I have recently retired, and whereas previously my "deep efforts" where devoted to scientific research, my present efforts are devoted to learning to play bridge at an advanced level. When I was working, I wrote a post for Quora about deep work/study. Outlined below are the key points from that post [1]. I wonder whether I can resurrect some of those ideas in my new quest to obtain mastery in the game of bridge.

Here are my tricks, in summary form:

(1) Start your key task for the day when you first wake up, and you have peak energy.

(2) Trick your brain into focusing by tackling something that is a bit of a puzzle, something that intrigues you.

(3) Go and live in another city or country where you are separated from your usual distractions.

(4) Allow the subconscious to work its magic by sleeping on a problem. The Eureka moment often comes during the morning shower.

(5) The inability to leave work undone is a personlity trait - the truly driven person cannot rest till it is done. (I, for better or for worse, am not that type.)

(6) Resilience is one of the most highly regarded qualities in an employee, so persist, if you wish to keep your job.

(7) Realise that your particular skills, combined with your work experiences, have given you unique insights: you need to voice those insights, you need to self-promote.

(8) Overcome procratination by tricking your brain: rather than thinking that you have to spend 3 hours on a task, turn that mountain into a small mound by saying, "I will spend 10 mins on the task". Once you are started, you can keep going.

[1] https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-study-hard-I-mean-100-flat-ou...