Deep work. It sounds easy enough, right? I just have to set some time aside to get this project done and go to the library so I can focus on only the task on hand. I’ve done it time and time again, project after project – usually the night or day before it is due (“working under pressure makes diamonds,” I would tell myself).

I mean, it works – I have yet to get an unsatisfactory grade and I get A’s in all my classes. And yet, I feel like I can do better. I can do more. I can work deeper.

If there is anything I have learned from producing video content, it’s that you only improve if you produce. The more you make, the more you learn. And here I am, about to graduate with my bachelors, and having only one (what I would now consider mediocre) documentary to my name. I can do better.

Now I read Cal Newport’s Deep Work and I know I can do better. If I could be one of those top performers who masters new skills fast and produces quality work in a short amount of time, I really can be on top. And I know I can do this. I know I can do more.

But how?

I work three part time jobs, take five classes at school, participate in several school clubs, have a dog to take care of, and freelance projects to work on. I often leave my house at 9 and don’t return until 10. This is not something that is new to me, but it leaves very little wiggle room. How can I find time to work deeply if I have barely any time at all?

Laura Vanderkam’s article How To Make Time For Deep Work When Your Calendar Is Packed With Meetings not only gave me some tips on how to find the time for deep work, but gave me a realization: in order to do my best work consistently, I have to set solid rules for myself.

The Rules

Don’t Have Time? Make Some. Sounds harder said than done. But think about it – how many times a week do you make time for friends, family, or colleges? Scheduling meetings for them is not such a big deal, so schedule some time for yourself. As Vanderkam says in her article, “making time not look open is often key to protecting it for solo work.”

Start out small, only 2-3 blocks of time a week. If you don’t have time during the week, make time in the mornings or on the weekends before your normal activities would start. Yeah, getting up early can suck, but starting the day having accomplished good work makes it worth it (and allows you to relax during you relaxation time).

Put the Phone Away. Far Away. There are countless studies showing the negative impacts that having a phone in you immediate proximity is detrimental to your focus. One of these studies by The Harvard Business Review found that the further away a person was from their phone, the better they were are preforming cognitive tasks. Subjects whose phones were in front of them during those tasks actually preformed just as poorly as those who were sleep deprived – which, admit it or not, you often are in college. Talk about a double whammy!

Remember Those Solo Meetings You Made? Use One of Those to Read. The last time I sat down to read a book on my own accord was… if I am being honest, I actually can’t remember. Don’t get me wrong, I love books. During my grueling 3-4 hour a day commute this last summer I was able to listen to 12 audio books. But when I try to pick up a physical book, I find that I simply cannot read on – unlike in my car where I can only drive and listen, I am using precious time that could be spent working on numerous projects, homework, cleaning…the list goes on forever. While this rule does not directly help you get work done, it does help condition you, or rather re-condition you, to have patience.

I am not the only one. Micheal Harris’ article I Have Forgotten How to Read not only shares his own struggles, but outlines a problem that effects far too many – we have no patience for physical books. He deducts this is due to the fact that he has learned to do “cynical reading” from electronic sources, where we simply look for useful facts then move on to the next thing. He quotes Nicholas Carr, saying “digital technologies are training us to be more conscious of and more antagonistic towards delays of all sorts,” and reading physical books require us to purposefully delay ourselves. When we read physical books, we read with a sense of faith that some larger purpose will be served – and we have lost that faith.

And When You Read, Read Actively. There are some rules to reading that make it not only easier, but more valuable and enjoyable. The article How to Remember What You Read gives you a guide for what to do before, during, and after you read to make to most of the book – and the investment of time you put into it. Some of the most useful pointers seem like common sense, but are ones that I have ignored like only reading what is interesting to me and dropping a book after 50 pages if I have not been hooked.

And, that’s it. Only four rules. I pledge to begin following these rules – now. Not because I have to, but because I want to. Because I can do better. Because I want to do more. Because I can work deeper.