Deep Work in Seasons: The Bimodal Philosophy of Deep Work

Welcome back. This is the second philosophy of deep work you can adopt: the bimodal.

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The Bimodal Philosophy of Deep Work can, in many ways, be confused with the monastic method. It still requires elimination of shallow work, but only for a certain period of time. Deep work, in this case, is not a default state; it is a deliberate state you enter at times. Typically, these stretches of deep work last weeks or months – Cal Newport likes to call them seasons.

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Now, let’s come back to the example of authors. An author engaging in monastic philosophy has limited social presence regardless of whether they write a novel or not. Even outside writing seasons, their lives are structured around depth. Now, the author, following the bimodal approach, will still eliminate all noise while writing the novel, but come out for marketing events, host online meetings, etc, in the publishing and editing phase. Afterward, they return to a normal social life—not isolated, but not constantly connected either. They live life like you and me.

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The key aspect of the bimodal approach is the fact that you are allowed to enjoy more pleasures in life. Don’t get me wrong; if being as productive as possible is the source of your joy, so be it. However, that is not the case for most people. They want space for social life, leisure, and the ordinary rhythms of the average human.

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Who might this suit best? As I discussed earlier, it suits some authors. The other prominent example that comes to mind is freelancers. They might spend months in deep work, followed by periods focused on networking and logistical tasks. Finding a client, for example, is not a deep task.

​Now, this too comes with downsides. When one engages in the bimodal philosophy, they must enforce hard boundaries; shallow work cannot be allowed to leak into deep work seasons. It also requires strong communication beforehand with clients so they do not misunderstand you. As with the monastic philosophy, you cannot apply this approach if your job demands continuous availability.

Do not fret; the other two are much suited for corporate life. Signing off for now.