration.”[9] He discusses four philosophies of deep work scheduling, but the one that best suits someone in ministry is what he calls “The Rhythmic Philosophy of Deep Work Scheduling.” This approach suggests that the easiest way to implement deep work is to make it into a simple, regular habit.[10]
Perhaps there’s an hour or two every day that rarely gets interrupted. With this philosophy, you could make those your deep work hours and protect them as much as possible. No meetings or phone calls should be scheduled during this time. Maybe this would be a good time to shut off the Internet and put your phone on the other side of the room and focus solely on the task at hand.
This protected space is an excellent time for pastors to focus on things that will help them as ministers of the Word. It’s hard to make progress studying areas such as the biblical languages, theology, and hermeneutics without deep work. If we truly believe that God’s Word “is given by inspiration of God, andis profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16, NKJV), we should steward well our time and energy by taking time to work deeply as pastors.
In many ways, the thought of implementing deep work in pastoral ministry sounds like you are more focused on yourself than the people you serve, but there’s another way to look at it: By devoting more energy and focus to the study of the Scriptures, pastors are more apt to equip the saints for the work of ministry (Eph. 4:11). Also, pastors who practice deep work can be even more available to their congregations than if they haphazardly went about their work. Setting aside focused time for deep work allows a pastor to be more flexible with the remainder of his schedule.
Some aspects of Newport’s book may not be conducive to a pastor’s life. But if there is anything that deserves focus, depth, and concentration, it is the inspired Word of God which pastors are called to proclaim.
[1]Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (New York: Grand Central, 2016), 3.
[2]Ibid., 6.
[3]Ibid., 41.
[4]Ibid., 42.
[5]Ibid., 51.
[6]Ibid., 57.
[7]Ibid., 58.
[8]Ibid., 64.
[9]Ibid., 100.
[10]Ibid., 110.
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