A THREAD on key takeaways from the book
"Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World" by Cal Newport:
1/
Deep work is so important that we might consider it, to use the phrasing of business writer Eric Barker, “the superpower of the 21st century.”
"Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World" by Cal Newport:
1/
Deep work is so important that we might consider it, to use the phrasing of business writer Eric Barker, “the superpower of the 21st century.”
2/
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.
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.
3/
Shallow Work:
Noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted.
These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.
Shallow Work:
Noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted.
These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.
4/
Deep work is exhausting because it pushes you toward the limit of your abilities.
It is necessary to wring every last drop of value out of your current intellectual capacity.
Deep work is exhausting because it pushes you toward the limit of your abilities.
It is necessary to wring every last drop of value out of your current intellectual capacity.
5/
Two Core Abilities for thriving in the new economy
1. The ability to quickly master hard things.
2. The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed.
Two Core Abilities for thriving in the new economy
1. The ability to quickly master hard things.
2. The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed.
6/
In this new economy, three groups will have a particular advantage:
those who can work well and creatively with intelligent machines,
those who are the best at what they do,
and those with access to capital.
In this new economy, three groups will have a particular advantage:
those who can work well and creatively with intelligent machines,
those who are the best at what they do,
and those with access to capital.
7/
To remain valuable in our economy, you must master the art of quickly learning complicated things.
This task requires deep work.
If you don’t cultivate this ability, you’re likely to fall behind as technology advances.
To remain valuable in our economy, you must master the art of quickly learning complicated things.
This task requires deep work.
If you don’t cultivate this ability, you’re likely to fall behind as technology advances.
8/
Deep Work Hypothesis:
The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy.
As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, & then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.
Deep Work Hypothesis:
The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy.
As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, & then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.
9/
The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.
The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.
10/
Whether you’re a writer, marketer, consultant, or lawyer:
Your work is craft, and if you hone your ability and apply it with respect and care, then like the skilled wheelwright you can generate meaning in the daily efforts of your professional life.
Whether you’re a writer, marketer, consultant, or lawyer:
Your work is craft, and if you hone your ability and apply it with respect and care, then like the skilled wheelwright you can generate meaning in the daily efforts of your professional life.
11/
To learn hard things quickly, you must focus intensely without distraction.
To learn, in other words, is an act of deep work.
If you’re comfortable going deep, you’ll be comfortable mastering the increasingly complex systems and skills needed to thrive in our economy.
To learn hard things quickly, you must focus intensely without distraction.
To learn, in other words, is an act of deep work.
If you’re comfortable going deep, you’ll be comfortable mastering the increasingly complex systems and skills needed to thrive in our economy.
12/
Efforts to deepen your focus will struggle if you don’t simultaneously wean your mind from a dependence on distraction.
Efforts to deepen your focus will struggle if you don’t simultaneously wean your mind from a dependence on distraction.
13/
To simply wait and be bored has become a novel experience in modern life, but from the perspective of concentration training, it’s incredibly valuable.
To simply wait and be bored has become a novel experience in modern life, but from the perspective of concentration training, it’s incredibly valuable.
14/
To produce at your peak level you need to work for extended periods with full concentration on a single task free from distraction.
Put another way, the type of work that optimizes your performance is deep work.
To produce at your peak level you need to work for extended periods with full concentration on a single task free from distraction.
Put another way, the type of work that optimizes your performance is deep work.
15/
Less mental clutter means more mental resources available for deep thinking.
Less mental clutter means more mental resources available for deep thinking.
16/
The key to developing a deep work habit is to move beyond good intentions and add routines and rituals to your working life designed to minimize the amount of your limited willpower necessary to transition into and maintain a state of unbroken concentration.
The key to developing a deep work habit is to move beyond good intentions and add routines and rituals to your working life designed to minimize the amount of your limited willpower necessary to transition into and maintain a state of unbroken concentration.
17/
What we choose to focus on and what we choose to ignore—plays in defining the quality of our life.
What we choose to focus on and what we choose to ignore—plays in defining the quality of our life.
18/
Busyness as Proxy for Productivity:
In the absence of clear indicators of what it means to be productive and valuable in their jobs, many knowledge workers turn back toward an industrial indicator of productivity: doing lots of stuff in a visible manner.
Busyness as Proxy for Productivity:
In the absence of clear indicators of what it means to be productive and valuable in their jobs, many knowledge workers turn back toward an industrial indicator of productivity: doing lots of stuff in a visible manner.
19/
Great creative minds think like artists but work like accountants.
Great creative minds think like artists but work like accountants.
20/
Feynman was adamant in avoiding administrative duties because he knew they would only decrease his ability to do the one thing that mattered most in his professional life:
“to do real good physics work.”
Feynman was adamant in avoiding administrative duties because he knew they would only decrease his ability to do the one thing that mattered most in his professional life:
“to do real good physics work.”
21/
Skillful management of attention is the sine qua non of the good life and the key to improving virtually every aspect of your experience.
Skillful management of attention is the sine qua non of the good life and the key to improving virtually every aspect of your experience.
22/
Building your working life around the experience of flow produced by deep work is a proven path to deep satisfaction.
Building your working life around the experience of flow produced by deep work is a proven path to deep satisfaction.
