Deep Work (Book)

• book
• productivity

Book by Cal Newport

#book #productivity

Deep work is the state of concentrating only on one task with the goal of fully using one’s productive potential, thereby creating meaningful output. In the modern age filled with shallow work (i.e. instant messaging, meetings, browsing), deep work practices can help us alleviate information overflow and unleash our full potential.

Deep Work: Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.

The state of deep work, also sometimes theorised as the flow state, is satisfying as one is immersed in a task and works almost on alto pilot.

Busyness is not a proxy for productivity. Meaningful work — be it research, writing, or skill acquisition, etc. — is instead the product of time spent and depth of focus. Nevertheless, many people have no other indicator for productivity so they automatically uses busyness as the most obvious but unfortunately misleading measurement.

• J. K. Rowling wrote he last book of Harry Potter by living in a near-by hotel
• Bill Gates retreats to a cottage for think weeks regularly

1. monastic: block off for a period of time, like what Bill Gates does
2. bimodal: allot part of your time to deep work and leave the rest open
3. rhythmic: make deep work a habit
4. journalistic: deep work when free

• Dedicate long enough time to get into work
• Shut down after the day’s done by planning the next day
• Schedule breaks or internet access in advance
• Batch shallow work so they are less distracting
• Also don’t forget to make time for collaboration to allow The Theory of Serendipitous Creativity
• Work by default and schedule distraction, not the other way around
• Reduce task switching to minimise wasted attention due to attention residue
• Start with an hour a day and build up to four

See Digital Minimalism

• Reduce administrative duties to focus on work, like what Richard Feynman does.
• Go into nature
• Make space free of distraction
• Disconnect internet

1. Focus on the Wildly Important: know the critical path and get rid of other things
2. Act on the Lead Measures: measures behaviour that will ultimately lead to success, so it in your control
3. Keep a Compelling Scoreboard: Have some tracking system
4. Create a Cadence of Accountability: Review regularly.