What You'll Learn:
Cal Newport defines deep work as “professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit.” According to Newport, deep work is the kind of work that’s meaningful to us and to others. In other words, the kind of work that only you can do adds tremendous value to you as an individual and the company you are advancing. Our work has our stamp on it, making it unrepeatable and irreplicable. We draw out our fullest potential when we immerse ourselves in deep work experiences, but how do we get to that state of deep work? And how do we stay there? For all our potential, much of it remains latent because we habitually siphon off our limited energies to support irrelevancies. Newport tells us why deep work matters and gives us some practical tools for achieving deep work in our own lives. His basic rules are: work deeply, embrace boredom, quit social media, and drain the shallows.
Key Insights:
- Developing a philosophy of deep work that works for you is an important place to start.
- Building your ritual will strengthen your deep work.
- Grand gestures take your work deeper because you want to make the most of the special arrangements you’ve made for yourself to accomplish tasks.
- Open office floor plans are trendy but usually breed more distraction than creativity.
- What you do with your off time will improve or impede your ability to do deep work.
- Figure out your relationship to online tools and decide if they are central to your most cherished personal and professional goals.
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