Weekly Email: August 18, 2025
In this week’s email:
Student Tip: Creating space for focused work
Program News: Hebrew reading groups are back with Drs. Kaspars Ozolins and Adam Howell
Student Tip: Creating Space for Work That Matters
Mark Twain understood that his best work required seclusion. In 1874, the Cranes, his in-laws, built a small octagonal study on a knoll about 100 yards uphill from the main house at Quarry Farm in Elmira, New York. From this quiet spot overlooking the Chemung River Valley, he wrote much of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and other major works.
I recently finished the Mark Twain biography by Ron Chernow, which I highly recommend. The details of this study and other writing habits of Twain stood out to me. Granted, Twain was a writer, so much of the setup of his life revolved around his writing, but he was most productive at this location. Being away from the house and everything going on allowed for better focus, the atmosphere brought inspiration, and the 100-yard walk gave him a short time for reflection before starting his work.
Most of us do not have a detached study across the lawn, but we do face distractions that are just as persistent as household noise. For me, the most common culprit has been my phone. When I need to work, I put it in another room. Not in a drawer next to me, but in a location that requires me to get up and where it is out of sight and out of mind.
Deep Work and Shallower Work
Cal Newport writes in his excellent book, Deep Work, “Efforts to deepen your focus will struggle if you don’t simultaneously wean your mind from a dependence on distraction.” Deep work means sustained, distraction-free focus on something cognitively demanding such as writing a paper, synthesizing research, or working through a difficult passage. Even a brief interruption can break the mental thread.
Not all of your coursework fits that category. You will also spend time on less demanding tasks such as listening to lectures, taking notes, or reading lighter assignments. In theory, these are different from deep work. In practice, they can look similar: you sit with material, engage it, and try to make progress.
Both types of work suffer when distractions creep in. Deep work becomes impossible, and shallow work takes longer and produces lower-quality results.
Why This Matters for Online Students
In a physical classroom, cues and structure protect your focus. Class starts, distractions are minimal, but your phone provides an endless array of the distraction of your choice, and you stay with the material until it ends. Online, you are responsible for creating those conditions. If you allow constant context switching during easier work, you will never be ready to sustain attention for harder work.
That is why I suggest you keep your phone out of reach for both kinds of study. I do it for my own work, whether I am preparing a report, answering email, or even writing these weekly emails. Working without interruptions makes even simpler tasks more efficient and builds the capacity for longer stretches of focused, deliberate work when a bigger challenge comes along.
It is no wonder that if you have not been working on your attention muscle, even reading for 10–20 minutes can feel hard. The mind wanders, you want to do something else, and the pull toward distraction grows stronger. Expect that. Sit with it. Over time, your ability to focus will grow, but it begins by resisting the urge to escape the hard work of paying attention.
Try It This Week
Pick one block of work, whether it is a paper or a watching lecture and taking notes.
Choose a location where you will not be interrupted.
Put your phone in another room, completely out of sight.
Have only what you need for that task in front of you.
Stay with it until you finish.
You will complete the shallow work faster and with better quality. When it is time for deep, deliberate, creative thought, you will have the focus that you need. Your “octagonal study” might be a cleared-off desk and a phone charging in the kitchen. The principle is the same: create distance from distraction, embrace the discomfort, and strengthen your mind for every kind of work that matters.
I would love to hear from you! Do you struggle with distractions when you’re studying? What are your biggest culprits?
Program News: Fall 2025 Hebrew Reading Groups
Join Dr. Adam Howell and Dr. Kaspars Ozolins for weekly Hebrew Reading Groups this fall. Learning biblical languages is challenging, but consistent time in the text will strengthen your study at any stage of your Hebrew journey.
Each group will work through a Hebrew Bible passage verse-by-verse, reviewing phonology, morphology, and translation to help you learn and retain your biblical Hebrew.
Dr. Howell’s group – Fridays at 10:30am ET starting August 22 (Join via Zoom)
Dr. Ozolins’ group – Mondays at 4:00pm ET starting August 18 (Join via Zoom)
If you have questions, contact Dr. Howell (ahowell@sbts.edu) or Dr. Ozolins (kozolins@sbts.edu).
PS - I hesitate to point you to social media after the student tip this week but Southern put out a pretty fun Instagram Reel with Dr. Howell and Dr. Ozolins about the reading groups you should check out (view here).
Additionally, you should check out both Daily Dose of Greek and Daily Dose of Hebrew. Short 2-minute daily videos to help you keep up with your biblical languages. Dr. Rob Plummer started Daily Dose of Greek several years ago and has expanded to Hebrew, Latin, Aramaic, and even Greek in the Septuagint.
Quick Reference of Upcoming Term Dates:
Current Week: Fall 1, Week 3 (August 18-25)
Fall 2 Term Begins: October 6, 2025
Winter Term Begins: December 1, 2025
Register for Courses →
Register for Fall Experiential Modulars →
Thanks for reading! I’ll check in next Monday. You can browse past emails in the archive or explore Course Snapshots to find textbooks, course descriptions, and details about what we offer online.
