After Rebirth, the Celebrity Daughter is the Medical Expert!-Chapter 501 - 395: Deep Learning and Deep Work

In this year of living separately from Shi Wangyue.

Ning Youguang indeed felt a bit exhausted, yet she also achieved remarkable success.

Besides publishing "Loving You Is Loving Myself," she also had 9 papers accepted. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

This gives her a chance to promote her professorship in the near future.

Regarding her achievements, aside from those close to her, her students were the most amazed and happy for her.

Of course, while the students felt happy about her achievements.

They were also very curious—

"Ms. Ning, you’re usually so busy with work, how do you still have time to do so many things?"

Taking advantage of a break during class, a student asked.

Ning Youguang said, "This is thanks to my cultivated habit of methodical deep work."

"The habit of deep work?" a student asked curiously, "Teacher, can you share with us?"

"Yeah, Ms. Ning, can you teach us? We don’t aim to be as amazing as you, but at least help us not feel overwhelmed by our studies and coursework."

"Teacher, teacher, please share."

Looking at the eager faces in the audience.

"Sure, there’s nothing I can’t share." Ning Youguang put down the remote control in her hand.

"The ’New York Times’ columnist once said, ’Great creative minds need to think like artists, but work like accountants.’ Before making this statement, he had researched many famous thinkers in history that we know of, like Carroll and Darwin—great thinkers—he found they all had organized routines and habits. This isn’t because they were eccentric, it’s exactly because their success depended on their ability to constantly enter a deep state. So, I explored a pattern from such information, which is that in everyday life, we should get used to making ourselves more focused, to more easily enter a deep state and maintain it for longer," she said. "If you’re interested, you can look up the routines and habits of great thinkers, writers, and artists throughout history, which might provide some inspiration."

A student smiled, "But teacher, why don’t you share your daily routine and habits with us first? This would be more motivating and insightful for us."

Ning Youguang gave a gentle smile and generously wrote her daily schedule and habits on the blackboard.

"I wake up every day at 4:30 a.m. to write, write until 6:30, then go out to exercise for half an hour. After exercising, I eat breakfast. After breakfast, at about 7:30 or 8:00, I start my day’s work. I work until noon, have lunch, and rest for about half an hour, not too long because sleeping too long makes me groggy. After waking up, I make myself a pot of tea, and while drinking the tea, my mind becomes calm and relaxed. After finishing the tea, the afternoon work begins again."

"It sounds difficult to achieve."

The students were amazed, and when they considered it, they realized they couldn’t manage it themselves.

"Teacher, you can work so systematically at school, but can you also write and do research papers in the same way? Aren’t those tasks dependent on inspiration?"

"A common perception is that creative work relies on inspiration—those unexpected ideas and thoughts that suddenly strike you, leading to a flood of creativity... But my experience tells me, when writing, if you don’t act and just wait for inspiration to act, it doesn’t lead to rapid progress in writing. Based on my experience, giving myself a fixed time every day to focus on writing will yield more inspiration," Ning Youguang said with a smile. "I wonder if any of you have experienced starting something that feels difficult and directionless at first, but as you do it, things start to flow?"

"Yes," answered many students in the audience.

Ning Youguang nodded, "Exactly, focusing on the act of writing itself is a great way to gain inspiration. So, inspiration doesn’t need to wait for a sudden opportunity to strike. If we habitually wait for inspiration to come before we start writing or working, the accomplishment might significantly reduce."

She added, "I’m not denying that inspiration can suddenly strike you when you’re doing nothing, but this is a probabilistic event. If we have urgent plans to accomplish, this method isn’t suitable."

"After establishing good habits and planning, then what?" a student asked, "What should we do?"

"My habits come with specific rules and procedures to ensure my actions are structured. For example, once I start working, I won’t use any networks. I don’t look at my phone, browse the internet, or do anything else, and I make it a habit to check the number of words I’ve produced every half hour to constantly assess whether I’m staying focused on my work, maintaining continuous focus."

"What if we don’t have such a structure?" another student asked.

"Then you need to continually be aware of what you should and shouldn’t be doing during deep work and study. You must constantly evaluate whether your focus is enough, which is an unnecessary waste of willpower," Ning Youguang said.

"Teacher, I don’t think I have good focus," a student said, "I often find myself distracted while studying and doing things. Does that mean I’m not the type who can enter deep learning and deep work?"

"That might be because you haven’t had training in this aspect since childhood," Ning Youguang said, "Everyone’s focus can be trained."

"How do you train it?"

"My previous answer offers a way to help you train your focus."

"You mean what you said about continuously being aware of what you should and shouldn’t be doing during deep learning and work?"

"Yes."

Many students in the audience were taking notes diligently.

Seeing the students’ interest in how to enter deep work and deep learning.

Ning Youguang organized her thoughts slightly and then spoke in more detail on the subject.

"After finding good habits that help you enter deep learning and work, you also need to make sure the habit you establish provides the necessary support for your brain to function at a high depth level," she said.

"For example, I know some people brew a pot of tea for themselves before beginning work or study, some writers like to go to their favorite cafes to write, and some freelancers prefer changing into comfortable pajamas before working. These are ways to ensure they have enough to maintain their energy, or include light activities like walking to help the brain stay alert. Similar support also includes environmental factors. For instance, before I work, besides brewing a pot of tea for myself, if I lack inspiration, I might take a shower. I also like to clean the study and clear the desk before writing, which keeps my energy expenditure to a minimum."

Ning Youguang turned and wrote a few words on the blackboard, "Systematization."

"Everyone’s time and energy are limited. If you want to maximize your success, you need to provide support for your efforts to enter deep work, and at the same time, emphasize skills and systematization so you don’t waste mental energy constantly reminding yourself what to do. These are some techniques I have summarized to help myself enter deep work and study."

Afterward, she raised her hand and lightly tapped the blackboard.

"Remember, regardless of what habit and method you choose, it only becomes effective when you practice and act. The ultimate goal of learning is application. It’s only after you apply what you learned that it becomes yours. Otherwise, no matter how good the methods you learn or plans you make are, without action, it’s all in vain."

"I assure you, once you develop good habits regarding work and study, the impact on your life will be profound. Deep learning and deep work are significant matters and should be taken seriously by each of you. Everyone must learn how to make their brain enter a focused state, so you can begin creating truly meaningful things. Otherwise, in this restless era, you’ll easily fall into shallow work and efforts. In the short term, you won’t notice a difference between yourself and those who habitually enter deep learning and deep work around you, but over time, the gap in ability and core competitiveness between you will become increasingly evident."

Seeing the increasingly serious expressions of the students in the audience.

Ning Youguang added, "I used to often focus on lagging indicators, like the number of papers published each year. However, these goals didn’t influence my daily actions because I didn’t know what short-term actions could immediately lead to significant changes in long-term indicators. When I developed a deep work and study plan for myself, suddenly these indicators became related to my daily routine. I started recording all my daily deep work tasks and times in a routine tracking app."

"Routine tracking app?" a student noticed this detail.

"Yes, this helps me associate the deep work hours accumulated on a primal level with tangible results. The other benefit of daily recording using a phone is that it helps me calibrate personal expectations regarding the deep work hours required to achieve each result, motivating me to carve out more time for deep work and study each week."

"Teacher, I feel like your method of motivating yourself would just make me feel more exhausted," some students who are accustomed to being lazy felt tired just listening to Ning Youguang’s words, let alone putting them into action.

Ning Youguang, of course, understood the students’ thoughts.