How to Balance Deep and Shallow Work Online

I spent about ten months last year off social media. I heard a podcast where a woman described how freeing it was for her to be off it for nearly two years, and something inside me clicked. I wanted that. I wanted freedom, less pressure. I wanted off the merry-go-round.

I found myself journaling more than ever. I was piecing together what life could look like when I wasn’t constantly worried about what I had to post. Did I still have anything to say? If I did, how would I go about saying it?

The thing about having social media is there’s always someone listening. You get a response to whatever you’ve put out there, usually within a few minutes. There’s immediate feedback, sometimes a conversation. That can be so fulfilling.

Without it, you wonder if you exist at all.

If you still write but all your words end up in a notebook that no one reads, does it still count?

I wrote pages and pages sorting through it all. I was tired of constantly seeking external validation and recognition at the expense of feeding my inner life. I had lost any sense of internal satisfaction from constantly producing online.

I felt like what I was creating was of no consequence. Whether that was true or not, it’s how I felt. I was doing work that wasn’t feeding my soul, and it wore me ragged.

So, I pulled the plug and got offline for what was going to be a month or two but ended up lasting most of my year.

I had to stop the dance-monkey-dance routine of trying to prove myself all the time. I had to stop so I could find myself again and to figure out what felt honest, true, and authentic for me.

Because it’s hard to have any perspective when you’re in the thick of it.

Because it’s hard to think when everything is so noisy.

Because it’s sometimes so vital to step back and give yourself a break.

Doing the deep work

A few years ago, I read Cal Newport’s Deep Work where he advocates that we need to create spaces to do deep, immersive work, the kind of work that requires our complete attention and our whole minds. He says that approach is harder to come by now that we live in such a highly distractable world. Not only are social media and the internet in general affecting our attention spans, they’re also deteriorating our ability to dig down into our deep work.

When I read the book, something inside me leapt. I’ve always been a fan of slow processes. I like to write by hand. I read slowly and take notes. I listen to something and need time to think it through. Contemplation is important to me, as is quiet.

I’ve always given myself that kind of space, the deep space that feeds my soul and spirit. But last year, I was running so fast on the hamster wheel, my soul and spirit were doing everything they could to cry out and grab my attention. I was exhausted all the time, carrying a deep heaviness I could feel in my bones. Even taking a break from social media wasn’t shaking it, not at first.

Sometimes we don’t know how bad it is until we stop.

Just as it took me months, maybe years, to wind up to that point, it took months to unwind, to realize that my life was important whether I showed up online or not. That’s true for all of us, social media or no.

Each one of us matters, no matter what we create or how much we show up. It matters simply that we’re here, bringing our whole selves to the table.

That’s the key, I think—bringing our whole selves to whatever we’re doing, not neglecting our inner lives for the sake of proving ourselves. Because, if we don’t take care of ourselves, who’s going to?

Now that I’m back on social media, I am much more conscientious about the balance between my deep and shallow work, because both are important to me. Tending to my inner life is important, but so is showing up online consistently. Like everything, there has to be some sort of balance.

How I balance deep and shallow work

Keep a morning routine.

I wake up 30-60 minutes before my kids do and use that time to meditate, drink a big glass of water, pray, and journal before I start my day. I use the Headspace app to meditate for ten minutes, then drink my water and start the coffee. I pray and sometimes listen to the bible on my phone, then journal with hot coffee in hand. If I have time after I’ve journaled, I’ll read.

Spend as much time consuming as not consuming.

I need time to process what I take in, whether that’s books, podcasts, or even conversations. When I’m constantly consuming, I’m not leaving enough room to process what I’ve taken in and measure it against what I know in my heart. Sometimes I joke that I need time alone so I can hear the voices in my head, but it’s true. I need to be able to wade through all the noise to hear my own voice.

Block out time for what’s important.

Creating a schedule for myself has become so important to making sure I’m keeping my priorities straight. I use my Google calendar to schedule my weeks, from appointments and meetings to workouts and writing time. That way I can make sure I’m spending time digging down deep as well as tending to the more shallow work in front of me.

Prioritize alone time.

I’m an INFJ and need a lot of downtime to recharge, especially when I’ve had to be “on” for a long time. I also need time to think and let my mind wander. I consider alone time to be filling the well. A dry well doesn’t produce anything; neither does a dry spirit.

Remember that your worth doesn’t come from what you do.

We are worth something because of who we are, not what we can make or how much we can prove ourselves. I say this over and over again because it’s true. Who I am is worth more than what I can write, what photographs I can take, how elegantly I can articulate myself, how original I am, or anything else. That’s true for you too.

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After mentioning my desire for more deep work recently, a friend suggested that the reason we gravitate toward shallower work has to do with risk. Deep work is risky; shallow work isn’t. I spent some time mulling that over, and I think that’s right. There is a risk is stepping back to do the deeper things, but with big risk comes big reward.

If we’re willing to take the risk and do the deep work, surely we will be
rewarded in the end. Even if that reward is simply our own inner satisfaction.