





































 V38 N1 / 2023 

©2023 American Medical Writers Association. All rights reserved.  
ISSN 2163-5315

AMWAJournal.org     18

Ann Winter-Vann, PhD
Director of Medical Writing Services, Whitsell Innovations, 

Chapel Hill, NC

Kelly Kilibarda, PhD
Manager of Medical Writing, Whitsell Innovations,  

Chapel Hill, NC

By Allie Boman
Dr Kilibarda started out by declaring that, although she and 

Dr Winter-Vann created it themselves, she was unhappy 

with the title of her presentation. The word harness, she 

said, implies that attention is outside of yourself and you 

need to catch it. Rather, like happiness, attention is already 

within you. Thus, a better title would be “How to Cultivate 

Attention for Productivity and Deep Work.” 

 Dr Kilibarda, and later Dr Winter-Vann, presented a 

curated set of attention theories and practices, rich with 

lived experience and tangible ideas for implementation. 

 First, Dr Kilibarda challenged the idea that work and 

play exist on opposite sides of the spectrum of unenjoyment 

to enjoyment. She decried this idea as a false binary and 

encouraged a more holistic view of work as expression and 

productivity. 

 We can increase the enjoyment and fulfillment of our 

work by cultivating our attention. In doing so, we create 

contexts in which we access and produce the best we have 

to give.

Without some intentionality, however, we may remain 

in shallow work—tasks that require little cognitive power 

but take time—for most of the day or week. Shallow work 

is often visible to others and holds some value, but it can 

easily be replicated by others. 

 In contrast, deep work provides a context for enjoyable, 

fruitful productivity. Summarizing Cal Newport and others, 

Dr Kilibarda described deep work as a distraction-free state 

requiring cognitive power, concentration, and endurance. 

By training ourselves to regularly enter into deep work, we 

access and produce that which we alone can contribute. We 

create space for offering our true value. 

 Dr Kilibarda explained that the sweet spot for deep work 

is 90 minutes without interruption. It takes training and 

practice to be able to concentrate for this long, but learn-

ing to do so is key to contributing our best work. She stated 

that the average worker wants about 8–10 hours of unin-

terrupted deep work per week. However, managers and 

teams tend to undervalue long periods without interruption 

because it appears as though little is being accomplished. 

Therefore, maintaining this practice at work requires 

self-advocacy. 

 Dr Winter-Vann built on the theory of deep work, cover-

ing how to cultivate attention practically. 

HOW TO CULTIVATE DEEP WORK 
• Prioritize tasks using Eisenhower’s urgent/important 

matrix

• Plan time blocks, building space in your schedule for 

deep work

• Communicate when you are entering a deep work 

block, so people won’t expect an instant response 

from you

• Enforce boundaries—don’t agree to meetings during 

your planned deep work times

• Shut off notifications (use “do not disturb” on your 

devices, etc.)

• Create a routine around deep work sessions (signal 

to your brain that it’s time to do deep work; similar to 

bedtime rituals for children)

• Rest between sessions of deep work

• Audit your time—how does what you did compare 

with what you planned to do? 

HOW TO MINIMIZE SHALLOW WORK
• Automate/delegate low-importance tasks

• Set reminders to release yourself from needing to 

remember details (e.g., set an alarm for when it’s time 

to leave work to pick up your kid from school)

• Compress the time allotted to answering emails, etc. 

(e.g., plan a 30-minute session for responding to 

messages)

Session Report 
Attention!: How to Harness It for Productivity and Deep Work

CONFERENCE

http://www.amwajournal.org


AMWAJournal.org     19Attention!: How to Harness It for Productivity and Deep Work

• Normalize unavailability—counter the expectation 

that you will respond to messages immediately

 Dr Kilibarda emphasized the value of getting into a flow 

state via deep work. The idea is to be so immersed in your 

work that time disappears. Some tedium is required for 

reaching this state, partially because we are used to dopa-

mine fixes: when we rely on instant rewards through easy 

tasks and distractions, we are feeding our brain dysfunction. 

So part of mastery in deep work is getting used to boredom, 

which Angela Duckworth says is very tiring! This is why rest 

after a session of deep work is crucial, even if it doesn’t look 

like we’ve accomplished much. 

 Finally, Dr Winter-Vann reiterated the difference 

between shallow and deep work: Shallow work doesn’t take 

much skill. It might require a few weeks to train someone 

to do it. (In fact, you might consider training someone to 

take over some of your shallow work!) Deep work, however, 

accesses the skills and knowledge that you have developed 

over months and years. It is in this context that you bring 

forth your unique value on the job and in your world. 

Allie Boman is lead editor at Boman Editing in Highwood, IL. 

Author declaration and disclosures: The author notes no  
commercial associations that may pose a conflict of interest in 
relation to this article.

Author contact: Allie@BomanEditing.com

Brian Bass, MWC is our 2022 Golden 
Apple award winner!

Kelly Byram, MS, MBA, ELS (left) 
receives the 2022 AMWA President’s 
Award from Katrina R. Burton, BS.

Julia Forjanic 
Klapproth, PhD (left) 
receives the 2022 
Harold Swanberg 
Distinguished Service 
Award  from Sarah 
Dobney, MPH.

http://www.amwajournal.org



