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"Deep Work" by Cal Newport (How? (Schedule 24 hours of every day…
"Deep Work" by Cal Newport
What?
Long, uninterrupted and carefully directed concentration on a single task
Shallow work
is non-cognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend not to create much new value and are easy to replicate
Why?
Economic Opportunity
Ability to perform deep work is rare
Increasingly valuable in economy
Core abilities to thrive in new economy
Quickly master complicated things
Produce at an elite level
Quality
Speed
Tangible results that people value
High-Quality Work Produced = (Time Spent) x (Intensity of Focus)
Key to a good life
Who you are, what you think, feel, and do, what you love--is the sum of what you focus on :<3:
Mind will understand your world as rich in meaning and importance
Maintaining focus on important things crowds out thoughts on unimportant and less pleasant things
Feeling of going deep is in itself very rewarding
Deep work is an activity well suited to generate a flow state
Any pursuit that supports high levels of skill can also generate a sense of sacredness
How?
Schedule 24 hours of every day to crowd out low value activities
Batch shallow activities into smaller bursts at periphery of schedule
Structured hobbies and social time work well for evenings and weekends
Don't waste time on things that don't matter
Treat shallow work with suspicion. Its damage is often underestimated and its importance is often overestimated
Divide the hours of your day into blocks and assign activities to the blocks
Batch similar things into task blocks
Feel free to rework as the day unfolds
Treat your time with respect
An abundance mindset is good, except with time. Adopt a scarcity mindset with your time
Default answer for demands on your time is "No"
Deliberate Practice
Focused attention
On a specific skill
On an idea
Cannot exist alongside distraction
Eliminate task switching
Processing e-mail
Checking social media
Web surfing
Non-essential texting
Checking markets or the news
Eliminate negative attention residue
Main obstacle is turning attention toward the superficial
Willpower is a muscle that tires
Use routines and rituals to minimize necessary willpower
Philosophies
Monastic
Radically minimize shallow obligations
"All of my time and attention are spoken for. Please do not ask for them."
Works best for those whose contribution to the world is discrete, clear, and individualized
Bimodal
Division of time between clearly defined stretches to deep pursuits and leaving the rest open to everything else
Believes that deep work can produce extreme productivity, but only if enough time is dedicated to reach maximum cognitive intensity (tends to be > = 1 day)
Works best for people who cannot succeed without also having substantial commitments to non-deep pursuits
Rhythmic
Simple, regular habit of deep work
Map when to work deeply at the beginning of the week and refine at the beginning of each day
Rituals minimize friction in transition to depth
Decide where to work and for how long (not an open-ended engagement)
Structure do's (e.g. have coffee!, organize materials) and don'ts (e.g. see "eliminate task switching" examples)
Generate a rhythm for deep work that removes need to invest energy in deciding if and when to go deep
Works better with the reality of human nature
Disciplines
Focus on the Wildly Important, a small number of ambitious outcomes
Act on the Lead Measures, not the Lag Measures (i.e. time spent in a state of deep work dedicated toward your wildly important goal
Keep a Compelling Scoreboard (e.g. timer for time spent in deep work)
Create a Cadence of Accountability (e.g. weekly review of deep work input and output...make adjustments as needed)
Shut down work thinking
completely
at end of day to free mind
Downtime aids insights
Downtime helps recharge the energy needed to work deeply
The work that evening downtime replaces is usually not that important
Have a strict shutdown ritual (e.g. afternoon habit stack). Say out loud: "Shutdown Complete" to cue mind that it is safe to release work-related thoughts for the rest of the day
Integrate with GTD
Work with intensity, set aggressive deadlines
Aggressive deadlines are incompatible with distraction
Embrace Boredom
Overcomes dependence on distraction
Don't take breaks from distraction, schedule occassional breaks from Focus
Once wired for distraction, you crave it
Weakens mental muscles responsible for organizing the many sources vying for your attention
Segregating shallow tasks minimizes the number of times you give in to distraction, letting attention-selecting muscles strengthen
Improves ability to concentrate intensely
Teaches mind to tolerate the absence of novelty
Do this at work AND at home, even when waiting in line
Meditate
Stay present
Traditional meditation to clear mind
Productive meditation
to focus deeply on a single problem
Avoid distraction, redirect from stray thoughts back to problem
Avoid looping, or thinking over and over about what you already know
Carefully review relevant problem-solving variables and store these in your working memory
Define next-step question you need to answer using these variables to define a specific target for attention
Review answer you identified
Start process anew if answer leads to new problem to solve
Embrace memory training (e.g. "Memory Palace") to strengthen general ability to concentrate
Minimize use of social media (author says "Quit")
Benefits likely not worth the time opportunity costs
Social media should be considered just another tool. Is it the best tool to accomplish your goals?
Violates 80/20 rule: Social media requires lots of time offering low positive impact
Meets humans' need for attention, but it is shallow: "I'll pay attention to you if you pay attention to me"..."Like" for "Like"
Few will notice you are gone
Give your brain a quality alternative
Become Hard to Reach
Make people who send you e-mail do more work
Reset expectations that you'll probably not respond. It is the sender's responsibility to convince the receiver that a reply is worthwhile
Make the inbox a collection of opportunities rather than a collection of obligations
"Close the loop" on e-mail replies.