Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World Paperback – 5 Jan. 2016

I really resonated with this book. I work in software, and even though my job requires a lot of hard thinking and problem solving, I find myself constantly distracted by a work culture which seems to think it's ok to be perpetually interrupted.This book has been my guiding light and adopting even half of what it recommends is challenging, but very worthwhile.If you read "So Good They Can't Ignore You" you might remember Cal Newport highlights the need to develop "career capital", that is, hard-earned rare and valuable skills, which enable you to get a meaningful / satisfying job.This book is a substantial part of the answer to the question of: "how do I get rare and valuable skills?".Newport starts the book by arguing quite convincingly that deep work is not only increasingly rare, but increasingly valuable. But let's rewind a bit, what is "deep" work?Deep work is defined as working in a very focused manner, free from distractions, intensely concentrating on something that hopefully yields a valuable outcome. The output need not be something physical, it could be an insight, an idea, or a skill. Think of straining your brain to solve a puzzle versus copy and pasting things while chatting to a colleague. The former is deep, the latter shallow.Deep work is becoming increasingly rare because of our work culture's obsession with "connectivity", open plan offices, and social media. Why are we destroying our ability to work deeply then? Some things stand out, like the fact that it is hard to get metrics for how these things make us less productive, how hard it is to quantify the productivity of a knowledge worker, and how we tend to jump on the latest tech without thinking about alternatives / downsides.The case is made for deep work becoming increasingly valuable partly because of these distractions: if you can do it, you will stand out. But it's also valuable because of what it leads to: mastery of hard skills, and valuable output.Apart from these extrinsic benefits deep work is also intrinsically meaningful. It can cultivate a sense of craftsmanship and can lead to the fulfilling "flow" state.After the "what" and the "why" the rest of the book focuses on the "how".Lots of useful ideas and techniques are explored here. The general theme is do what you can and be thoughtful about how you spend your day.For example identify how you can do deep work: is it possible for you to go to the woods for the weekend, or (like most busy people with jobs) do you have some morning/evening time to use well?Make good routines / rituals. Schedule distractions and make focus your default state. Quit (or reduce your time on) social media. Adopt tech with a more critical mindset. Be less available on email etc.To conclude, this book is a shining light in the fog of modern work practices. If you are an attention deprived knowledge worker, it will likely help you a lot. But I can see it benefitting a wider class of people, because our ability to focus is so important.

At its core, Newport’s thesis is simple: in the (current) knowledge economy, where a person’s creativity – of which something machines are incapable – is his/her greatest asset, the need to focus and concentrated (what Newport calls ‘Deep Work’) is what enables that person to produce real value.This is especially pertinent in a time dominated by instant gratification and endless distractions, where we often value speed over quality, efficiency over effectiveness.Newport’s book is divided into two parts: the first builds his case for why Deep Work is important; the second consists of various ‘rules’ to implement Deep Work into one’s life.The book is a good read – neither unnecessarily technical, nor just fluff and a collection of internet wisdom. He cites many examples which help concretise his suggested approaches.I found the book particularly helpful because he has a well-thought-out structure. The book’s flow is good as well. It is extremely practical and as I read it, I found myself evaluating how I used my time. It won’t be easy implementing everything he suggests in the book (and it might not work for everyone), but I think the core issues he covers are solid. My work and personal lives have benefited from reading this book. I’ve become a bit more disciplined and careful with how I use my time. It’s a process of two steps forward, one step back but I can already see progress.Another positive is Newport’s assessment of our current society’s relationship to distractions. He helped me to review habits in my life that weren’t good. I also started to listen to Fast Company’s ‘Secrets of the Most Productive People’ podcast which helped to consolidate the lessons I learned from this book.

“Deep Work is the 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.”Cal Newport offers a very compelling argument as to the value of organising those periods when we all need to focus on the work/knowledge we need to obtain to further our professional goals and ambitions. Newport cites examples of key influential and high achieving individuals such as JK Rowling and Bill Gates where they each notoriously became obsessively focused when they needed to achieve the important deliverables or direction they needed in their professional goals.In a world where information is coming at us in greater variety, velocity and volume, we find ourselves unable to consume enough of or the right information, amidst all the noise. In a contrary way, as the information availability accelerates the less we effectively absorb as valuable and usable content. To be expert or at least highly capable in our work area, we need to build on strong learned foundations so we can deal with the inevitable problems with much more confidence and resourcefulness.I would be a strong advocate for subconscious processing of information, and deep though periods, as long as we can secure the undistracted downtime for it to be properly embedded into our thinking and rationalisation processes. Newport provides a framework for achieving this way of deep life, but it does require drastic changes to your lifestyle. This may not be for everyone and certainly seems to be more geared towards those in pursuit of academic accomplishment or specialised achievement.Newport does suggest that to live the life of Deep Work we need to put the distraction of social media aside so we can deploy our minds to its fullest capacity to create things that matter. While I accept that social media can consume considerable time that is of little value, there are many roles in today’s society and workplace that require constant engagement with customers, suppliers, colleagues and online audiences. Like many things in life, it’s all about balance and I would recommend the Deep Thought approach as part of a daily regime but not to the exclusion of all other interactions. It is difficult to account for every minute of the day and attribute it towards a valuable contribution and I can imagine this will lead to frustration rather than reconciliation.