Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Deep Work is written by one of my favorite writers Cal Newport (who as also written So Good They Can’t Ignore You highly recommended). In this Cal is focusing on how knowledge workers can come out of distraction and can dedicate quality time in deep work (could be writing novel, software etc).

He talks about 4 rules for the same:

Embrace Deep Work: Stick to a routine and create rituals. Work in the same place, at the same time. These kind constants help you get it to the deep work state quicker.

Become comfortable with boredom: The enemy of deep work is your mind’s desire for distraction. Sit still with your own thoughts.

Quit Social Media: We now have a “you like mine, I’ll like yours” agreement with our social network. Detaching from it will give you distraction free time and mental peace.

Drain The Shallows: Their shallow work would be: tweeting, email, meetings and book tours. Be merciless in cutting the shallow work from your life.

Those four rules and hundreds of other ideas and tips make up the book.

What I learned:

1. Figure out what is most valuable to my success.

2. Spend most of the time on it, mostly in the early hours of your day where your attention span is long. Started waking up at 4:30 am in the morning and usually sleep by 10:30pm.

3. Try to spend at least 3 deep sessions on it approx. 20 min each.

4. Almost anything other than your main task is a shallow task.

5. Bunch all the shallow tasks into one deep task.

6. Nature helps to retain your attention span.

7. Email and Internet in general is a huge attention sucker.

It’s a great book to get your focus back. It’s easy to read and can be completed within 10 days or so max. Get your copy today on a Kindle.