Deep Work
Cal Newport · Why focused, distraction-free work is valuable, and how to train yourself to do it.
9 people say it helped them, in their own words on Hacker News.
What people said
I’ve greatly benefited from the tactics espoused by Cal Newport in his book “Deep Work” and in his podcast. I now plan my days (regardless of whether it goes according to plan), have startup and shutdown rituals
I have managed to allocate one day per week for myself where I completely turn off WiFi, allowing me to focus on whatever task I choose.
I also learned from Deep Work to have clear work-life boundary. Made my life much better. I turn off from work at a certain time.
helped me to drastically reduce procrastination and increase my productivity and the quality of my work. All that without increasing my work hours.
this book genuinely changed my life, my ability to focus, and my mental frameworks around work ethic, focus, time management, and productivity.
"Deep Work" made me realize my basic methodology for getting shit done was broken. I need unbroken blocks of time to actually accomplish work.
As a direct result to reading Deep Work, I made a few small changes that have had a positive impact on my life since.
those last three weeks were for me one of the most productive periods in the last several years.
Because of the book, I was able to make changes in my work, life and personal priorities and I’m far, far happier and less stressed.
calendar - preallocating time for various tasks I want to do, and committing to doing them without distractions (phone set to silent, mail program closed, etc.) for that period of time
Description from Open Library
One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results.
Read the full description
Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time.
Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy.
And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there's a better way.
In DEEP WORK, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite.
Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four "rules," for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill.
A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, DEEP WORK takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories -- from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air -- and no-nonsense advice, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored. DEEP WORK is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world.
What people got from it AI summary
Best if you want to focus better, stop procrastinating, and get more done without longer hours.
- Improved focus
- Reduced procrastination
- Built work routines
Style
Practical tools · 303 pages
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The one-line description under the title is written by AI. Quotes are copied word for word.