Completing difficult tasks is crucial if you want to succeed at anything in the long run. But today, it’s all too easy to get distracted. Social media, entertainment websites, and open-office workspaces can all contribute to having your to-do list uncompleted at the end of the day.

Deep Work is one concept you should consider trying if you find it difficult to focus on one task. The term has become popular in the productivity space, and several people—students, employees, and business owners alike—have benefited from trying it.

In this article, you’ll learn what Deep Work actually means. After explaining the concept in more detail, we’ll show you a selection of tools to help you incorporate it into your routine.

What Is Deep Work?

Deep Work is a concept discussed in detail by Cal Newport in his 2016 book. The term refers to focused periods of performing cognitively-demanding tasks. Newport explores modern knowledge workers and people from other disciplines that require attention away from a computer. He also goes back in time to look at how other prominent figures, such as Carl Jung, incorporated Deep Work into their routines.

The general idea is that our brains have limited capacity for challenging tasks each day. We need to focus on these without checking our smartphones, multitasking, and so on. The idea ties in with another of his books, Digital Minimalism—which discusses how you can use technology more effectively and cut through the noise.

6 Tools to Help You Improve Your Deep Work Sessions

Okay, so you should now have a better understanding of what Deep Work is. With that base level of knowledge, let’s look at a suite of apps and platforms that can help maximize your Deep Work sessions.

1. Focus Mode

focus modes in iphone control center

For many people, smartphones are the biggest culprit when it comes to distractions. Sometimes, all it takes is for your screen to light up or make a sound from one text message to throw your entire working session off-track. Even if you don’t spend 20+ minutes on your phone after checking, refocusing on your initial task can often take a while.

One of the best productivity-related features we’ve seen come to smartphones is the ability to set Focus Modes. You can use these on iOS 15 and later, along with Android 9 and up. If you have a Mac and iPad, you’ll also have Focus Modes ready to customize on your device.

When using Focus Modes on your device, you should consider making one specifically for Deep Work. Ideally, you shouldn't allow anyone to contact you—unless it’s an emergency. Restricting apps to websites and apps that you often find distracting is also a good idea.

2. Google Calendar

Knowing when your Deep Work sessions will take place is an easy way to prepare yourself mentally; using a calendar app is the best way to schedule them. Google Calendar is one of the most popular, and it has plenty of tools to help you increase your productivity.

In Google Calendar, you can easily create a new event to schedule your Deep Work sessions. Click on the Create button and select Event from the dropdown menu. Then, choose the time and date that you want your Deep Work to take place. You can go to Does not repeat and change this if you’d like to schedule your sessions at the same time each day.

Google Calendar Create Deep Work Session Screenshot

When you’ve done the above and added a name, select Save.

Download: Google Calendar for iOS | Android (Free)

3. Apple Calendar

If you use an Apple device, you might want to consider using Apple Calendar instead of Google Calendar. When it comes to Deep Work, the app isn’t too different from Google Calendar; the main difference is that you can’t use it if you aren’t in the Apple ecosystem.

To schedule your Deep Work sessions in Apple Calendar, click on the date you’d like to perform your session. Then, enter the necessary details and click anywhere on your screen.

Apple Calendar Deep Work Scheduling Screenshot

You can use Apple Calendar on your Apple Watch, along with iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

4. Notion

Notion Press Space for AI Screenshot

Notion is useful in several scenarios, and Deep Work is one of them. The app has several tools you can use to enjoy more productive sessions, and one of the handiest ways you can use it in this context is to know what your tasks are.

Each day, you can keep track of the important tasks you need to complete in your Deep Work sessions. How you lay these out is up to you; Notion lets you create simple pages and to-do lists, as one example. You can also use calendars and tables. If you don’t fancy making these yourself, you’ll find plenty of free Notion templates to stay organized.

Download: Notion for iOS | Mac | Windows | Android (Free, in-app purchases available)

5. Cold Turkey

You’ll find several tools that help you block apps that you might find distracting, but limiting website access isn’t always so easy. One tool you can use, however, is Cold Turkey. Many website blockers are easy to uninstall whenever you feel the urge to visit a site while you should be working.

Cold Turkey, however, is not one of those. You can use the tool to block sites for a specific period, and you can decide whether you want these to be short or long-term. It's free, but you can get the premium version with a one-time purchase if you need more features. You’ll find more information about downloads and pricing here.

6. Structured Daily Planner

Having a tool that helps you plan each day is a wise idea, and you can do a lot worse than trying Structured. When using Structured for Deep Work, you can schedule your sessions and customize them with icons and more. If you link your app to one sec, you can also block social media and other apps.

Structured has apps for iOS, iPad, and Mac. However, when writing in March 2023, you can’t download one for Android, Windows, Linux, or Chrome OS. The service has a paid plan, and you can also upgrade to the full version for $9.99.

Download: Structured for iOS | iPadOS | Mac (Free, in-app purchases available)

Make Room for More Meaningful Work

Implementing Deep Work takes time to get used to, but you’ll likely find it quite rewarding if you stick with it and learn from your mistakes. While you can use willpower to stay off websites and apps that may often distract you, doing so is needlessly wasting your mental capacity for the day.

You’ll find plenty of tools that will help you get more meaningful work done by cutting out distractions. Moreover, you can use several that help you plan your Deep Work sessions better. To remove distractions even further, consider leaving your phone in another room while you work as well.