Monk Mode: An Extreme (But Highly Effective) 30-Day Protocol To Become Your Most Productive Self
Block distractions, turn on peak performance mode, and make leaps of progress toward your goals.
Monk mode.
You might have heard about it from popular YouTubers or productivity experts.
Monk mode is a period of full focus and commitment to one goal or project — usually between 14 and 30 days.
During this time, you block out distractions, limit obligations, and put yourself in peak performance mode, so you can make leaps of progress on a goal or project.
Although you can do a monk mode for any purpose you like, I find it to be most effective for projects like:
- Writing a book
- Starting an online business or side-hustle
- Learning a new high-income skill
- Personal transformation or self-improvement
- Creating a digital product
- Batch-producing content (articles, videos, podcasts, etc.)
I like to practice monk mode three to four times a year, with each monk mode being 30 days.
To me, 30 days is long enough to truly immerse myself in the project I want to accomplish — but it’s short enough to not get burned out or be tempted to quit early.
During 30 days of monk mode, I can get done what I’d normally do in 90 ‘ordinary’ days. That’s how powerful it can be.
However, monk mode is not for everyone.
It’s quite intense, requires planning, and involves making sacrifices (in your social life, delaying gratification, being strict with yourself, etc.).
But if it speaks to you, keep reading.
Because, if you have goals you want to achieve, monk mode can be a highly effective tool to make fast progress in a relatively short amount of time.
The Rules of Monk Mode
There are many different monk mode protocols out there — each with different rules and practices — but here’s how I approach my monk modes:
Limit Social Media To 20 Minutes A Day
Social media is one of the biggest distractions and time-wasters.
The average person spends 2 hours and 31 minutes per day on social media, while young adults (age 18–29) spend an average of 4–5 hours per day on social media.
That’s why one of my core rules of monk mode is to limit my social media usage to 20 minutes per day.
This frees up a good amount of time, focus, and headspace to direct toward my main goal for that specific monk mode.
(I use App Block to put a daily time limit on Instagram and X, which automatically blocks me from using these apps when I reach the usage limit.)
Most social media apps and platforms have been purposefully designed to hack your attention and be as addictive as possible.
There’s a financial incentive to do so. The more time you spend on social media, the more ad revenue these social media companies make.
People often think social media is free, but it’s not. You pay with your time and your attention.
Your attention is their business model.
During monk mode, you can’t afford to waste your time and attention on a distraction like social media, so you have to limit it (or fully cut it out).
No Porn & Masturbation
Watching porn overstimulates the brain’s reward system, leaving you feeling lethargic, lazy, and unmotivated to do anything productive.
It’s cheap dopamine.
So, avoid porn and masturbation during your monk mode to preserve your energy and motivation for your main objective.
90 Minutes Of Deep Work 3–4x A Day
Focus is the currency of productivity.
If you can’t focus, you can’t produce high-quality output. And if you can’t produce high-quality output, you can’t succeed.
That’s why deep work forms the core of my monk modes.
It’s during deep work that you actually get stuff done and make progress on your main project/goal.
To maximize your deep work sessions, make sure you:
- Turn notifications off
- Put your phone out of sight (and out of reach)
- Close all unrelated internet tabs (especially social media, email & news)
- Put on noise-canceling headphones
- Listen to binaural beats or LoFi beats
- Pick one high-priority task
- Set a timer for 60–90 minutes
- Work without interruption until the timer rings
I find that each hour spent in deep work equals the output of three ‘normal’ work hours, that’s how powerful it is.
During monk mode, I like to do three to four deep work sessions per day, with each session being 90 minutes.
(On the weekends I usually do two 90-minute deep work sessions.)
I schedule most of my deep work sessions for the morning hours, as that’s when I’m naturally most energized, focused, and productive.
7+ Hours of Sleep A Night
During monk mode, I’m in bed by 22:30 and up by 7:30.
It’s a non-negotiable.
On ordinary days I like to hit snooze a few times or stay up later in the evening to watch some YouTube. But during monk mode, I’m much more strict about my sleep schedule.
That’s because a good night’s sleep (7+ hours) is the foundation of a highly productive day.
If you don’t prioritize rest and recovery, you can’t perform at your best the next day.
Neuroscience has shown that we’re more prone to distractions, brain fog, and instant gratification after a bad night’s sleep.
So, if you want to operate at peak productivity, prioritize your sleep.
Limit Meetings & Social Events
During monk mode, I’m more mindful of how many meetings I schedule and how many social events I attend.
It’s not like I’m skipping everything, but I’m simply more selective of how (and with whom) I spend my time.
If you say yes to every social event or ‘let’s hop on a quick call’ request, you’ll have less time and energy for your main monk mode objective.
No Alcohol
Although I enjoy the occasional beer or two (okay, maybe more) with my buddies, alcohol is a no-go during monk mode.
The problem with alcohol is that you borrow energy from tomorrow’s self.
It can be a lot of fun in the moment, but you’re going to pay the bill the day after in the form of fatigue, headaches, etc.
So, no alcohol during monk mode.
Preserve your energy and mental clarity for your main goal.
Try Out Monk Mode Yourself
Monk mode is one of those things you can read about, but there’s really no point if you don’t try it out yourself.
Feel free to follow my approach to monk mode, or consider adding some other rules or habits to your monk mode protocol, such as:
- No TV/Netflix
- No news
- No video games
- Daily journaling
- Meditate 10-minutes a day
- Read 15 pages a day
- Eat organic foods only
- Exercise 30-minutes a day
All in all, monk mode is an intense but highly effective method to make leaps of progress on a goal or project in just 30 days.
If it interests you, give it a shot. I can highly recommend it.
