'Monk Mode' and Productivity

 

A recent sharing by Josh Wood, the 32-year-old CEO and founder of the tech hospitality company Bloc, who's based in London, about his experience trying the productivity hack known as "monk mode." The following has been edited for length, clarity and personal experience. Credits to Robin Madell for the article.

I recently had a big deadline coming up for a new feature within my company, Bloc, and I felt like I was behind and constantly distracted. As the CEO of a startup, you play many different roles, so focus and productivity is incredibly important.  (My personal experience: This is so true because as a small business owner, we are like A-Z Man and time becomes a scarced commodity!)

I found out about the productivity hack known as "monk mode" on TikTok in July 2022, from a video by Iman Gadzhi, who's a young, successful entrepreneur, so I decided to give it a try. As a business owner myself, my TikTok feed is filled with business-related posts, self-help advice, and productivity tips. So I see these kinds of posts all the time from people I respect.

Monk mode is where you commit yourself to completing a goal without any distractions.

In monk mode, you take it upon yourself to adopt the isolation and self-discipline practices of monks. There's a reason monks choose to live in seclusion and silence: It's the best way to focus on your inner thoughts and achieve a state of mindfulness. 

The idea is that you shut out every possible distraction and focus on the task at hand. This means turning off everything — phones, apps, notifications, and email — so nothing can distract you. There's also an app called Monk Mode that can do this for you.  (My personal experience: It is about the laser-focussed concentration to the task and in fact could get the task done in a shorter time and surprisingly the quality is enhanced as well. The peacefulness of the mind is really powerful! )

Personally, I have tried many time management techniques but does not seems to work as effectively on me as well! Though techniques such as prioritizing can be used together with 'monk mode', at the end of the day what I want to achieve is the effectiveness, efficiency and longetivity of the productivity system.

For me, monk mode is better because I can go into this "mode" for a lot longer and not be distracted. Because there are no breaks, there's less temptation to do something unproductive. For me, the distractions, notifications, and everything else is the problem when it comes to my productivity, so by reducing those as much as possible during the day, I get a lot more done.

Essentially, monk mode means that you're completely in the present moment.

I use monk mode for may tasks.

This hack has worked really well for me when I'm doing important tasks. 

For example, it helped me complete a blueprint for a new feature coming out for Bloc, which is a ticket-and-reservation website and app that I had to completely create from scratch. I started with a blank Google doc, went into monk mode (I did it manually this time, although sometimes I prefer the app), and one hour later, I'd jotted down more than 20 pages of content.  (My personal experience: Very true!)

I now use monk mode to reply to emails in the morning and for more complicated tasks like software-development planning. I tend to use monk mode earlier in the day when I feel most productive and awake, and save calls and emails for later in the afternoon, as they usually require less brain power. (My personal experience: Something I can learn from!)

I also use monk mode for menial tasks like approving listings on part of my website. It works across everything you work on — at the end of the day, it's a focus tool. 

I use monk mode only when I know I don't need to be available. 

Most messages sent these days are either via email, Slack, or social media, so they're waiting there when I'm ready. I've also made it clear to people that calling me is not the best way to get ahold of me. 

I tend to plan my days quite well, and I communicate to my employees, stakeholders, and family members the best times to reach me, and when not to disturb me. I even tell my partner that I'm going into monk mode if I'm working from home so she knows not to distract and she respects that. (My personal experience: Sometimes we thought that we may be rude to communicate such stuffs to the people around us, but it is in fact the opposite because many a time, when things get done well and efficiently, we gain more respect than otherwise!)

I tend to only go in monk mode during working hours, and it's incredibly rare there's ever an "emergency" that can't wait. If I'm in monk mode for two hours, whoever needs to get ahold of me for something is usually fine with that time frame. I've never had a situation where I've missed something important because I've been in monk mode. I think if there ever was, my partner would ignore their respect for the hack and disrupt me anyway. 

But most things in life can wait. (My personal experience: Very true!)

The hardest part of monk mode is not getting distracted by your own thoughts

My mind definitely got distracted at the beginning, but now that I've got a bit of experience practicing monk mode, I can stay pretty focused for more than two hours. I'd say it took around a month to get used to it, and I tried every day. After 20 to 30 tries, I felt I was really getting used to it and getting the full benefits. 

The trick is to set a goal for what you want to achieve in the session. When I have a goal, I become competitive with myself and want to achieve it, so my mind stays on track.

Another challenge is switching monk mode on and off. I prefer to go into monk mode and stay there for as long as possible — usually two hours — just once or twice a day. (My personal experience: When used during my client meeting session, which has been practised from day one of my career, I find them absolutely effective! Now I will learn to extend it to my other work.)

Monk mode is useful for achieving a state of heightened productivity. 

I would say my productivity in monk mode is five times better than when I'm working normally. I complete more tasks throughout the day and complete them at a much higher level of quality. 

But the most important aspect of monk mode for me is that I don't have to work insane 80-hour weeks anymore. I can get the same amount of work done in less time, which frees up time for other important things like a social life and family. (My personal experience: Still training myself on this to so-called have a balanced life!)

I now try to do 30- to 40-hour workweeks. I basically get twice as much done in the same time frame. This obviously depends largely on what's going on and whether there are any new projects, since those take more time at the beginning. 

Here are my tips for how to get started using monk mode.

Start with just 30 minutes and build up to an hour or several hours. Depending on the task at hand, you can do shorter bursts of, say, 10 minutes and take a break. 

Also, tell your assistant, colleagues, or family if you're working from home that you're going into monk mode. It's not just about your phone and laptop — your whole environment needs to be set up for success. (My personal experience: Just like posting this article, if not in the 'monk mode' it would never get done!)