Deep Work by Cal Newport focuses on the deep and focused work state of an individual by getting rid of the shallow work. Deep work also highlights how social media and other high stimulus activities can be distracting. Here is a summary of the book:
- Deep work involves around focused, uninterrupted and undistracted work on tasks that would push your cognitive work.
- Shallow work is distractive and doesn’t get anything done. Checking emails, messages from social media regularly, and any unproductive activity that doesn’t contribute any value to the work.
- Shallow work is incremental and deep work is transformational.
- When looking for work people often do mistakes, they look for work that they love and make them feel good for the short term, but for the long term, they might not stay happy.
- Deep work is reactive work and shallow work is sometimes reflective work.
- Our ability to deep work will determine how much you thrive in the information economy.
- The technology that builds the information economy is depleting our ability to deep work.
- Phone, emails, and other apps that are addictive pull us away and make deep work more difficult.
- The ability to do deep work is like a muscle, it takes dedication, practice, and focus to prevent the distraction of technology that works against you.
- Deep work complements managing change. instability, and focuses only on things that will help your goals and progress.
- Create a list of tasks that will help you achieve deep work. Calculate the time that you spend on deep work every day, week, and monthly basis. And determine if you deep work regularly what major goals you will be closer to achieving.
- Foundational ideas to keep in mind before committing to deep work are important, it’s difficult and it’s fulfilling. All these factors give a unique perspective of why you should try and do it.
- The most valuable people in the current information economy are those who master technology and solve complex problems.
- Learn and master new skills and apply the skills to increase your output, repeat these two practices to stand out over and over again.
- Without Opportunities for deep work, your productivity and learning are hindered by distraction.
- Distraction hinders learning and productivity.
- Each time you switch between tasks you retain some mental residue from the previous task.
- If you are switching between tasks every few minutes, you might have zero time in which you are fully focused.
- Distraction might even change your brain on a molecular level, called myelination the process of modifying your neurons to make them more effective.
- Deep work is difficult because our world bombards us with constant distractions.
- Social media can be hugely distractive as conversations continue endlessly, 24/7, and get stuck on never-ending dialogue.
- The addictive quality of social media is due to our attention to variable rewards.
- Shallow work is deceptively bad because it feels productive and meaningful, but deep work moves you more meaningfully towards happiness and fulfillment.
- Deep work creates a state of flow, has a protective psychological effect, it creates a sense of meaning.
- Deep work is effective with structure, habit, and discipline.
- Ritualizing deep work is important because without a ritual’s structure distractions quickly get in the way.
- The most effective way to make deep work a habit is to set time aside specifically for focusing on deep work.
- Remove as many as shallow works tasks and spend all your time on deep work by secluding yourself.
- Create a periodic schedule to slowly reach the maximum intensity of deep work.
- Do it daily and consistently.
- At least do deep work for up to fours hours a day.
- Schedule internet time to avoid getting distracted and focus on deep work.
- Quantify your deep work and reflect on it and tweak it if necessary.
- Set ambitious deadlines by cutting downtime drastically.
- Determine a deep work schedule and check if you can achieve them.
- Create a Deep workspace that can only be used when you are focused on deep work.
- If you are distracted, reflect on your distractions and rectify them.
- It isn’t easy but you can train your brain to focus on deep work for longer and longer hours.
- Let boredom happen so that your brain does not constantly seek high stimulus activity, as they can be distractive.
- Master internal distractions by identifying the trigger that drives your action.
- commit to fully exploring the internal discomfort that drove you to distraction.
- Reflect on your feelings of distraction.
- Focus on what’s important, use the right metrics, keep your metrics visible, create accountability where possible, say no to shallow work.
- Give your mind off time, overworking isn’t deep working, your brain works better when it can relax, Ritualize your workday shutdown.
