Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World - Deep Work

"Deep Work" is one of those frustrating books where you whole-heartedly agree with the premise (and it is a fantastic one), but the book falls off the rails when it comes to tactics and process.

Cal Newport is in academia and much of his advice comes from his own "deep work" journey--the process he embarked on to overcome professional setback and create high-quality output at an astounding rate. Unfortunately, much of the process feels well suited for a tenure-track professor but out of touch for most professionals reading the book. I found the evidence supporting his proposed process particularly lacking. Here are the most obvious examples I came across:

1. In the section on quitting social media, he concedes that some people might actually (gasp) get some benefit from social media, but then cites a college freshman and a soldier deployed overseas as his lone counter-examples. Really?? What about the numerous professionals who are required to use social media for their jobs? It seems bizarre to ignore this large potential audience of professionals who will struggle with applying his seemingly out of touch advice.
2. He cites Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Lewis' absence from Twitter as evidence that social media usage is unnecessary for writers. Both started their careers long before social media and to attempt to shoehorn them into that argument felt bizarre.
3. Many of the "success" stories were from the lives of professors like Adam Grant (a professor at Wharton), Radhika Nagpal (a CS professor at Harvard) or even Newport himself (a tenured professor at Georgetown). For someone applying these lessons to the business world, these examples just don't ring relevant.
4. Finally Newport presents his own experience with Facebook as relevant to the discussion far too often. "I'm a married, father of two, working as a tenured professor and not being on Facebook hasn't hurt me in the slightest!" Yes, we get it works for him, but many readers will be in vastly different life situations.

While "Deep Work" is important, and cutting back on the distractions of our connected society should absolutely be a huge focus, I don't think the book comes across with the right answers. For me, it was most interesting to view Cal's process that he briefly covered in the conclusion. He faced a setback, made a goal, and then ruthlessly prioritized, experimented, and changed his life to support his goals around Deep Work. However, admitting to the reader that their own "deep work" journey will require a significant amount of "deep work" (and not just following a rote playbook) wouldn't be very satisfying. And the advice he does offer probably won't resonate too strongly unless you're on an academic track.

I've only pre-ordered a book one time in my life and it was this one.

I've been impressed with Cal's thinking and writing about doing meaningful work in a complex and loud world. His previous book, "So Good They Can't Ignore You," is the #1 resource I turn people to when I'm asked about helping someone "find their passion" or trying to figure out what they should do for a career. It's atypical advice written in an extremely logical and convincing manner.

Deep Work picks up where So Good They Can't Ignore You left off -- how are you supposed to build the skills necessary to develop passion for a particular type of work? Deep Work, of course.

Cal balances the theory and background information with the tactical and practical advice pretty well (although I'm always a sucker for making everything as practical as possible). He lays out an extremely cogent argument for why committing yourself to a practice of Deep Work is probably the best action you can take in building a career and life that you love.

I'm doing my best to make this mandatory reading for everybody I work with regularly.

This book is rated high as it succeeds in convincing the reader importance of deep work and then guides in a practical way to avoid distractions.
Recommended for all who aim to perform at the highest level in their fields.

Deep work skill is so powerful. The author particularly emphasized that the hours of uninterrupted time dedicated for deep work produce far more significant results than the same number of fragmented hours spent on shallow works. He provided a set of suggestions how to achieve this habit of deep work, along with a bunch of elaborate examples to clarify his ideas. I thus found his advice is practical and promising. I’ll as soon as possible implement his ideas to transform my life. I’m so excited to discover how much my life would improve by following his methods.

Last but not least.
Thanks, Cal, for sparing your limited time to share your advice to the world in a very clear and inspiring manner!

The author provides concrete, tried & tested methods for turning your life and it's work into something game changing that can impact the world in the most proactive way possible - by doing, doing, doing with focus, focus, focus.

I am a long time reader and fan of Cal Newport, and this book epitomizes his commitment to challenging people to reach their potential. This book is extremely useful because he clearly defines strategies that are tried and true towards achieving a state of deep work. I would only recommend this book to people who are both very serious about their work, and those who have a courageous streak. In order to truly follow the message of this book, you have to be comfortable with disengaging from the social norm. Therefore, only people who are truly serious about separating themselves from the pack, will find the motivation to stick with this long-term plan. Newport does a great job of anticipating his criticisms, and tries to remain neutral in the cultural debate- to tweet or not to tweet. For this reason I would have the mindset that there is only something to gain by reading DEEP WORK. You are likely to run into areas where you disagree with his argument, but you are even more likely to find effective strategies that help you improve the way you work.

I was not familiar with Cal's work before this book and found it by accident. It has been an eye opener and it helped me organize my life better, as well as my work. I also became more comfortable saying no to the daily distractions (like work IM-ing during meetings) and started to proactively manage my career. I sent the book to a friend of mine who is a PhD economist and works in research field (with a lot of publications) and she shared with me that her productivity doubled.

Cal Newport is one of the clearest thinkers I've encountered when it comes to personal productivity. His writing is crisp, well-sourced, and well-organized. The insights in this book are both thought-provoking and actionable. For example, I've copied the "shutdown checklist" that he uses to close out his work each day. It's been very effective in helping me clear my mind before wrapping up my work for the day, and positioning me to know exactly where to pick up when I resume my work. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to look back on their life a decade or two from now and be able to say "I used my time to work on stuff that mattered."

Fantastic book. We often hear that life is about the journey. This book tells you why and how to maximize our own potential on that journey.

Cal lays it out: He has focused deliberately on how to best enable ourselves to fight uniquely modern pressures and make ourselves great. This book is no rehash. It's a culmination and extension of what he has been working on for years. I do not believe there are exceptions to greatness outside of the deliberate focus detailed in this book.

If you browse through the top-rated the store reviews of this book (even the top critical reviews) you will notice that most of the readers would have been familiar with Cal’s ideas on deep work for a while. So it is with me. This was a book that I suspect many readers of my ilk desperately wanted to love, but couldn’t: we are acolytes of the method of Mission that Cal highlighted in his earlier work, So Good, and are absolutely convinced of the necessity of deep work to get there, but this book-length exposition of the idea is not the rallying cry we (or at least I) were hoping for. Regardless, it remains an important reference, for the moment perhaps the only accessible one in the popular literature. Let me explain.

Cal Newport is not the first to put forth the idea of deep work and deliberate practice as critical to the strategies of the professionally remarkable (see Gladwell, Malcolm). But, with his experience as a blogger and privy to the miasma of opinions of the online community, he certainly is the first to package it in opposition to the prevailing online wisdom of the time: the courage philosophy. I remember well his scolding blog posts on the value of (what he then called) hard focus on a fine needlepoint of skill, as opposed to ‘courageous’ but implausible career leaps in the face of imagined adversity. With the profusion of such sentiment in popular narratives (Disney movies came in for special disdain), his voice was especially clarifying. The countercultural edifice is thus deliberate (gratuitous even), and I believe absolutely necessary as a force of persuasion, having so clear a foil. This was what made his previous book, So Good They Can’t Ignore You, very effective.

Here now comes a tome that purports to be the successor to that volume: you are now sold on the criticality of deep work, but how do you get there? The answer turns out to be a lot trickier.

Despite claiming to demur on distraction-is-bad arguments on the book cover, the ‘shallows’ (email, non-essential workplace interactions, social media) figure as a potent foil in Cal’s narrative, illustrating the toll on value creation that such engagements bear on the typical knowledge worker. This allows Cal to prescribe empirically driven strategies for minimising shallow work, essential to the deep work repertoire. I agree with Cal on the pervasive cult of connectivity so I suspect that this is actually praxis, more than half the battle. Elsewhere, Cal describes rituals designed to lubricate the transition to deep work, maintain its sustainability, or providing accountability towards its completion.

This is however a fundamentally asymptotic strategy, getting closer and closer but never quite tasting the truth. For, as Cal repeatedly notes himself, deep work is hard work. There are leaps of difference in one’s state of mind between displacing distractions, structuring routines, and plunging into the essential tedium of deep work itself. The best prepared minds remain vulnerable. Question is, what is the mindset that would arrest one from reverting back to the tangible pleasures of the moment and instead embrace the bone-dry drudgery of effort that it takes to master deep and difficult knowledge? When does deep work no longer become boring?

A tantalising hint of an answer comes in a subchapter to Chapter 3: ‘Deep Work is Meaningful’, where Cal explores philosophical arguments for embracing deep work. I will not spoil it for prospective readers here, but suffice to say that it centres on the search for meaning in work, one that transforms a piece of activity from the conventionally wearisome to the actually worthwhile. The breakthrough is in determining whose locus of meaning the activity resides in. I do not begrudge Cal for not fleshing out this idea further; Cal’s style is slightly pedantic (perhaps reflecting his academic training), providing multifaceted evidence for taking a course of action, arrayed against a useful foil. But these are questions of spirit, and the devotee of deep work needs a prophet. Evidence, including the promise of (professional) paradise, may not be sufficient.

In sum, as we move from the ‘What’ to the ‘How’ of the remarkable professional life, Cal’s strategy in setting up the mendacity of shallow work as a foil (mirroring the approach of his first book), and his prescriptions for developing rituals of deep work are important, but incomplete insofar as intrinsic motivation is concerned. At the risk of utter pretentiousness, I would say that the believer needs a Torah before the Talmud of Cal Newport.

One of the strategies Cal prescribes in easing the transition to deep work is the use of so-called ‘grand gestures’: symbolic cues to signal the importance of the impending task to the mind, such as booking a grand hotel room to complete a piece of writing. I wonder that this does not beggar tautology in asking, is the writing important because of the grand hotel room, or is the hotel room grand because of the important writing? All the same, in reading Cal’s book (I pre-ordered the hardcopy version) I have taken to removing the jacket cover such that it appears to myself a dark and uninscribed leather-bound Testament, filled with important secrets, and all the better to hide them from the eyes of the mediocre masses (for such is its worth).

I read Cal's other book "So Good They Can't Ignore You", which blew me away with such good insight that I rushed to get "Deep Work".

Unfortunately, the excitement wasn't the same.

"Deep Work" does have quite a bit of "fluff" in it, and I actually tried a reading technique where I just skim to get the gist. The Deep Work Philosophies were my main take-away, but the one sentence that stuck with me out of the entire book was this:

"We who cut mere stones must always be envisioning cathedrals."

This struck me as very powerful, because people in organizations don't realize how important their job is in the grand scheme of things. Also, it succinctly describes that you should always take pride in your work, for if you can't do the little things right, how can you expect to do the big things right...?

I will try out the Shutdown Sequence he mentions in the book, which serves as a trigger so that people who tend to work all the time know when to cut off from the business world. I'll also try prioritizing better, and setting blocks of distraction in order to focus better.

Most personal development books advocate secret shortcuts to success. The 4-Hour Workweek, an extremely popular title from author Tim Ferriss, detailed strategies for “joining the new rich” and traveling the world by working as little as possible. Cal Newport’s latest book entitled Deep Work by contrast is refreshing in its emphasis on extremely cognitively demanding work as the key to success and personal fulfillment.

Deep Work is defined as “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.” Deep Work is contrasted with Shallow Work, defined as “Noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.” Newport’s thesis is that the ability to actually concentrate on hard stuff is becoming rare due to addictive and distracting technologies from Facebook to Buzzfeed to email. Meanwhile, any job that can be replaced by a computer or someone in a developing nation will be, so deep work is actually more valuable than ever.

Deep Work is the knowledge workers’ version of “deliberate practice,” the sort of which leads to expertise as found by K. Anders Ericsson in studies of violin players, golfers, chess grandmasters, and so on. Sheer number of hours of very challenging practice with the aim to deliberately improve one’s skills correlates with the greatest expertise, hence the "10,000 hours rule" popularized by Malcolm Gladwell. Expert violin players practice 3-4 hours a day, whereas mediocre players practice only 1 hour a day or less. Similarly, knowledge workers who spend 30-50% of their work day in completely focused concentration on important, difficult projects produce more value than knowledge workers who spend most of the time checking email, sitting in meetings, and distractedly trying to get a few things done each day.

While Newport emphasizes the benefits in productivity and job security from Deep Work, I think the real benefits are in meaningfulness and life satisfaction. Newport has given a name to something vague I’ve felt was missing in my life. Now I not only have the vocabulary to talk about it, but also a model of how to live a deeply meaningful life in a sustainable manner.

I’ve had a belief that to do a high volume of good quality work, it was necessary to be a workaholic, a belief supported by the exemplars of high achievement in my life. Not wanting to experience the obvious negative effects of workaholism, I’ve instead chosen to be a slacker. Newport presents a golden mean between the extremes of workaholism and slacking, activity and rest; that of spending 3 or 4 hours a day sequestered in highly concentrated periods of challenging mental labor, 90-120 minutes at a stretch, never working after 5:30pm, and managing all this by ruthlessly eliminating the inessential.

This is a noble use of ruthlessness, versus Tim Ferriss’ ethic of ruthlessly cheating-within-the-rules or exploiting international labor markets for personal gain. The inessential ought to be eliminated; doing so ensures room for deep and important work. While Ferriss sometimes talks about eliminating the inessential, he frequently contradicts himself by recommending many unimportant things like expensive and needless supplements, or worthless accomplishments like setting a “world record” for number of tango spins in 1 minute, or cheating at kickboxing. Ferriss emphasizes laziness (“the 4 hour X”) and hacks that allow one to skirt effort, while Newport advocates hard, hard work for which there is no shortcut.

Ultimately Newport’s Deep Work is not simply about doing better work, it’s about living a better life, balancing many competing priorities, determining which technologies aid your most important labor, and valuing your energy and your time as the precious and non-renewable resources they are.

This book a must-read for anyone who does knowledge work of any kind and wants to live a meaningful life in our age of distraction.

That said, this book leaves me with some questions.

Deep Work is a book about finding meaning through work as well as success in life in Late Capitalism. The proposed solution to being outsourced or automated in a hyper-competitive global marketplace is to become indispensable by practicing in a way that leads to profound expertise. However, most new jobs in the economy are in the service sector. Quite a few service jobs won’t allow for Deep Work, for example Starbucks baristas, the store warehouse workers, Bus/Uber drivers, call center employees, administrative assistants, and so on. Do these workers have any opportunities to practice Deep Work on the job in a way that cannot be commodified?

Newport at one point suggests that these entry-level jobs do not, therefore the worker should develop deeper skills to increase their opportunities for deep work. But when and where can a service industry worker develop their skills, especially if they are already working full-time or more? The best time to develop skills is while you are being paid, and Newport advocates not doing anything work related after 5:30pm. It seems that the only way for such a person to get ahead would be to add an additional 3-4 hours of deep work into their schedule on top of their 8+ hours on the job, but this would necessarily lead to lower cognitive performance from overwork and inferior rest. Since expertise is about total hours spent in deep work or deliberate practice, an economy where the deepest workers thrive rewards the privileged.

Also by definition if rockstars are some of the only people in a field who will thrive, the system is inherently unjust, privileging a tiny minority while the overwhelming majority suffers. Is Deep Work only for the 1%, and therefore the 99% are destined to lead meaningless and shallow lives? Will Deep Work counter the trend towards increasing inequality, or will it further this disturbing phenomenon, or neither? Is there a way we can increase the opportunities for Deep Work for all workers, not just the professional elite?

Shallow Work is defined as basically busy work that presents a veneer of being productive, whereas Deep Work is the opposite: focusing on very cognitively demanding work that is personally and socially important. But some of the examples of Deep Work involve very showy displays of work such as number of published papers or (I imagine) lines of code written. Everyone knows it is easier to write 5 shallow books than one truly deep one. Could one be a better researcher by publishing fewer, higher quality papers? Does “publish or perish” really create better academic institutions? Does number of published papers make for a good researcher or professor? Does number of citations even make for a good paper?

Many paradigm-changing papers or works were ignored at first. As physicist Max Plank allegedly said, "Science progresses one funeral at a time." Is high craftsmanship always valued and appreciated in a field, or do other values make something more popular or financially lucrative? For instance, a better program might be one which is more elegant, requiring fewer lines of code to do the same thing. But lines of code is a showy metric that appears to be better, despite being more shallow. While Newport's official "lead" metric for success is hours spent in deep work, he also emphasizes the metric of number of academic papers published. Newport’s previous books were on academic success, which is largely defined as getting straight A’s in difficult classes. Is Deep Work just trying to get an “A” in life, or is it truly working on what is important, even if one is not rewarded externally as much as the person who plays to the crowd/rules? Is it “he who dies with the most published and cited papers wins?” or is it “he who writes the most meaningful and deep papers wins?” What if the crowd's values for success in your field are wrong or shallow?

Is Deep Work actually deep, or is it merely technical? It seems like many of the examples involve learning a highly specialized technical discipline, and/or perhaps inventing something new in a highly specialized technical discipline. But is technical skill and proficiency what truly matters in life? To take the example of masterful musicians who K. Anders Ericsson studied: is mastery in musical performance merely a matter of technical proficiency? Clearly without technical proficiency, one cannot reach a level of mastery in music, so some high degree of technical proficiency is necessary. But just as clearly, musical performance that only contains technical mastery is missing something equally as important, making this technical ability insufficient. Newport’s previous book was about developing skill instead of following your passion, but a technical musician who lacks passion makes for a cold and unmoving performance. Is Newport underestimating the importance of passion or heart in expertise because it is more challenging to measure or teach?

I know several people who are back in school right now. All of them spend many hours a day studying very cognitively demanding material in a highly focused manner, but none are superstars. Why is this? One (my wife) doesn’t even have a Facebook or Twitter account, and studies in a very focused manner for hours at a time, and yet is still very slow compared to her son, who can write a nearly good paper in literally 1/10th the time. (He plays hours of video games every day.) Is she lacking some crucial study skill? Another is a PhD candidate in the biological sciences and basically works round the clock. Why isn’t she a superstar in her field given her long hours of difficult study? (She is doing well, but not head-and-shoulders above similar PhD students.) Is she not resting enough or focused enough while she works? Hours spent in a highly focused manner on cognitively demanding tasks is clearly an important thing, but also clearly not the only relevant variable in producing outstanding results. What are those other factors that determine extreme results and are they learnable?

Is Deep actually compatible with More and Fast? In this book, Newport emphasizes being able to produce high volume of work quickly in order to survive and thrive in Late Capitalism. But does this emphasis on More and Fast sacrifice some level of depth that is only possible with Less and Slow? For example, in the psychological sciences as well as in pharmaceutical drug trials, it is difficult to get funding for longitudinal studies that track individuals over long periods of time, but deep and important information is found from these studies that cannot be replicated through short-term studies alone. Because of the lack of these studies (and their expense), we have lots of data on short-term effects of drugs but little information about the effects of these drugs after years of use…and many of these drugs continue to be used for years, such as SSRIs and other anti-depressant drugs. Deep Work does seem to eliminate much of what is unimportant, specifically mindless entertainment and needless technology. A life of Deep Work is certainly more focused and meaningful than one without. There are also some advantages to More and Fast. But what other Deep things are we missing out on by focusing on More and Fast work?

Despite my questions, I found the book very moving and important, and I highly recommend it. In my own life, I will be seriously considering ways to make my daily work life revolve around as much Deep Work as I can sustain.

For the older reader this is a modern version of Drucker and Dale Carnegie. Concentrate on your most important tasks and try not to annoy people. The distractions today are Facebook, Twitter,etc. Yesterday it was television and too many social and civic commitments. Not much new here beyond a useful reminder of what is important.

One of the best books on productivity in the workplace, and I have already altered my approach to my work and I am finding it easier to focus. This book combines thorough research with helpful techniques. This book will change how you work.

For all the hype of this book, I was doissapointed to find it essentially focuses on the strategies that work for the author: a brilliant academic who works in an elite university setting. Many of his strategies may be effective for his environment (for example, the section on how to craft emails), but would get many people in hot water for using these same tactics in other business sectors. Was hoping for much more from this book.

Well written. Very actionable. Not only does Newport explain what to do, but why it works. He does a great job of anticipating common arguments against his recommendations and diffusing them. Highly recommended.

I love that he supports all of his advice/theories with stories that are easily relatable and many scientific studies. Towards the end it got a bit too perscriptive for me which is why 4 instead of 5 stars, but overall a solid read and and many different suggested techniques that there is something that will work for everyone.

Deep work was much better than I anticipated. Books promise to re-wire your brain, your thinking and your life, but this book truly does that.

Firstly, the book is really easy to read, and deceptively so. This is important because it allows you to skim through quickly and get the overall ideas. it takes a lot of effort to put readable work into a book. The examples, anecdotes and models he presents are truly pleasant to read. But this is partly deceptive because the concepts are not that easy and there is a lot of meat to dig into. This therefore means you have to read it more than once to get full value.

Secondly, the book is deep. Starting with the 18 page intro that really is more than just a sales pitch, or a summary, but an appetizer, getting you ready for the book. . He goes into a lot of research on each area that he covers, and explains the various layers. Just when you think he has finished a subject, he goes a little deeper to explain it more, with well supported research.

Finally, the book is really broad. He covers the research from various angles, from philosophy, engineering, psychology etc. He also has various examples that show the broad applicability of the concepts he is writing about. He has great examples that cover all areas - Carl Jung in academia, Bill Gates, Nate Silver in political forecasting, Davind Hansson in Programming, Religion, Jack Dorsey, and Richard Feynman.

I would highly recommend this book, as a quick read and as a go to guide for how to learn to focus. I initially thought it would help me just in the office, but it would be equallly applicable to employees and entrepreneurs, lecturers, coders, artists and writers. I even learnt a lot I could help my children with.

As an academic and faculty member at a top-tier university I find this book useful in finding and maximizing depth in my own work. As a teacher of writing to undergraduate and graduate students, I find this book invaluable to educate them on the required rigors of the writing process. I recommend Newport's books and blog to students as a wake-up to the realities of the world of work and what it takes to be excellent in writing and in anything. Too few students today know how important it is to focus, so they give away their attention too easily. They no longer know how to focus and how to nurture that skill. Newport provides a clear argument of both the why and how for both professionals and aspiring professionals.

Not worth reading - spent a lot of time. Would be absolutely sufficient to read an article on the topic. May be two. I like the idea but it is repeated and all over again wihout adding anything useful.

I found this book dry and difficult to focus on. Ironic, since increasing one's focus was the main idea of this book. I just couldn't accept all the rules this author presented. I'm a healthcare professional and a single parent who doesn't have the luxury of ending my work day at 5pm, no matter how I present my deep / shallow budget to my employer and my child.

This book was ok—-but most of the examples were of men, ignoring half the population: wildly successful women who have made it in various professions, leaving his view of “deep work” lacking in examples that will resonate with women who no longer need or want to mimic masculine attributes of success. Not balanced enough for me and a lot of filler.

Curmudgeonly millennial bathes in superiority repeatedly and redundantly for many chapters... He is totally right about a number of things. There are even two or three excellent pieces of specific advice in this book. In particular things like writing down your goals and aiming to avoid distraction by scheduling distraction rather than focus are both very helpful. However it has been a pain to read them over and over again. Numerous phrases are repeated verbatim more than once throughout this book. Was there no editor? Also I was often shocked that this individual is under 40. He seems woefully out of touch...unaware of things like deep correspondence-based internet facilitated socialization, the importance of relationships in general, and the necessity of keeping apace with the world around you.

Do Not I repeat do Not spend your money on this long blog post. Horribly written. Boring no real value. Spent majority of the book trying to convince you of why deep work is important and then at the end skimming over a couple of things you can do. I want a refund on this book.

In 1995 the term “disruptive innovation” was coined by Harvard Professor, Clayton Christensen to describe how certain types of innovation change industries. But this is rare. Most innovation doesn’t amount to much, and fizzles out despite extensive quantitative research and Herculean advertising efforts.

In this book, Christensen et al, offer a simple but profound insight which they call the ‘Theory of Jobs to Be Done.’ The purpose of this insight is to shed light on why people adopt an innovation in large enough numbers to make it a success, and how to identify innovations that will be adopted.

‘The job to be done’, they assert is the causal mechanism for successful innovation. Using this insight enables companies not only to create but also to predict new innovations that will succeed. Phrasing the innovation in this manner allows for a deep understanding of the customers’ need at a more profound level.

To introduce this concept, the authors describe (among other examples,) the “job of a milkshake.” Why would someone “hire” a milkshake? What “job” is the milkshake expected to perform? “We all have jobs we need to do that arise in our day-to-day lives and when we do, we hire products or services to get these jobs done,” the authors explain.

If you can answer this question, increasing sales is far more likely to be useful than doing taste tests, demographic surveys and purchase studies.

When looking for an answer to this question (an actual case), the researchers were surprised to find that an oddly high number of milkshakes were sold before 9:00 a.m. to people who came to the fast-food restaurant alone. Doing taste tests, demographic surveys and purchase studies would not yield the quality of information that came from asking this question: “Excuse me, please, but I have to sort out this puzzle. What job were you trying to do for yourself that caused you to come here and hire that milkshake?”

It turned out that they had long and boring rides to work and needed something to keep the commute interesting. Coffee doesn’t do the job well because it gets cold too quickly, eating bananas makes you feel too full, but hiring a milkshake does the job well. It is thick enough to sip, lasts long enough, and remains pleasurable through the journey.

Approaching the study from the ‘job to be done’ perspective is quite different to fast-food restaurants asking a patron to give feedback in one of its customer surveys to the question: “How can we improve this milk shake so you buy more of them?” A single dad coming to a restaurant with his young son would answer the survey very differently to the same man when he buys a milkshake for his morning commute. The milkshake is hired for very different jobs, in two very different circumstances.

So how can one identify innovative opportunities if compiling data-rich models only makes businesses “masters of description but failures at prediction”? “We believe Jobs Theory provides a powerful way of understanding the causal mechanism of customer behaviour, an understanding that, in turn, is the most fundamental driver of innovation success,” the authors explain.

So how is Jobs Theory to be applied so that you create products that customers will not only want to buy, but will even be willing to pay premium prices for? Simply put, customers don’t buy products or services: they pull them into their lives to resolve highly important, unsatisfied jobs that arise.

Jobs are never simply about the function of the service or product. The circumstance is central to their definition, not customer characteristics, product attributes, new technology, or trends. Just think of how you would hire a baby-sitter – who would you trust with your children?

“It’s important to note that we don’t ‘create’ jobs, we discover them,” the authors explain. This is a 180 degree shift from viewing innovation as creating what no-one has ever seen before, and then trying to stimulate a need.

Jobs can be discovered in many ways. One is just watching the customers you do—and don’t—already have, and looking for the job that they want done. Do many DIY customers in your hardware store need technical assistance?

You can also learn much about a Job to Be Done from people who aren’t hiring any product or service to do the Job. Airbnb reports that 40% of their “guests” say they would not have made a trip at all, or would have stayed with family, if Airbnb didn’t exist. As such, Airbnb is not in competition with hotels. There may be an entirely new growth opportunity right in front of you.

Are people creating ways of working around a problem or just compensating for it? Banking giant ING saw the segment no bank wants, low net-worth individuals, who want a simple, inexpensive banking facility. They were being chased away by high banking charges and other barriers. ING created ING Direct that has no deposit minimums, is fast, convenient, and secures your money. Of course, you won’t see workarounds if you’re not fully immersed in the context of the consumers’ struggle.

There are probably more jobs people do not want to do than jobs they want to do. Negative jobs are often the best innovation opportunities. Because most people don’t want to go to the doctor if they don’t have to, there are now more than a thousand MinuteClinic locations inside CVS pharmacy stores in thirty-three states in America.

Innovation can also be identified in the unusual use of products. NyQuil had been on the market for decades as a cold remedy, but some consumers were using it to help them sleep, even when they weren’t sick. This led to ZzzQuil, which offers a good night’s sleep without the other active ingredients consumers didn’t need.

Growth can be found where none seems possible. It is dependent on knowing what to look for, and the question to be asked: What is the Job here?

There are gems in this easy-to-read book, with many examples of every point they make. No matter your line of work, this is a clever way to look for new business, but it must be done carefully and slowly.

Readability Light -+--- Serious
Insights High +---- Low
Practical High -+--- Low
*Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy and is the author of Strategy that Works. .

This book was ok—-but most of the examples were of men, ignoring half the population: wildly successful women who have made it in various professions, leaving his view of “deep work” lacking in examples that will resonate with women who no longer need or want to mimic masculine attributes of success. Not balanced enough for me and a lot of filler.

Curmudgeonly millennial bathes in superiority repeatedly and redundantly for many chapters... He is totally right about a number of things. There are even two or three excellent pieces of specific advice in this book. In particular things like writing down your goals and aiming to avoid distraction by scheduling distraction rather than focus are both very helpful. However it has been a pain to read them over and over again. Numerous phrases are repeated verbatim more than once throughout this book. Was there no editor? Also I was often shocked that this individual is under 40. He seems woefully out of touch...unaware of things like deep correspondence-based internet facilitated socialization, the importance of relationships in general, and the necessity of keeping apace with the world around you.

Do Not I repeat do Not spend your money on this long blog post. Horribly written. Boring no real value. Spent majority of the book trying to convince you of why deep work is important and then at the end skimming over a couple of things you can do. I want a refund on this book.

In 1995 the term “disruptive innovation” was coined by Harvard Professor, Clayton Christensen to describe how certain types of innovation change industries. But this is rare. Most innovation doesn’t amount to much, and fizzles out despite extensive quantitative research and Herculean advertising efforts.

In this book, Christensen et al, offer a simple but profound insight which they call the ‘Theory of Jobs to Be Done.’ The purpose of this insight is to shed light on why people adopt an innovation in large enough numbers to make it a success, and how to identify innovations that will be adopted.

‘The job to be done’, they assert is the causal mechanism for successful innovation. Using this insight enables companies not only to create but also to predict new innovations that will succeed. Phrasing the innovation in this manner allows for a deep understanding of the customers’ need at a more profound level.

To introduce this concept, the authors describe (among other examples,) the “job of a milkshake.” Why would someone “hire” a milkshake? What “job” is the milkshake expected to perform? “We all have jobs we need to do that arise in our day-to-day lives and when we do, we hire products or services to get these jobs done,” the authors explain.

If you can answer this question, increasing sales is far more likely to be useful than doing taste tests, demographic surveys and purchase studies.

When looking for an answer to this question (an actual case), the researchers were surprised to find that an oddly high number of milkshakes were sold before 9:00 a.m. to people who came to the fast-food restaurant alone. Doing taste tests, demographic surveys and purchase studies would not yield the quality of information that came from asking this question: “Excuse me, please, but I have to sort out this puzzle. What job were you trying to do for yourself that caused you to come here and hire that milkshake?”

It turned out that they had long and boring rides to work and needed something to keep the commute interesting. Coffee doesn’t do the job well because it gets cold too quickly, eating bananas makes you feel too full, but hiring a milkshake does the job well. It is thick enough to sip, lasts long enough, and remains pleasurable through the journey.

Approaching the study from the ‘job to be done’ perspective is quite different to fast-food restaurants asking a patron to give feedback in one of its customer surveys to the question: “How can we improve this milk shake so you buy more of them?” A single dad coming to a restaurant with his young son would answer the survey very differently to the same man when he buys a milkshake for his morning commute. The milkshake is hired for very different jobs, in two very different circumstances.

So how can one identify innovative opportunities if compiling data-rich models only makes businesses “masters of description but failures at prediction”? “We believe Jobs Theory provides a powerful way of understanding the causal mechanism of customer behaviour, an understanding that, in turn, is the most fundamental driver of innovation success,” the authors explain.

So how is Jobs Theory to be applied so that you create products that customers will not only want to buy, but will even be willing to pay premium prices for? Simply put, customers don’t buy products or services: they pull them into their lives to resolve highly important, unsatisfied jobs that arise.

Jobs are never simply about the function of the service or product. The circumstance is central to their definition, not customer characteristics, product attributes, new technology, or trends. Just think of how you would hire a baby-sitter – who would you trust with your children?

“It’s important to note that we don’t ‘create’ jobs, we discover them,” the authors explain. This is a 180 degree shift from viewing innovation as creating what no-one has ever seen before, and then trying to stimulate a need.

Jobs can be discovered in many ways. One is just watching the customers you do—and don’t—already have, and looking for the job that they want done. Do many DIY customers in your hardware store need technical assistance?

You can also learn much about a Job to Be Done from people who aren’t hiring any product or service to do the Job. Airbnb reports that 40% of their “guests” say they would not have made a trip at all, or would have stayed with family, if Airbnb didn’t exist. As such, Airbnb is not in competition with hotels. There may be an entirely new growth opportunity right in front of you.

Are people creating ways of working around a problem or just compensating for it? Banking giant ING saw the segment no bank wants, low net-worth individuals, who want a simple, inexpensive banking facility. They were being chased away by high banking charges and other barriers. ING created ING Direct that has no deposit minimums, is fast, convenient, and secures your money. Of course, you won’t see workarounds if you’re not fully immersed in the context of the consumers’ struggle.

There are probably more jobs people do not want to do than jobs they want to do. Negative jobs are often the best innovation opportunities. Because most people don’t want to go to the doctor if they don’t have to, there are now more than a thousand MinuteClinic locations inside CVS pharmacy stores in thirty-three states in America.

Innovation can also be identified in the unusual use of products. NyQuil had been on the market for decades as a cold remedy, but some consumers were using it to help them sleep, even when they weren’t sick. This led to ZzzQuil, which offers a good night’s sleep without the other active ingredients consumers didn’t need.

Growth can be found where none seems possible. It is dependent on knowing what to look for, and the question to be asked: What is the Job here?

There are gems in this easy-to-read book, with many examples of every point they make. No matter your line of work, this is a clever way to look for new business, but it must be done carefully and slowly.

Readability Light -+--- Serious
Insights High +---- Low
Practical High -+--- Low
*Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy and is the author of Strategy that Works. .

I have been employing many of Newport's ideas for the past month and a half. I am generally a fan of Newport, but I was surprised how well his ideas are working for me. I will describe the results below.

I am a professor at a college that focuses on teaching. Teaching is by far my top priority, with service to the college being a second priority (i.e. doing administration to make the college run smoothly), and research being a third priority (but still part of the job, in theory). I have been employing techniques from this book to increase the amount of research I do without negatively affecting the quality of my teaching and service. I think it is fair to say that most of my colleagues average 0 hours of research per week. I was probably averaging 0.5 to 1 hour over the last couple of years, but I have been fitting in 5 to 8 hours of research each week using ideas from this book. This is resulting in many more publications, and I also was able to solve a problem I had been working on since August 2014 using one of his techniques.

The extra research is great, but there have been some other huge changes that came along with the extra productivity. Using ideas from the book, I now do absolutely no work at home---not even email. I work a steady schedule of 7:45 am to 5:30 pm with no work done outside those hours. This book has helped me be more productive at work and more attentive to my family.

Additionally---and this was really unexpected---I broke my (minor, completely common) internet addiction. I no longer obsessively check the internet when I am bored or stuck on a problem. This is something I have been working on for a couple of years, so Newport does not deserve all of the credit. However, Newport's ideas were the ones that were put in place immediately before it happened. This was an entirely unexpected consequence---I had not been planning on stopping my ESPN.com habit by implementing the ideas from this book, but somehow this happened to me for free.

Many of the ideas in this book are not new, but this does not diminish the book's effectiveness. The book is inspiring, easy to read, and contains a coherent plan to make your life better. The plan requires some discipline to follow, but it is very realistic to implement; I plan on continuing with his plan indefinitely. I now get more done at work in less time, AND I have a better work-life balance that gives me more quality time with my wife and kids. This book was very helpful to me.
~

Decent book, but a lot of fluff. Cal loves to present a grand theory then spend most of the book qualifying it until it becomes something really obvious. The same way true with his last book. It's also really annoying to me that he doesn't seem to notice that not everyone can actually afford deep work. Most people don't have the luxury to be able to get past their myriad conflicts in life to be able to have the necessary state of mind to even consider deep work. The actionable steps is all that was needed here. The rest is fluff.

This book is written like a college thesis paper, complete with bibliography. This book is 260 pages of material that could've been condensed into a 10 page white paper. The entire point is this, focusing on a task instead of multitasking will enable you to get more done. This point is made on chapter 1. Chapter 2 says, well ok some situations will be better served by multitasking. Ok, that's essentially the opposite of what your book is supposed to be about... The "rules" were obvious, at least to me. "Rule #1 about working deeply is to do deep work". Wow, my mind just got blown. Somehow this idea, which is definitely not new, got stretched into a 260 page book, at a list price of $26.00 at that. If you had no idea that working on a project, assignment or what have you, without distractions would benefit you, then by all means get this book.

This book is for knowledge workers what "The Four Hour Workweek" is for entrepreneurs. He has a few good ideas, but he mixes it in with so much sales pitch, shaky rhetoric, and survivorship bias that it's hard to tell what is good advice and what is questionable.

He does make good points, and he does connect his ideas to research. You will probably learn a thing or two.

But here are my grievances: This book is short on quotations from interviews. Instead of interviewing people, Newport just states what he thinks they believe. He even goes so far as to state what they "probably would do" in specific circumstances. Ultimately that's all speculation, not facts. He even goes so far as to guess that "Richard Feynman would have hated an open office layout."

He ecomplains of a "metric black hole" that leads managers to make poor decisions due to difficulty in obtaining data. This metric black hole serves a double purpose: it justifies his theories, since he can simply say "it's too hard" to collect more than a handful of disjointed studies. Meanwhile, it allows him to criticize others, because "no one knows how bad" their practices are. This bias is disturbing, and yet never addressed. A true social scientist would double down and fill the metric black hole with useful studies. Newport decided to write blog posts instead.

Most of his book also focuses on individuals rather than teams. Research has shown that focusing on team productivity yields greater improvements than focusing on individual productivity. Newport conveniently ignores this. He never addresses the impact of his research on whole companies, instead speculating that better individuals will always lead to strong companies. It's easy to see that that is not a guaranteed truth.

He also waves counter-examples of CEOs who seem to be successful despite living in direct opposition to his principles. He simply states, "Well, they're not true knowledge workers. True knowledge workers will still benefit from my ideas." This is an informal fallacy known as "No true Scotsman," and falsely protects his hasty generalizations.

There's also lots of salesmanship. He brags about his own accomplishments very frequently. He makes extraorindary claims, but does not provide extraorindary evidence. A lot of the book is filled with tales of single individuals with amazing stories that "prove him right". He has only a limited discussion of counterarguments or weaknesses in his ideas. He uses fearmongering, even calling today's internet-based workplaces a "Brave New World."

Ultimately, Newport is probably right about a lot of his ideas. But he sells those ideas harder than an army recruiter at the mall.

The useful (actionable) part of this book could be summarized in a blog post, and not a very long one.

I used to a be a huge fan of Cal's, and read his blog religiously. I bought several copies of his first two books to give away. In those days he had a unique perspective, and very tangible, usable advice. It was amazing stuff, and if you haven't seen his blog, I recommend checking out those old posts. I still refer to them.

You can still see flashes of the old Cal here, but ... now there's much more philosophizing and justifying "filler" - much less meat. "Part 1" in particular, is completely useless to a busy person looking for helpful advice. What else can I say about the book - I kept waiting to get to the good part, the tangible advice I could use, and I never did.

I'm not going to go through the hassle of a return, but I feel I just threw away twenty bucks.

What a disappointment.

Those who aspire to “connect sacredness inherent in traditional craftsmanship to the world of knowledge work” would be well-advised to keep Aristotle’s observation in mind. What we do habitually defines us, for better or worse. In this remarkably insightful book, Cal Newport explains how – over time –he became a “deep work machine” and how almost anyone else can also become one. Her examines a process that is easy to describe but for many – if not most – people immensely difficult to sustain: focus only on what is most important, ignore or eliminate everything that isn’t, develop habits that support rather than distract attention, and – meanwhile – allow sufficient time for personal growth and professional development.

Although an adept deep worker earlier in his academic career, Newport reached a point when he realized that there was still substantial room for improvement. “I returned to my MIT habit of working on problems in my head whenever a goo0d time presented itself – be it walking the dog or commuting. Whereas earlier, I tended to increase my deep work only as a deadline approached, this year was relentless -- most every day of most every week I was pushing my mind to grapple with results of consequence, regardless of whether or not a specific deadline was near. I solved proofs on subway rides and while shoveling snow. When my son napped on the weekend, I would pace the yard thinking, and when stuck in traffic I would methodically work through problems that were stymieing me."

He notes that during this period or renewal and recommitment, he doubled his average work productivity as a classroom teacher at MIT while writing a book and published nine peer-reviewed papers -- all the while maintaining his prohibition on work in the evening. "To leave the distracted masses to join the focused few, I'm arguing, is a transformative experience. The deep life, of course, is not for everybody. It requires hard work and drastic changes in your habits." That said, deep work is -- and always will be -- "way more powerful than most people understand"…until they read Newport’s book.

These are among the several dozen passages of greatest interest and value to me, also listed to suggest the scope of Newport’s coverage:

o How to Become a Winner in the New Economy (Pages 28-33)
o Deep Work Helps You Quickly Learn Hard Things (33-37)
o The Principle of Least Productivity (61-66)
o The Cult of the Internet (66-70)
o A Neurological Argument for Depth (76-82)
o A Psychological Argument for Depth (82-86)
o A Philosophical Argument for Depth (86-91)
o Decide on Your Depth Philosophy (101-112)
o Deep Work Scheduling: Philosophical and Journalistic (110-117)
o Ritualize (117-121)
o Make Grand Gestures (121-126)
o Don't Work Alone (126-134)
o Execute Like a Business (134-142)
o Be Lazy (142-154)
o Don't Take Breaks from Distraction. Instead, Take Breaks from Focus (159-166)
o Meditate Productively (169-174)
o Memorize a Deck of Cards (174-179)
o Apply the Law of the Vital Few to Your Internet Habits 192-203)
o Quit Social Media (203-209)
o Don't Use the Internet to Entertain Yourself (209-214)
o Schedule Every Minute of Your Day (221-227)
o Quantify the Depth of Every Activity (228-232)
o Finish Your Work by Five Thirty (236-242)
o Become Hard to Reach (242-256)

Some of these have an implied prefix such as "How to" or "Know how to"; others are clearly an admonition, perhaps even a challenge. Obviously, Newport agrees with Albert Einstein’s determination to "make everything as simple as possible...but no simpler." Also with Peter Drucker's observation, "There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all." And also with Stephen Covey: "Spend much less time on what is urgent and much more time on what is important."

Obviously no brief commentary such as mine can possibly do full justice to the quality and value of the information, insights, and counsel that Cal Newport provides but I hope I have at least indicated by I am so grateful to him for what I learned and am now applying amidst my own distractions.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out two others: Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow and Marty Neumeier's Metaskills: Five Talents for the Robotic Age.

If you already have a job or project that calls for focused complex work, this is a fast read which will motivate you with some tips and help you avoid some common pitfalls.

However, do not expect a particularly deep dive as it's filled with inserts of vignettes and quotations from those like Jung, Gates, or Teddy Roosevelt meant for a general audience instead of real use cases or steps for academics or knowledge workers. You'll get some things to look up further like Csikszentmihalyi's Flow, memorization techniques using room visualisation, how Bell Labs' office space worked, or studies showing how 50 minutes of exposure to even inhospitable nature helps mental focus.

Then there's the necessary but usual harping on the dangers of social media addiction, being beholden to constant meetings, or an overflowing inbox.

The author also makes some really superficial errors about how programmers work and in my personal opinion, does a serious disservice not just avoiding the deep work associated with hands-on trades and careers but also how even doing some form of manual work as a hobby can be mentally refreshing for those in academics, business, or IT.

I was extremely disappointed with this book, since it came so heavily recommended by others. There are two main reasons why.

First, the tagline of the title is misleading. "Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World," made me think that's what this book would give me--rules to successfully implement deep work. Based on the actual content after reading it, I think the tag should instead read, "Stories and Evidence of Focused Success in a Distracted World." Instead of giving rules, it tells story after story about people who have successfully implemented deep work, and discusses their successes.

Second, I found the author's tone to be condescending at times. He tends to talk a lot about his own successes, to the point of "holier than thou." To me, it felt like it surpassed stating credentials and passed into bragging. Also, the little direct advice that is given in the book, is delivered in a way that silently suggests it's the ONLY way. There are very few suggestions on how to implement ideas and tactics into different people's INDIVIDUAL lives. It feels very "my way or the highway." For example, he has an entire chapter dedicated to explaining why you should quit all social media, and giving directions on exactly how to do that. (There are only a few people who he says he supports keeping social media accounts--soldiers stationed overseas, or college students who need to interact with other students). There are no variations, no additional suggestions, just a quite condescending message of "Here's how you stop doing this thing I decided you have to stop doing without giving you any other options."

If you are BRAND new to self betterment books, or specifically techniques to increase productivity, this may very well be very interesting for you, and may kick start a desire to learn more. Great! However, if this isn't your first productivity book rodeo, you may find it a bit bland, as I did.

If you're looking for a book which is MUCH more helpful at giving direct and specific advice, try "The Productivity Project" by Chris Bailey. That book gives concrete ideas, has challenges for you to perform to jump start changes, customizes its advice to fit you specifically, and it sprinkled with humor and personal stories throughout to keep the reader interested. In my opinion, it's a far superior self betterment book to Deep Work.

Working with focused attention is important

For me, it started with “Paid attention” and “The end of absence”. Maybe even “The shallows”. Constant distraction as an issue. Digital crack as an addiction. Knowing that attention is what we choose to focus on and what we choose to ignore defines the quality of your life. Our brains construct our worldview based on what we pay attention to. That is from “Solve for happy”. Who you are, what you think, feel, and do, what you love, is the sum of what you focus on.

Spain

Since I moved to Spain, I have removed all social media from my phone, try to manage my e-mails only twice a day and try to get a routine going of mediation, reflection, exercising, reading and writing. The dreadlocks will follow. Sandals are already there. I want to become what Ryan Holiday calls a “Perennial seller”. No quick tricks, no flash in the pan approach. Focus on mastery, longevity and perennial. On lasting impact, relevance and revenue. Focus on purpose and dharma. From great work to deep work is not much of a stretch.

Deep work

Cal Newport wrote “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World”. A 2012 McKinsey study found that the average knowledge worker now spends more than 60 percent of the workweek engaged in electronic communication and Internet searching, with close to 30 percent of a worker’s time dedicated to reading and answering e-mail alone. This state of fragmented attention cannot accommodate deep work, which requires long periods of uninterrupted thinking.

Shallow work as an opportunity

Creating shallow work. Noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend not to create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate. Creating a massive economic and personal opportunity for the few who recognise the potential of resisting this trend and prioritising depth. Deep work as a skill that has great value today.
Even more valuable because of the impacts of the digital network revolution. If you can create something useful, its reachable audience is essentially limitless—which greatly magnifies your reward.

Shallow work as a threat

On the other hand, if what you’re producing is mediocre, then you’re in trouble, as it’s too easy for your audience to find a better alternative online. To succeed you have to produce the absolute best stuff you’re capable of producing—a task that requires depth.
Newport thinks that deep work is so important that we might consider it, to use the phrasing of business writer Eric Barker, “the superpower of the 21st century.” The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy.

Robot proof yourself

Though an increasing number of people will lose new economy as their skill becomes automatable or easily outsourced, there are others who will not only survive but thrive—becoming more valued (and therefore more rewarded) than before. Deep work will make you robot-proof. In the new economy, three groups will have a particular advantage: those who can work well and creatively with intelligent machines, those who are the best at what they do, and those with access to capital.

The book explains how

You need the ability to quickly master hard things. The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed.
You need to be able to learn.If you can’t learn, you can’t thrive.
You need to create value. Mastering the relevant skills is necessary, but not sufficient. You must then transform that latent potential into tangible results that people value.
You need to produce. If you don’t produce, you won’t thrive—no matter how skilled or talented you are.
You need to be able to concentrate.
You need to practice (deliberately).
You need to commit seriously to the task at hand.
You need to set ambitious targets, which are very important to you, so you don’t get distracted by mediocrity and trivial distractions.
You need to create metrics and a cadence of accountability to yourself.
You work needs to be meaningful to you.
You need to create a work environment designed to help you extract as much value as possible from your brain. Declutter. What stuff do you really need? One technique suggested is to pack everything you have and use in boxes. Unpack what you use, do that for a month. Recycle and sell the rest. I would suspect 75% of the stuff you have goes.
You need to develop routines. The key to developing a deep work habit is to move beyond good intentions and add routines and rituals to your working life designed to minimise the amount of your limited willpower necessary to transition into and maintain a state of unbroken concentration. If the other hand, if you deployed smart routines and rituals—perhaps a set time and quiet location used for your deep tasks each afternoon—you’d require much less willpower to start and keep going.
You need to schedule in advance when you’ll use the Internet and then avoid it altogether outside these times. I suggest that you keep a notepad near your computer at work. On this pad, record the next time you’re allowed to use the Internet. Until you arrive at that time, absolutely no network connectivity is allowed—no matter how tempting.
You need to stop multitasking. People who multitask all the time can’t filter out irrelevancy. They can’t manage a working memory. They’re chronically distracted.
You need to put more thought into your leisure time. Give your mind something meaningful to do throughout all your waking hours. You will end the day more fulfilled, and begin the next one more relaxed, than if you instead allow your mind to bathe for hours in semiconscious and unstructured Web surfing.
You need to say “no” a lot more, particularly to shallow work.
You need to become hard to reach (phone, e-mail), include ignoring or not responding. If it is important, they will reach out again.
Mastery

You need to achieve mastery. And this could be straight from Robert Greene’s book with the same title:

“Let your mind become a lens, thanks to the converging rays of attention; let your soul be all intent on whatever it is that is established in your mind as a dominant, wholly absorbing idea.”
“Men of genius themselves were great only by bringing all their power to bear on the point on which they had decided to show their full measure.”
The neuroscience perspective

Myelin—a layer of fatty tissue that grows around neurons, acts as an insulator that allows the cells to fire faster and cleaner. To understand the role of myelin in improvement, keep in mind that skills, be they intellectual or physical, eventually reduce down to brain circuits. This new science of performance argues that you get better at a skill as you develop more myelin around the relevant neurons, allowing the corresponding circuit to fire more effortlessly and effectively. To be great at something is to be well myelinated.

By focusing intensely on a specific skill, you’re forcing the specific relevant circuit to fire, again and again, in isolation. By contrast, if you’re trying to learn a complex new skill in a state of low concentration (perhaps you also have your Facebook feed open), you’re firing too many circuits simultaneously and haphazardly to isolate the group of neurones you actually want to strengthen.

No distraction

To learn hard things quickly, you must focus intensely without distraction. To learn, in other words, is an act of deep work.
Which means you need to manage your daily programme. Develop a schedule. Starting with batching of hard but important intellectual work into long, uninterrupted stretches.

High-Quality Work Produced = (Time Spent) x (Intensity of Focus)
Uninterrupted is key. Because when you switch from some Task A (writing) to another Task B (checking e-mail), your attention doesn’t immediately follow—a residue of your attention remains stuck thinking about the original task and vice versa.

Open offices, for example, might create more opportunities for collaboration, but they do so at the cost of “massive distraction,” to quote the results of experiments conducted for a British TV special titled The Secret Life of Office Buildings. “If you are just getting into some work and a phone goes off in the background, it ruins what you are concentrating on,” said the neuroscientist who ran the experiments for the show. “Even though you are not aware at the time, the brain responds to distractions.” Replace phone by e-mail, post, tweet, text, and you get the picture.

Go the other way

So while everyone else is wasting their time on the internet, cultivating ADD, you should do the opposite. Depth will become increasingly rare and therefore increasingly valuable. You need to systematically develop your personal ability to go deep—and by doing so, reap great rewards.

Create your competitive advantage

Creating the advantage of cultivating a concentration so intense that there is no attention left over to think about anything irrelevant, or to worry about problems. To choose your targets with care and then give them your rapt attention.

Flow

Of course, that means flow. Read “Stealing fire“. The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Human beings, it seems, are at their best when immersed deeply in something challenging. The connection between deep work and flow should be clear: Deep work is an activity well suited to generate a flow state. Forget social media as an addiction, get addicted to flow. To build your working life around the experience of flow produced by deep work is a proven path to deep satisfaction

Subconsciousness

You should use your subconsciousness. Read “The power of your subconscious mind” Go idle. Get bored. Do nothing. Go for a walk. Meditate. Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body. It is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done.

Supercomputer

Some decisions are better left to your unconscious mind to untangle. Your conscious mind is like a home computer on which you can run carefully written programs that return correct answers to limited problems, whereas your unconscious mind is like Google’s vast data centres, in which statistical algorithms sift through terabytes of unstructured information, teasing out surprising useful solutions to difficult questions.

Rest

Providing your conscious brain time to rest enables your unconscious mind to take a shift sorting through your most complex professional challenges. A shutdown habit, therefore, is not necessarily reducing the amount of time you’re engaged in productive work but is instead diversifying the type of work you deploy. Downtime also helps to recharge the energy needed to work deeply. You can restore your ability to direct your attention if you give this activity a rest.

The stick and question to consider

If you got this far, you still can read and focus Here is the question you need to consider. How much of your work you currently do, can be done by a smart unspecialised graduate with a few months of training? That is the stick. Robots and AI are on their way.

This the carrot

Deep work is way more powerful than most people understand. I To leave the distracted masses to join the focused few, is a transformative experience. Depth generates a life rich with productivity and meaning. Let’s finish with a quote by writer Winifred Gallagher “I’ll live the focused life, because it’s the best kind there is.”

I really enjoyed the first two-thirds of this book and was inspired to carve out a day in my schedule dedicated to deep work. You guys, it's awesome! If you can make some time for distraction-free work where you go deep on important projects without having to react to incoming messages or alerts in real time, definitely do it!

For some reason, the final third of the book annoyed me. The first part was carefully and rigorously argued. But as soon as the topic of social media came up, the author started throwing out assumptions left and right. Not only did this part of the book not feel thoughtful and considered, it felt downright prejudicial. At the end when the author revealed that his impetus to do more deep work and write more papers stemmed from the fact that he didn't receive a grant many of his peers did, and that he wanted to prove he was worthy, I thought, "Aha! That makes sense. He's writing from a place of ego and of feeling left out and bitter."

I think this book is worth reading. It brings up important questions about how we use our time, how we train our brains, and how we evaluate the usefulness of tools. But I don't think I'll be reading more by this author.

And heads-up: if you're not a college professor or an author, many of the "practical" rules provided will be pretty challenging to follow.

I bought this for an alumni online book club. First selection of the club. Ironic that we were discussing, on social media, a book that argues we should abandon social media. lol. Anyway, the main points of the author can be summarized in a couple paragraph long blog entry. The rest is unnecessary fluff, with weak supporting evidence (mostly anecdotal)--I expect much more from a supposed academic.

The book starts out by talking about how people are more successful when they shut themselves off from distractions and make themselves focus on whatever projects they're working on. This makes total sense- he includes examples of people who set these policies for their own work and how they are so successful- an interesting case series.

He does make a distinction to say that some jobs and careers don't require this type of work- being a high level executive who needs to manage down - for example- may get more worth out of being constantly available than he or she would by closing the office door four hours a day.

He then talks about how people don't need social media and news organizations shouldn't require employees to have things like Twitter accounts, which is where this book becomes ridiculous. Many writers of all types of content have to attract their readers through their social media presence- I can think of multiple journalists I follow- I will read everything they produce in whatever publication because I respect their writing and I find their work on social media. Not everyone can be Jonathan Franzen- most people will never reach that level of renown. For those people, a social media presence is crucial.

Yes, if - and here is the example he comes back to frequently - one is an academic and needs to publish papers it makes complete sense to shut out the world. But the vast majority of people don't have these jobs! (Other example jobs he gives that almost no one has: Wheelwright and Blacksmith) and tell me how that blacksmith sells swords (!) without an internet presence!

The book proceeds to detail why all these ideas are great with only anecdotes (which I think is OK in this type of book) and lasts approximately forever.

It also continually congratulates itself on its own "well-argued" points as a way to summarize and segue from chapter to chapter, which I personally find annoying but realize is a style/organizational choice.

It's hard for me to admit this, but I honestly think Tim Ferriss might be a better source for this type of advice books- he advocates deep work, has a strong social media presence, and works in the same market most of us work in (i.e. Not academia).

Final thoughts:

1. "Deep work" or undistracted work is a lost art that is becoming more and more valuable: Agreed

2. People should answer their emails fewer times per day: agreed

3. People shouldn't have social media: this is unrealistic and possibly detrimental for most folks who do produce "deep work" content (artists, bloggers, journalists, small business owners, freelancers)

This book is somewhat inspiring. However, it falls into the category of "self-help" too often by trying to tie "Deep Work" to how it will help the reader economically. Economics and compensation shouldn't be a focus of the book; I thought the purpose of the book was concentration and improving yourself.

Also, the writing is not very interesting. The author uses the rules of threes so often to make a point that it becomes very typical; "I have three real world examples of how this is true." Overall a good idea for a book, but mediocre execution IMO.

This book is not intended for people who are creative knowledge workers. It only really applies to tech people/business people.

Of course distractions are bad. But the idea that you can only accomplish something meaningful by shutting yourself away from the world is questionable. What if the purpose of your work is to do something timely and relevant? What if you are making a piece of art that is made better by being aware of the trends around you? What if you are countering something that is relevant? The author tries to boil down social media as to only being a distraction. Old head alert.

First of all, if you don't believe in the "10,000-Hour Rule" (and I know plenty who don't), stop reading now because that's essentially what this book is. Also, it's very difficult to explain this book without comparing it to what I consider its spiritual companion, So Good They Can't Ignore You, also by Newport. After all, in order to have the freedom to do Deep Work, you need to be So Good They Can't Ignore You. And in order to get So Good They Can't Ignore You, you need to do Deep Work.

That is also unfortunately where some of the problems with Newport's concepts begin to creep in. In order to do Deep Work, you need the right job and the right circumstances. Let's start with academia, Newport's field or "knowledge work" as he calls it. I won't deny that academia requires a lot of effort because I know it does from experience. However, as with athleticism, it's measurable effort that can theoretically be improved upon with deliberate practice and immediate feedback hence why I brought up 10,000 hours earlier. From my experience, outside of academia, music, and sports, it's very difficult to measure progress like this. Also, if your office is Slack or email driven, chances are your boss will fire you if you don't respond when they call and your only excuse for not responding is, "Sorry, boss, I was busy doing deep work."

Otherwise, Newport seems to be right on the money. With a lot of research and personal experience, he details his journey of the last 10 years to become a better knowledge worker. Again, if you've been following Ericsson and Gladwell, you know the significance of 10 years of focused work. He outlines several methods for using these techniques to get better at what you do. I'm not doing it justice here but there are several other reviews that do a much better job.

Again, the issues that most people will run into will be things like who's taking care of your kids while you're doing deep work? Who is answering the phone while you ignore it? Who's managing your email or social media? I guess what I'm trying to say is deep work is hard mainly because life gets in the way and most people are good at getting busy but not deep. Or you may not be in a position to go deep depending on what your life circumstances are. It would be way easier if we all had administrative assistants? But then, they wouldn't be able to do deep work either.

Whilst I think the first part about the definition and importance of Deep Work can be trimmed down by half, the second is a seminal playbook for the committed and devoted who need the tools for a breakthrough. Well written and organized as a whole with plenty of solid anecdotes and research support. In short, highly recommended!

p.s. Below please find some favourite passages of mine for your reference.
Deep Work: 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. Pg3
Shallow Work: Noncognitively demanding, logistical style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate. In an age of network tools, knowledge workers increasingly replace deep work with the shallow alternative – constantly sending and receiving email messages like human network routers, with frequent breaks for quick hits of distraction. Larger efforts that would be well served by deep thinking, such as forming a new business strategy or writing an important grant application, get fragmented into distracted dashes that produce muted quality. Pg6
High quality work produced = (Time spent) x (Intensity of Focus) pg40
Who you are, what you think, feel, and do, what you love – is the sum of what you focus on. Pg77
The idle mind is the devil’s workshop…when you lose focus, your mind tends to fix on what could be wrong with your life instead of what’s right. Pg82
Deep work is an activity well suited to generate a flow state. Flow generates happiness. Pg85
The key to developing a deep work habit is to move beyond good intentions and add routines and rituals to your working life designed to minimize the amount of your limited willpower necessary to transition into and maintain a state of unbroken concentration. Pg100
Great creative minds think like artists but work life accountants. – David Brooks pg119
The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX). 1. Focus on the wildly important 2. Act on the lead measures. Lag measures describe the thing you’re ultimately trying to improve. For e.g., customers satisfaction scores. Lead measures measure the new behaviour that will drive success on the lag measures. 3. Keep a compelling scoreboard 4. Create a cadence of accountability. Pg136

Buying and reading this book is an excessive exercise in confirmation bias on my part. This is very much what I believe and if I would only rate the book with regards to its importance it has five-star qualities.

The hypothesis of Carl Newport, an assistant professor in computer science at Georgetown University, is that we live in a knowledge economy where on the one hand it is vital to be flexible and able to move into new areas of competence to stay relevant, while on the other hand we spend so much time processing shallow information that we are beginning to lack the grit to do the work to accomplish this. Fewer develop or retain the ability to do deep work, i.e. “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.” Since the ability to do deep work is both increasingly valuable and increasingly scarce it is a critical competitive advantage for those who possess it. And it’s an advantage of growing utility.

With the ability to do deep work comes the ability to master new hard things and the ability to produce at an elite level in a winner takes all network economy. To top it off, those who experience “flow”, master new hard things and turn out to be happier!

High-Quality Work Produced = (Time Spent) * (Intensity of Focus)

An increasing amount of time is devoted to processing e-mails, chat groups, social media and the like and many cannot stand even seconds of media-free boredom that would give them a chance to reflect. Even when we are working with something in-between all our meetings we cannot resist the temptation to check out the e-mails or some website, destroying our already poor concentration in the open landscape workplace.

The digitalization is eating away our ability to concentrate and contemplate. We lack the ability to postpone any reward as we, when returning home from work, binge watch TV-series like bulimics in a candy store. At work and at home we constantly take the actions that offer the least resistance. The end result is an impaired ability to dedicate the type of prolonged focus needed to learn new valuable deep knowledge and an inability to distinguish the important from the irrelevant. Internet is turning our brains into mush while our culture with few exceptions celebrates every new addictive technology from the US West coast multinationals as a step towards the Promised Land.

After the opening chapters, two thirds of the book outline tools that will aid the reader in his quest of doing deep work. Newport covers areas like design of the work environment, planning ones work and workday, establishing routines and rituals to help our willpower to stay on the right path, focusing our time used on what is important rather than on what’s urgent, restricting the use of Internet, e-mail and other shallow work to certain hours, quitting social media, learning to say no to requests and the importance of idle downtime to give the brain rest. I especially like the #2 rule: embrace boredom. It’s so much more important than most realize.

This is an easy to read book from a likable writer. My only reservation is not concerning the content, it’s that nothing is very original or new. The interested reader will have read the same thoughts from the original researchers like Anders Ericsson. However, if you haven’t you are in for a treat. Those who internalize the advice in this book will truly prosper.

This is a review by investingbythebooks.com

After hearing a few interviews with Cal Newport on podcasts, I decided to pick this up. The book is divided into two main sections: The idea or “why” behind deep work, in which Newport tries to convince you it is necessary. I more or less bought in to this before listening to the book, but I listened to it anyway. The second part are the rules for how to do deep work. Newport writes this from an academic’s point of view, but there are definitely universal principles you can apply.

I’m in a unique situation: I work remotely and set my own hours. As long as my deadlines are met I am free to work as I wish. So I decided to give this a try. I’ve been implementing my own form of this since listening to the book and it has paid off quite a bit. I track my time and tasks (and have for 2 years), and I noticed that I’m getting more done in a compacted period of time.

I use a mixture of the rhythmic and journalistic approach because I need to be available to answer questions since I’m a remote worker. As long as I respond within an hour during the work day, I’m in the clear. I use the pomodoro method to focus on a single task at a time. I do 1-2 full pomodoros with Slack and my email turned off. I still use the internet because I primarily work online (research, writing /testing code, debugging, making new sites), but I severely restrict what I can access with Stayfocusd.

I’m going to keep working on my adherence to see what works best, but I’m hooked. I’m using my extra time outside of my deliverables to read, write, and learn more.

I generally approach self-help books with a very different strategy. I make sure that I try to highlight useful things, and then I revisit all the highlights that I've made in a particular book at least once a year. Having said that, I don't think I would ever open the highlights that I made in this book (highlights that I can count on probably one hand)!

I am a big fan of Cal's blog. I literally wait for his posts to pop-up on my feedly account. It was he who convinced me to deactivate my facebook account (which I successfully did for a year, and reactivated because of one of the reasons that he has mentioned in this book). I have implemented his advice in both my personal and professional lives, and it has been of immense help. However, the content of this book wasn't very useful. For somebody who has been religiously following his blog, there's very little 'additional' value that this book may provide. He has gone a little deeper into the details, but I still can't comment whether going down that deep helped.

However, I would strongly recommend buying this book if terms such as ''deep work' are new to you. The concept of putting in concrete effort in intentional planning and blocking time spaces is something that is not as popular as it should be in today's 'knowledge economy', and this book provides a very structured insight into it. The first part, through specific examples, convinces you about the value of 'deep work', and the second provides an executable and a flexible approach that one can try implementing in his/her workflow.

In short:

1) If you are somebody like me, who has probably gone through all the posts that Cal has written and who strongly believes in his concepts of 'deep work', 'deliberate practice', 'digital minimalism'etc, you might want to reconsider buying this book.

2) If you haven't you should just straight away and buy it!

Cal, I believe your next book would be centered around digital minimalism. I have high hopes, and my fingers crossed!

This book contains valuable tidbits (hence 2 stars and not 1), but for a book on deep work, it is surprisingly shallow.

What this book does: Convinces you of the value of deep work (although if you've bought or loaned the book, you're likely already convinced and want more practical details) and lays out a plan for scheduling your day to allow more time for deep work.

What this book does not do: It does not tell you how to actually *do* deep work. The book is largely focused on reducing shallow work, rather than showing you processes and advantages for deep work. The book, for example, does not talk about the value of exercise and sleep for concentration. (The author does mention he exercises, but does not delve into exercise's enormous benefits for the brain.) The author also glosses over the concept of flow, which is vital for deep work to happen. The reader never learns the requirements to enter into flow. Nor does the reader learn what to do if they have carved out time for deep work but still find themselves distracted. Finally, the author never enters into the measurable benefits of real meditation for developing attentional control. Only on one page, page 173 to be exact, does the author tell you how to go about focused thinking. (This section is mistakenly titled "productive meditation," but it's not meditation and it's confusing to call it that.)

Strikingly, what this book also does not do is interview and cite women for their approaches to deep work. Of the dozens of people, possibly more, interviewed and cited in this book, only 3 of them are women. Three. Does the author think that women are not capable of deep work? Clearly not, as the three women clearly are quite capable of it. Is it because the author thinks the approach of men and women would be the same? Perhaps (though it could be argued otherwise), but then why not include women as examples to follow? My conclusion is that the author does not know or care about women and their approach to deep work. I also suspect that the author has a stay-at-home wife who takes care of the "shallow" work around his household so that he can attend to his professorial duties without any distracting concern for his family. That's fine, plenty of people go that route, but it's interesting that he doesn't admit it, as a support person is vital to having both a family and interesting deep work, and that's a truth for both men and women.

“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.

Deep work, as a concept, is the act of sustained concentration and focus. Easy to understand, but extremely difficult to build as a regular practice. While our world is exponentially propelling itself towards a 24/7 existence of distracted hyper-connectivity, the idea of committing to deep work on any level is both seemingly impossible and vastly needed.

I had read Cal Newport's other book, So Good They Can't Ignore You, and I thought it excellent so I was eager to start this one. I took a bit longer with Deep Work before I saw the appeal. The author is an associate professor of computer science so there's this constant sense that the kind of work habits he proposes wouldn't apply to 90% of the workforce. While true to a degree, I chided myself for my knee-jerk cynical reaction. I want more deep work in my life, and I refuse to let my circumstances dictate whether it's possible or not. Of course it's possible. It's just a matter of getting there. Deep work is a worthy change to strive for no matter what your background.

It was near the end of the book where the author mentions, almost offhandedly, what I took as the main hurdle people experience while trying to include more deep work in their lives: They are forced to confront the possibility that their current best isn't all that good. It goes without saying that an improvement on the level that deep work requires would also necessitate improvement in one's ability to self-assess.

This book advocates for some important ideas. One is that the type of work that will be valuable in the future is deep, oftentimes complicated, work. Why? Because easier, surface level work can be done by people all over the world and increasingly by machines. A second important point is that we are daily subject to distractions that take up our time and make us lose focus, the worst of which may be social media. These two points are in obvious contention.

This book is essentially a guide to 1. Finding deep work 2. Avoiding distraction 3. Maintaining a well organised schedule to achieve something of value. The author occasionally mentions the concept of "deliberate practice". A nice book to read alongside this one is ‘Talent is Overrated’ by Geoff Colvin which expands on the concept of "deliberate practice" and covers many of the same issues.

SUMMARY
This is an excellent, well-written book – a must-read for anyone who wants to ramp up their productivity and enrich their life. It is chock-full of insightful background information, useful strategies, and fascinating stories about real people. We hear about Carl Jung, Bill Gates, J.K. Rowling, and Donald Knuth as well as lesser known people that the author knows. We learn about the intense creative atmosphere at Bell Labs leading to the invention of the transistor. The author weaves content from many sources in various fields, including neurology, psychology, and philosophy. He draws on such classics as David Allen’s Getting Things Done and The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Covey, McCHesney & Huling. But most importantly, this book inspires the reader to get busy.

DETAILS
Deep work is characterized as: “Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capacities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill and are hard to replicate.”

Lurking behind this characterization, are some key facets of deep work. Roughly speaking, for a given task and a given person, the more the following are true, the deeper the work.
1. Focus: the task is cognitively demanding, requiring intense focus
2. Expertise: the task requires specialized knowledge, skill and training
3. Importance: achieving the task is important to the person’s work or life goals

The author argues that there is an increasing need for deep work in our economy, yet it is becoming rarer. There are great opportunities and rewards for those committed to deep work, not least because it is meaningful and satisfying. He explains some strategies to get more deep work into your life – from working several months at a time in a house in the country to being ruthlessly focused on taking advantage of every spare moment.

You might not like what he has to say about social media. I got the impression that he’d be happy if it wasn’t around at all. However, he deserves credit for rising above his knee-jerk bias and encouraging you to do some cost-benefit analysis. Take a month off, and see what happens. Did it negatively impact any of your important goals?

The author describes a powerful and creative application of the Pareto principle that can help you achieve more of those goals faster. Because 80% of their profits come from 20% of their clients businesses ‘fire’ their less productive clients. By analogy, in your personal and professional life, 20% of your activities are generating 80% of the progress towards your most important goals. What would happen if you ‘fired’ the part of you that focuses on those less productive activities?

A few quibbles:

The author uses himself as an example many times over, which is helpful, but the back-patting seemed excessive at times. He gives examples of himself and others who manage to be super-productive while never working evenings or weekends. He seems to imply that anyone can do this; yet there is no evidence to support that. It would be helpful to understand what factors would determine who is likely to succeed. Other important things glossed over or were not addressed:
• It is lurking in the background all the time, but he never explicitly refers to the fact that work expands to fill the available time.
• There is a very important difference between deep work vs. deep effort. Is it the work that is deep, or is it the approach to working? Despite the title of the book, I think it is mostly the latter.
• Deep effort can be applied to get a hell of a lot more shallow work done in the same amount of time. Inspired by this book, I was amazed that it only took 8 hours to do 15 hours of housework.

Finally, and most importantly, after 263 pages talking about deep work, it is never adequately defined. The term ‘deep work’ is used loosely to mean different things: focus needed, expertise required, and importance. They don’t always go hand in hand. It takes years to become a tax accountant, but many of the tasks become routine, requiring little focus.

CONCLUSION:
But for a few quibbles that most people will not notice, this book is excellent. It is easy to read, entertaining, and inspirational. It weaves together important background information, strategies for adding more deep work to your life, and is illustrated with many engaging stories.

Here are a few of my favorite snippets:
• We live in a metrics black hole, so we use busyness as a proxy for productivity.
• Open office spaces are distraction engines; there are better ways to foster serendipitous creative collaboration.
• Beware of the ‘any benefit’ justification for doing something.
• Be organized, create rituals, and stick by them religiously.
• Will power is like a muscle, it can get depleted. Remove yourself from distractions so you don’t wear it out.
• There are excellent suggestions at controlling email to minimize distraction.
• Live a focused life, it's the best there is.

In four words, the message of this book is: Work Deeply, Live Fully.

Deep Work. What's the first thought that comes to mind when you read those two words side-by-side? For me, it's that I don't ever do enough deep work. That I want to do more. That I want to lose myself in flow. That I lack the discipline or the time to do the deep work I feel called to do. What about you?

When I started reading Deep Work, I realized it was the book that had been missing from my productivity book collection. Many books are great at telling you how to get through your list more effectively, how to tackle your biggest project first and how to get it all done. Few delve into the work itself and approaching work with a different mindset.

Deep work is valuable. As I'm going back to school for my BA (and then MBA), I will need to master the ability of learning hard things, new concepts and ideas that require intense, distraction-free focus. Being a mom of a six-month-old and 2-year-old, "distraction free" seems like only a memory. How do I apply the learnings from this book without losing touch with my family, since I do work 100% remotely from my home office?

Deep work is rare. I do feel like it's MUCH easier to be busy than to do deep work. For example, I'd rather be working through my task list in Asana than writing this post. Why? Because the Resistance tells me I'm being more productive. I can cross more items off my to-do list. But, the Deep Work is what brings longer lasting satisfaction. It gives me that sense that I've moved one step closer to my intrinsic goals. My question would be: how do managers classify deep work? How do leaders get enough deep work into their days while still handling all of the busy work that bombards them?

As much as I enjoy deep work (once I turn off all my notifications/eliminate distractions), I wonder if the deep work will actually get me to the next level in my career. I am moving into more of a management position at work, and I notice that I need to "be more available" to clients and open up my calendar to meetings. There's an internal struggle that I'm having right now between the idea from Marshall Goldsmith "what got you here won't get you there" (i.e. being a master at my craft won't make me a great manager) and still embracing the ideology of deep work. Interested to hear your insights.

Rule #1: Work Deeply. My biggest takeaway from this section was developing rituals, especially evening rituals. I tended to skip over the "winding down for bed" rituals because they felt unproductive. Once I started prioritizing that relaxation time, I noticed I was more productive during the day and also slept better.

Rule #2: Embrace Boredom. I'm still not good at this, but I do catch myself enjoying moments of complete boredom while waiting in line at the grocery store, getting stuck at a train or waiting at the doc's office for an appointment. Half the time, I still reach for a device. The other half I spend thinking and relishing the present moment.

Rule #3: Quit Social Media. Okay, this is NEVER going to happen because my day job is being a social media business strategist and programs manager. Engaging on social media for clients is what I get paid to do, so it's not necessarily a distraction. What IS a distraction is hanging out on social channels that are not work-related. I've actually minimized this time and spend less than 15 minutes a day on those channels. It's still important for me to engage, as keeping a strong personal brand is critical to my marketplace viability.

Rule #4: Drain the Shallows. This is always an area I could improve. So many distractions and rabbit holes online. A piece of client content leads me to an article on a tactic I'd like to incorporate into our programs and leads me to signing up for a free trial of an online product. I have started to do more work when I send or reply to emails, as I state exactly what I need done or what I need to know. As a remote worker, I do find that I don't use the "don't respond" to messages often because it's critical I seem more present in clients' inboxes with a quick "thank you" and an appropriate emoticon.

Moving forward, I'm not sure how I will balance deep work with my long-term goals of senior level management, though I am open to ideas and experimentation.

I discovered DEEP WORK in January of this year. It was the book I'd been needing and searching for. Maybe I was finally ready. I am a seventy-four-year-old widow with many children, many grandchildren, who has harbored since college graduation--fifty-four years ago--the ambition to become a writer, to learn to write fiction and non- that I would love to read, that wouldn't bore me silly. But art is hard, and life can be distracting. Cal Newport has put together a wonderfully reasonable and detailed strategy for having a life that allows for a rich and irreplaceable internal quality. I cannot say enough good things about this book! Adapting his principles to creative work has been challenging and enlightening, a great pleasure. It has given me hope, permission, and a map.

Cal Newport defines “deep work” to be work that requires prolonged concentration and creates new value which is hard to replicate. The opposite is “shallow work”, routine tasks not requiring a lot of effort or concentration, and not creating a lot of new value.

The first part of the book argues convincingly that deep work is valuable, rare and meaningful. Valuable, because the economic trend is to reward people who can quickly learn hard things and produce at an elite level. It is rare, because a lot of work environments today are geared towards multitasking, interruptions and demands for immediate responses. It is also meaningful, because our minds like the challenge and sense of flow that comes from performing deep work.

The second part is longer than the first, and details practical strategies and tips to enable deep work. The main tricks are to schedule long uninterrupted batches, and to use fixed-time scheduling (for example, always stop working at 5:30 each evening) to increase focus and crowd out unimportant shallow work. However, once the workday is over, you need and should relax and recharge.

One key observation is that it takes practice to resist distractions. That is why he advocates quitting social media. From my own experience, it is very hard to resist the pull of checking Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. At the end of the second part there is also a section with many good tips on how to handle email efficiently.

Throughout the book, he uses himself as an example. He has been extremely productive, without working crazy hours. His results as an academic and author are in large part due to the strategies he describes in the book.

Deep Work is a quick read. Even though it is 263 pages (excluding 20 odd pages of notes at the end), the text is not very dense, so it feels even shorter. Even though it is a quick read, the ideas and strategies are quite powerful.

Flipping through the book in preparation for this review, I was struck by how much good content I had underlined, but forgotten about since I read it. Even though I remembered the core idea, there were many sections that were worth re-reading. I really recommend this book, and I will try to make a habit of taking it out regularly to remind myself of all the points he makes.

Moore: Give our readers a feel for the impetus behind writing this book.

Newport: We spend so much time wringing our hands over distraction that we’ve forgotten what’s so valuable about its opposite. If you hone your ability to work deeply, and prioritize this activity, you’ll become much more successful, and your professional life will become more satisfying. This seemed like a message worth sharing.

Moore: You provide some wonderful examples (including your own) of those who have been able to accomplish considerable work-related goals without being stressed workaholics. Why do most of us equate productivity with long hours and significant stress?

Newport: Not all work is created equal. If you spend all day answering emails between jumping on calls and attending meetings, you might feel busy, but you should not feel proud. You did very little that created new value or made you better at your craft. Once you recognize the value that true deep work creates, it becomes easier to treat the shallow alternative with suspicion – a nuance at best, a serious obstacle at worst, in your quest to make an impact on the world.

Moore: A computer scientist can’t be a Luddite, but you find Facebook and Twitter a waste of time. However, you do regularly blog. Personally, I am in the same boat: regular blogging, but no Facebook and Twitter. Preach to the non-choir who think Facebook and Twitter are the best things since sliced bread.

Newport: There’s a difference between being a Luddite and being picky about which technologies you allow to lay claim to your time and attention. There are a lot of technologies I love. But there are also a lot that I think are nonsense. I include most social media in the latter category. These commercial services are cleverly designed to prey on your quest for social approval and craving for lightweight distraction so that your eyeballs and personal data can be harvested then sold to advertisers. I have a hard job and two young kids at home. I want to preserve the small amount of free time that remains in my life for more meaningful pursuits.

Moore: During my time in radio I had the opportunity to interview Neil Postman for the hour. He was insightful in writing about the tradeoffs which come with new technology. Unpack that a bit for us.

Newport: Neil was a gifted and influential media critic. Among the many things he wrote about, an idea of his that stuck with me is the danger of the “technopoly.” In short, he warned that we have a tendency to deify new technologies as being intrinsically good and a prophetic source of wisdom regarding how best to run our governments, companies, and personal lives. I think we’re definitely seeing this play out today. When I say, for example, that Facebook is stupid, even if not everyone agrees with this claim, this really shouldn’t be that controversial—but I find instead that it throws people into a tizzy. This is the mark of a technopoly: dissent is seen as desecration not debate.

Moore: You have to do a lot of “deep work” for your role as college professor and writer. Should the rest of us be concerned about setting up our schedules in such a way that we can also do deep work?

Newport: Yes. Deep work is like a super power for many, many different knowledge work professions. To quote The Economist: “Deep work is the killer app of the knowledge economy.” There are three reasons to embrace deep work. First, if hone your ability to concentrate, you can produce significantly better output in significantly shorter time. Second, deep work allows you to learn complicated things quickly. And third, it makes your life more meaningful and satisfying. We were created to create things of value—not send emails.

Moore: I found your book a great encouragement for what I am doing right and a further motivation to tweak my schedule so as to allow for increased deep work. Two book projects are propelling me forward! What would you say are a few reasons why people ought to consider buying your book?

Newport: The book has two parts. The first part makes the case for deep work. If you’re on the fence, or if you’re a believer but want more ammunition to convince others, you’ll find what you need in part one. The second part provides detailed practical instructions for how to better cultivate and apply deep work in your own life. So if you’re looking to improve your ability to work deeply, this part will provide exactly what you’re looking for.

I was struggling with the lack of ability to perform deep work, which is crucial to my career as an information worker. I picked this book up based on the review in the WSJ. Overall I found the book fairly helpful, with tips and suggestions to implement deep work. However, I do feel this book could have been written a bit shorter.

If you are considering to get this book, I would absolutely recommend you do so. However, to save time, skip or skim through Part 1 like I did, because, due to the fact that you are already own the book, you have been convinced of its importance. However, DO NOT DISCOUNT THE TIPS IN PART 2 - they are absolutely life-changing and I can attest to that.

Note to the author : Please consider summarizing the tips on one page so that one can keep it as a reference. See Scott Adam's new book for ideas.

A convincing manual for why and how you should reduce distractions in your life (ahem, social media addiction) in order to pursue a more peaceful, fruitful, productive life. I borrowed a copy from the library and then asked for (and received) a copy for my birthday, I loved it that much and know I’ll need to return to it regularly. 5/5

Caveats:
--The testimonies and lives are overwhelmingly those of men or, infrequently, of women who are not working from home with the children (and their incessant interruptions) present, awake, and in need of tending through the majority of the day. Those of us who are in the Deep [House]Work category will need to take his suggestions and modify them to be reasonable for our current state in life.
--While Newport does bring in psychology and even some very even-handed, secular-friendly spirituality (including a mention of The Intellectual Life by Fr. Sertillanges, OP), the perspective is slanted towards making your life more productive in a secular sense. Proceed accordingly. Don’t turn this into a bible for the worship of Productivity.

DEEP WORK is one of those books where you stop whatever you're doing in life, clear out space, and apply the teachings of the book. At least, that's what I'm doing.

Here's how I understood Cal's idea:

1. We should carve out large blocks of time for undistracted, technology-free space in our daily lives where we can intensely focus on key work priorities. Research on expert performance shows that world-class performers spend hours per day focused on deliberate practice in order to improve their skills. One key ingredient of deliberate practice is 100% focus. Cal argues that if we incorporate DEEP WORK into our life, we dramatically increase our career capital, which leads to more exciting/rewarding career opportunities.

2. Conventional wisdom is a networked human model where we have open office spaces and spend a large amount of time routing email and social media. Cal makes the case that it's ok to have these in our lives, but we should limit it to specific blocks of time so it doesn't seep into our deep work time. Cal, himself, does not use any social media.

This is one of those books that will just become more and more relevant.

Really liked his prior book, So Good They Can't Ignore You. This one, however, was a big disappointment. Thesis was a rehash of ideas you've read before (Four Hour Work Week, Flow, The Shallows, etc.) repeated ad nauseam with little additional insight.

Don't bother reading this book, it's not the book you are looking for!

I feel this book is an essential read for any modern worker. If one applies the very easy to implement (but hard to master) principles and ideas that Mr. Newport discusses in this book you are going to be successful. As someone who is going back to school to start a new career in the accounting field I don't want any more competition in the market. So, please don't read this book.

nice to see young authors like Newport pushing against the Zeitgeist. His thoughts arent particularly new but appreciated in our current dark and lost world. Newport dilutes timeless truths taught ages ago by St Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas, St Francis of Assisi, St Theresa of Avila, St Ignatius of Loyola, Aristotle, Socrates, Old Testament writers, etc etc etc

Back to basics. This book is good to help you get back to the center.

Newport argues that there is a culture of increasing speed, increasing amounts of "shallow work" (e-mails, instant messaging, everything that's quick and doesn't require concentration), which begs a counter-culture of increased concentration, focus and "deep work". I read some of the negative reviews which complained that this was "just a long blog post" with a lot of "philosophical filler" without "some good tools for [them] to use". I'm glad they read Deep Work, because they clearly need to spend more time and concentration on reading (for instance this book). The book is well written, well argued and if anything, it is not philosophical enough.

If you want to get more done and contribute value in your work and writing, this book is loaded with tips and rules of the game. But, four well-crafted blogs would have served as well, especially if you're already a deep worker. For the knowledge work novice, it could become an indispensable guide book.

I am completely impressed with this collection of strategies. Some folks who may have add/adhd and deal with internet distractions, concentration. The embrace boredom chapter is probably the most important one for training your attention for that. These special techniques will work wonders. I will update my review later but Im excited about it. Also consider the strategy of timemaps that Julia Morgenstern from "Time Management from the Inside Out" is in here, and though there is little overlap this book has very specific twists techniques for people who execute deep work. Unlike other reviewers I dont find the work presented as if everything is brand new. Another twist is that in Scrum Development one idea thing is to give tasks a number for effort but I think Cal's twist to instead give a number for how shallow or deep it is, would possibly work best for knowledge workers of today.

Deep Work is a book about the importance of concentrated time for meaningful work.

Intuitively, I've already adopted many of the practices Newport discusses in the book. I deleted my Facebook account three years ago. I spend time reading books. I consider the overhead of any tool I adopt. I take retreats. I mix up my workflow and experiment.

This isn't a book that shifted my perspective significantly. The things I agree with, I'm already doing, and things I'm not doing, I generally don't agree with. It's also extremely prescriptive. It's less about the subject of deep work and more of a self-help book—which isn't what I was looking for.

Newport seems to come from a context that is utterly unfamiliar to me, and assumes this context in his prescriptions. For example, he mentions at one point that, by default, people respond to emails. I work with a wide range of people, and very few of them have competence in communication in this regard. So when Cal suggests that people stop replying to emails, it just feels bizarre.

The idea is pretty simple: "Deep Work", that is focused on producing in your domain of expertise, completely free of distraction, is something that is essential to success. You might think this is obvious, and that there is not much more to say on the subject. I was skeptical myself, but heard an interview with Newport and was intrigued. I happened to be near my library, so I decided to give his book a skim, and ended up checking it out and reading it. I think it's a good use of your time, and worth the money should you buy it. It's short, well written, and has many actionable suggestions, several of which I've incorporated into my work life.

I just finished listening to the Audible version of this book. I consider this book a true game changer for me. I have been struggling to work deeply on a consistent basis. Not only does Cal highlight why deep work is so critical to our success, but he also shares how to do in-depth work on a regular basis. Also revealed is the negative impact social media, entertainment websites, and other immediate gratifying distractions are robbing our minds of the ability to think deeply.

Everyone serious about doing meaningful work should read this book. Furthermore, parents should also read this book. Cal's insights have changed my perspective on how much screen time I will allow my children to have each day. Also, my wife and I are working on specific strategies to teach our children how to think deeply.

Thak you for putting the time into this book, Cal. It has greatly impacted me.

As a "knowledge worker," I really needed this book. I felt like it gave me permission to do what I had wanted to do for years, which is to ignore all emails for about 2 to 3 hours every morning so I can concentrate and get some deep work done, and then catch up on emails in the afternoon. This book has several very practical suggestions on how to improve the quantity and quality of your deep work.

This book is full of practical methods and advice for fighting back against some of the modern elements of society that have overtaken our attention and diminished our ability to focus on important goals in our personal and professional lives. As a knowledge worker (R&D engineer) in a large corporation, I found myself easily relating to many of the examples that Cal presented and have already begun implementing some of his guidelines. I highly recommend this book to knowledge workers determined to increase their productivity. I also recommend this book to managers of knowledge workers.

As a tenure-track academic professor, Cal's writings tend to have a bit of "academic" bias to them, but I believe that he faces many of the same challenges as knowledge workers in a corporate business environment.

There were a few things in the book that left me with questions that I would like to ask Cal about. For example, he mentions several times that he doesn't work after 5:30 pm and rarely on weekends, yet he somehow maintains a serious blog and writes self-help-style books, specifically noting using the time after his children go to sleep. Does he consider these "work" or not? It would be interesting to see what his "off-work" hours are really like.

I enjoyed Cal Newport's interview with Ezra Klein on the Ezra Klein podcast, especially something he said about being a human email router. He pointed out that a lot of work time is now spent basically moving email around: Responding, forwarding, inputting information from emails into some other repository. That segment of the discussion literally made me gasp as I saw my days in the mirror he was holding up.

So I pulled the trigger on the audiobook. I had another epiphany a couple of hours in, but this one wasn't nearly as flattering to the author's argument. He was only talking about men, not only in the examples he was giving, but structurally in what is possible in most people's lives. He talks about how, by minimizing distractions and developing the capacity for focused work, he is able to achieve a lot and still be fully available to his family when he stops work at 5 p.m.

Gold star for you, Cal Newport, and gold star for your wife or partner for handling all the elements of domestic life that can't wait until 5 p.m.: childcare, doctor visits, phone calls, car pools and just hanging out and being available to small children. There's the reason that he couldn't, in the third of the book I read before returning it to Audible in disgust, find any women to cite as exemplars of the benefits of deep work. Perhaps he does dig up a few nuns or something later, or consider how gender dynamics may play into a person's ability to have regular time for deep work. But in the parts I read/listened to, it's not a subject that's explored and therefore the whole premise seems not to apply to me. Which, in case you couldn't tell from my review, kind of made me angry (though surely not only with this author, but with society, culture and the immutable components of human life).

A great read. An affirmation of recent writings and with recent studies as to how we can pursue and create a stronger, more influential work and personal life. He creates a book that can be easily read while simultaneously generating huge amounts of self-reflection, refinement and interpersonal communication. While he is providing similar solutions to our same daily problems that many authors discuss, he does so with poise and reflection while explaining each move in relevance and without the ego that some authors cannot resist imposing upon the reader. This is an excellent book for anyone looking to better develop their skills as an employee, entrepreneur or a leader.

This was a great book! the only reason why I didn't give it a 5 star review was that I usually read in the evening before bed and found myself re-reading quite a bit as it is hard going through some places - but that's on me - I'm usually shattered after a 17 hour work day!
It certainly has made an impact on my thinking about shallow stuff and in a way gave me permission to put some boundaries around social media use (for work).

I appreciate how Cal Newport delivers a ton of information without filling it out with needless anecdotes and fluff to up the page count. There are some interesting ideas and practical tips about doing deep work as opposed to the kind of shallow work that doesn't add value, takes up too much time, and can be largely reduced or eliminated. I found the sections of social media and email particularly thought provoking.

I agree with the basic thesis of the book, that we allow ourselves to be distracted, that meaningful creative work takes focus, and that the more you focus the more you learn to focus. However, the author made some rather extreme insinuations...that one can better battle cancer through focus. Around the middle of the book he turns to telling you what rules you must follow to have deep work. Yes, he invokes language of the cult leader.

There is nothing new to be gained from this book, it was a waste of my time.

A fun read with valuable insights. Whereas we are all clear on shallow work and its distractions, the DEEP part of work was left to each reader's imagination: alone ? meaningful to whom ? painful ? uninterrupted ? etc. His advice on planning every minute of the day and not responding to emails.. I found a bit Obsessive/Compulsive.. ( as an academic he should know that patronizing your students by not responding to their emails can backfire badly and can lead to problems ). The book begins nicely.. in describing our shallows dilemma, but I find the prescribed deep solutions a bit obvious and anecdotal. He talks a lot about his own productivity, and you get the idea the author is so driven that he's headed for burn-out. I'm 20 yrs. older and no longer live to work, I work to live. That's what his next book should focus on, perhaps. This is a U.S. culturally positioned book, and reads like a confession / frustration ... prescribing more frustration to resolve it. More vacations and hanging out with people would bring depth to the kind of shallow work he describes. I live in Italy.. this book would need editing to make sense here.

DEEP WORK is one of those books where you stop whatever you're doing in life, clear out space, and apply the teachings of the book. At least, that's what I'm doing.

Here's how I understood Cal's idea:

1. We should carve out large blocks of time for undistracted, technology-free space in our daily lives where we can intensely focus on key work priorities. Research on expert performance shows that world-class performers spend hours per day focused on deliberate practice in order to improve their skills. One key ingredient of deliberate practice is 100% focus. Cal argues that if we incorporate DEEP WORK into our life, we dramatically increase our career capital, which leads to more exciting/rewarding career opportunities.

2. Conventional wisdom is a networked human model where we have open office spaces and spend a large amount of time routing email and social media. Cal makes the case that it's ok to have these in our lives, but we should limit it to specific blocks of time so it doesn't seep into our deep work time. Cal, himself, does not use any social media.

This is one of those books that will just become more and more relevant.

This is a review from the advance copy I got from NetGalley.

A new kind of productivity book. This book will not show you how to do more things but it will show you that you only need to do the hard things - those things that really matter which requires deep work.

Some of the things you will learn:
- What deep work is (although many will have an idea of what deep work is, but Cal defines it clearly)
- Managing emails (not the usual stuff like scheduling time and managing your inbox through filters, but Cal will discuss how to minimize incoming emails instead)
- What Bill Gates, Carl Jung and J.K. Rowling had in common in their success.
- How important our attention especially in our current information technology.

Some of the ideas in the book are already mentioned in many of the productivity books out there but what really helps is that Cal shows us how the ideas were applied in his life. This gave me context on how to apply the ideas in my life.

Chances are high that if you are reading this, you are a knowledge worker of some sort. This book will definitely help you improve the way you do your work. At the very least it will make you uncomfortable how far the the stars in their field compare to the normal people.

Really liked his prior book, So Good They Can't Ignore You. This one, however, was a big disappointment. Thesis was a rehash of ideas you've read before (Four Hour Work Week, Flow, The Shallows, etc.) repeated ad nauseam with little additional insight.

Don't bother reading this book, it's not the book you are looking for!

I feel this book is an essential read for any modern worker. If one applies the very easy to implement (but hard to master) principles and ideas that Mr. Newport discusses in this book you are going to be successful. As someone who is going back to school to start a new career in the accounting field I don't want any more competition in the market. So, please don't read this book.

nice to see young authors like Newport pushing against the Zeitgeist. His thoughts arent particularly new but appreciated in our current dark and lost world. Newport dilutes timeless truths taught ages ago by St Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas, St Francis of Assisi, St Theresa of Avila, St Ignatius of Loyola, Aristotle, Socrates, Old Testament writers, etc etc etc

Back to basics. This book is good to help you get back to the center.

Newport argues that there is a culture of increasing speed, increasing amounts of "shallow work" (e-mails, instant messaging, everything that's quick and doesn't require concentration), which begs a counter-culture of increased concentration, focus and "deep work". I read some of the negative reviews which complained that this was "just a long blog post" with a lot of "philosophical filler" without "some good tools for [them] to use". I'm glad they read Deep Work, because they clearly need to spend more time and concentration on reading (for instance this book). The book is well written, well argued and if anything, it is not philosophical enough.

If you want to get more done and contribute value in your work and writing, this book is loaded with tips and rules of the game. But, four well-crafted blogs would have served as well, especially if you're already a deep worker. For the knowledge work novice, it could become an indispensable guide book.

I am completely impressed with this collection of strategies. Some folks who may have add/adhd and deal with internet distractions, concentration. The embrace boredom chapter is probably the most important one for training your attention for that. These special techniques will work wonders. I will update my review later but Im excited about it. Also consider the strategy of timemaps that Julia Morgenstern from "Time Management from the Inside Out" is in here, and though there is little overlap this book has very specific twists techniques for people who execute deep work. Unlike other reviewers I dont find the work presented as if everything is brand new. Another twist is that in Scrum Development one idea thing is to give tasks a number for effort but I think Cal's twist to instead give a number for how shallow or deep it is, would possibly work best for knowledge workers of today.

Deep Work is a book about the importance of concentrated time for meaningful work.

Intuitively, I've already adopted many of the practices Newport discusses in the book. I deleted my Facebook account three years ago. I spend time reading books. I consider the overhead of any tool I adopt. I take retreats. I mix up my workflow and experiment.

This isn't a book that shifted my perspective significantly. The things I agree with, I'm already doing, and things I'm not doing, I generally don't agree with. It's also extremely prescriptive. It's less about the subject of deep work and more of a self-help book—which isn't what I was looking for.

Newport seems to come from a context that is utterly unfamiliar to me, and assumes this context in his prescriptions. For example, he mentions at one point that, by default, people respond to emails. I work with a wide range of people, and very few of them have competence in communication in this regard. So when Cal suggests that people stop replying to emails, it just feels bizarre.

I found this book practically motivating. On average we waste most of our dedicated time and even though on the surface we may 'complete' tasks I find that completion does not mean quality. Output at work and life in general has to be rethought and we need to be more mindful on how to achieve both output and personal comfort within the 24 hour window. Time to step up your game and get more done in life at higher quality. Icing on the cake is you get to have more spare time in the end to do whatever rows your boat.

The idea is pretty simple: "Deep Work", that is focused on producing in your domain of expertise, completely free of distraction, is something that is essential to success. You might think this is obvious, and that there is not much more to say on the subject. I was skeptical myself, but heard an interview with Newport and was intrigued. I happened to be near my library, so I decided to give his book a skim, and ended up checking it out and reading it. I think it's a good use of your time, and worth the money should you buy it. It's short, well written, and has many actionable suggestions, several of which I've incorporated into my work life.

I just finished listening to the Audible version of this book. I consider this book a true game changer for me. I have been struggling to work deeply on a consistent basis. Not only does Cal highlight why deep work is so critical to our success, but he also shares how to do in-depth work on a regular basis. Also revealed is the negative impact social media, entertainment websites, and other immediate gratifying distractions are robbing our minds of the ability to think deeply.

Everyone serious about doing meaningful work should read this book. Furthermore, parents should also read this book. Cal's insights have changed my perspective on how much screen time I will allow my children to have each day. Also, my wife and I are working on specific strategies to teach our children how to think deeply.

Thak you for putting the time into this book, Cal. It has greatly impacted me.

As a "knowledge worker," I really needed this book. I felt like it gave me permission to do what I had wanted to do for years, which is to ignore all emails for about 2 to 3 hours every morning so I can concentrate and get some deep work done, and then catch up on emails in the afternoon. This book has several very practical suggestions on how to improve the quantity and quality of your deep work.

The book, I believe is fundamentally true: you draw deep from your personal well of time and get much more value than those who don't. The intellectual approach isn't for everyone, and it feels at times like an essay where he takes specific stories and crafts a narrative in an attempt to convince the reader that this is The Way. To be blunt: this book should have been edited outside of academia-land. It's sounds silly when he speaks of some of these academics I've never heard, when he should be drawing from research of people who have displayed obvious world-changing ability due to their ability to sustain deep work perpetually (such as Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Elon Musk). I'd like to see this topic tackled by a seasoned journalist/entrepreneur. Could be a work of art!

This book is full of practical methods and advice for fighting back against some of the modern elements of society that have overtaken our attention and diminished our ability to focus on important goals in our personal and professional lives. As a knowledge worker (R&D engineer) in a large corporation, I found myself easily relating to many of the examples that Cal presented and have already begun implementing some of his guidelines. I highly recommend this book to knowledge workers determined to increase their productivity. I also recommend this book to managers of knowledge workers.

As a tenure-track academic professor, Cal's writings tend to have a bit of "academic" bias to them, but I believe that he faces many of the same challenges as knowledge workers in a corporate business environment.

There were a few things in the book that left me with questions that I would like to ask Cal about. For example, he mentions several times that he doesn't work after 5:30 pm and rarely on weekends, yet he somehow maintains a serious blog and writes self-help-style books, specifically noting using the time after his children go to sleep. Does he consider these "work" or not? It would be interesting to see what his "off-work" hours are really like.

I enjoyed Cal Newport's interview with Ezra Klein on the Ezra Klein podcast, especially something he said about being a human email router. He pointed out that a lot of work time is now spent basically moving email around: Responding, forwarding, inputting information from emails into some other repository. That segment of the discussion literally made me gasp as I saw my days in the mirror he was holding up.

So I pulled the trigger on the audiobook. I had another epiphany a couple of hours in, but this one wasn't nearly as flattering to the author's argument. He was only talking about men, not only in the examples he was giving, but structurally in what is possible in most people's lives. He talks about how, by minimizing distractions and developing the capacity for focused work, he is able to achieve a lot and still be fully available to his family when he stops work at 5 p.m.

Gold star for you, Cal Newport, and gold star for your wife or partner for handling all the elements of domestic life that can't wait until 5 p.m.: childcare, doctor visits, phone calls, car pools and just hanging out and being available to small children. There's the reason that he couldn't, in the third of the book I read before returning it to Audible in disgust, find any women to cite as exemplars of the benefits of deep work. Perhaps he does dig up a few nuns or something later, or consider how gender dynamics may play into a person's ability to have regular time for deep work. But in the parts I read/listened to, it's not a subject that's explored and therefore the whole premise seems not to apply to me. Which, in case you couldn't tell from my review, kind of made me angry (though surely not only with this author, but with society, culture and the immutable components of human life).

A great read. An affirmation of recent writings and with recent studies as to how we can pursue and create a stronger, more influential work and personal life. He creates a book that can be easily read while simultaneously generating huge amounts of self-reflection, refinement and interpersonal communication. While he is providing similar solutions to our same daily problems that many authors discuss, he does so with poise and reflection while explaining each move in relevance and without the ego that some authors cannot resist imposing upon the reader. This is an excellent book for anyone looking to better develop their skills as an employee, entrepreneur or a leader.

I appreciate how Cal Newport delivers a ton of information without filling it out with needless anecdotes and fluff to up the page count. There are some interesting ideas and practical tips about doing deep work as opposed to the kind of shallow work that doesn't add value, takes up too much time, and can be largely reduced or eliminated. I found the sections of social media and email particularly thought provoking.

I agree with the basic thesis of the book, that we allow ourselves to be distracted, that meaningful creative work takes focus, and that the more you focus the more you learn to focus. However, the author made some rather extreme insinuations...that one can better battle cancer through focus. Around the middle of the book he turns to telling you what rules you must follow to have deep work. Yes, he invokes language of the cult leader.

There is nothing new to be gained from this book, it was a waste of my time.

A fun read with valuable insights. Whereas we are all clear on shallow work and its distractions, the DEEP part of work was left to each reader's imagination: alone ? meaningful to whom ? painful ? uninterrupted ? etc. His advice on planning every minute of the day and not responding to emails.. I found a bit Obsessive/Compulsive.. ( as an academic he should know that patronizing your students by not responding to their emails can backfire badly and can lead to problems ). The book begins nicely.. in describing our shallows dilemma, but I find the prescribed deep solutions a bit obvious and anecdotal. He talks a lot about his own productivity, and you get the idea the author is so driven that he's headed for burn-out. I'm 20 yrs. older and no longer live to work, I work to live. That's what his next book should focus on, perhaps. This is a U.S. culturally positioned book, and reads like a confession / frustration ... prescribing more frustration to resolve it. More vacations and hanging out with people would bring depth to the kind of shallow work he describes. I live in Italy.. this book would need editing to make sense here.

One of the best books I've read recently. These ideas have already started affecting the way I work, and I'm still working on figuring out additional ways to incorporate "deep work" into my routine. I don't want to sound hyperbolistic, so I'll avoid describing this as "life changing" or anything, but I'll say it's a book that could make a difference. At least if you're the kind of person who is inclined to put in the effort to adopt this approach.

Our culture has developed into one that values constant connectivity.

Cal Newport argues in this book about the value of disconnecting from distractions in order to perform "Deep Work" or the ability to focus without distraction on cognitively demanding tasks. The goal is to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time.

The story told in this book that resonated with me most dealt with the connection between attention and happiness.
Winifred Gallagher is a science writer who was diagnosed with an advanced form of cancer.
Her positive attitude is summed up when she states "this disease wanted to monopolize my attention, but as much as possible, I would focus on my life instead."
Our brains construct our worldview based on what we pay attention to.
Her research on attention is summarized as "who you are, what you think, feel, and do, what you love- is the sum of what you focus on"

Some of the examples and benefits outline in this book overlap with "Creative Confidence" by Tom and David Kelley.

I recommend reading both together for those seeking to improve their productivity in their day.

Deep Work is an incredibly well-researched and insightful book. Cal Newport has upped his game as an author — which is no small feat considering his past work has been phenomenal – with this latest effort.

The practical insights and thought that has gone into this book is well worth your time and energy. Newport has painstakingly crafted a tremendous arguments that proposes we spend more time on work that has greater impact in our lives (and the lives of others) and he also offers some tactical ways to make that happen.

As expected, this is a deep read. It's not something that you can just cruise through in one sitting. It requires a lot of thought and mindfulness — it took me almost a month to get through it – but it was well worth the time spent.

I highly recommend Deep Work. It's a monumental book that will really help change the way people work...and live.

Perhaps the best business productivity books I've ever read. Lots of reviews here on takeaways that I won't rehash. It didn't necessarily tell me anything I didn't know. Example - Email/social media is crushing our ability to be productive and if not managed properly will enslave us to shallow, meaningless, "busyness".

It offers not just the analysis of the productivity problem but tactics to address them. There were at least 3 occasions where I exclaimed "That's me, that's exactly the problem I am having!" and inspired to make steps towards re-thinking my work habits.

I can't recommend this book more highly.

I heard about this book & Cal's other So Good They Can't Ignore from a number of Podcasters. So I finally decided to check it out. The two are companion guides to not only work that makes an meaningful impact on the world, but also your path to the life you've dreamt about.

His own book seems not to be a product of deep work. His hypothesis are not well explored and the cases are not well built, handpicking examples and distorting stories.

He seems to not understand Flow. It does not require an ideal place or time, because when you are in Flow your brain simply ignores space and time due to intense cognitive activity. You can enter Flow during combat in a war zone. It doesn’t require fancy buildings and open spaces can offer a lot of distractions and opportunities for collisions but when in Flow you will remain in focus. It’s more a matter of training your brain to get in flow than try to avoiding distractions.

He constantly uses titles and salaries to try to impress the reader, trying to frame this source or example as reliable instead of providing a solid and “deep” understanding of why it is true or false.

Schedule every minute and revise your every minute schedule when it goes bad. That’s a very effective advice! I guess he didn’t read Stephen Covey’s book or he completely disagrees with him.

“I will only answer you if you have something to offer me or make my life more interesting” he talks about Adam Grant and his book “Give and Take” but I think he did not read Adam’s work or he completely disagrees with it. Such a taker mindset.

I guess MIT students are better building rockets than writing books on human behavior.
Read Adam Grant and Daniel Kahneman instead.

I'm a long-time reader of Cal Newport's blog Study Hack, and am delighted to find so many of his smart ideas, strategies, and philosophy gathered into a structure that is both clear and practical. I need this kind of support -- I've found that I do my best work as deep work, but have been struggling to practice the approach more consistently, and to balance the shallow work demands of my life with the deep work that I find so much more pleasure (and success) in doing.

One of the unexpected benefits of the book is that it completely altered my perception of myself as a person who is "undisciplined" or "unfocused". I see myself now as someone who has spent time and attention in unfocused ways. That's inside my zone of control. It's something I can change. The book has clarified a lot of strategies that I'm excited to experiment with, and to adapt to my own life. I think they will work. Thank you, Cal Newport.

I liked this book. It was well written and narrated.

The book describes a way to be much more productive in personal and professional way without working long hours. It does that by listing quite a few actionable advices that you can use right away. So many, in fact, that I will definitely reread the book again. The other thing that I liked quite a bit is that it is down to Earth: if the first approach is not for you (e.g total devotion to deep work), try this less stringent one (e.g. 4 days a week) or another (e.g. go to work early and work distraction free before everyone else arrives) or another (e.g. use any block of time available but be ruthless about it).

Well worth the time to read or listen to this book.

Deep work is becoming something of a forgotten practice in a world that is increasingly overloaded by communication and information systems and tools. I have increasingly thought that as these modern communication tools are making information so much more easily available at our fingertips, it is leading to us becoming better informed and yet paradoxically is resulting in poor knowledge.

Reading Deep Work was like an epiphany and at the same time a shot in the arm to change my own behavior. While I always treated many of these tools with a circumspect attitude, I did not realise the kind of impact they were still managing to have. Cal Newport helped me with that understanding.

Deep Work is one book that made me pause and think again and again - I classified my reading time spent on this book as Deep Work.

I borrowed this from the library on the advice of a co-worker. I've been reading a lot about attention residue and how to be more creative/innovative/productive. The ideas are interesting and coherently presented. The book mostly held my attention which is not the case with all non-fiction.

My issues with it were...

1. It's a male dominated philosophy written by a man who appears to have no understanding of what life is like for women. Nor did he think to ask himself 'how was it that Jung was able to go off and build an effing tower and then hide away in it to work?' It's because someone else handled the day-to-day of his existence--you know, unimportant things like his 6 kids. HIS WIFE picked up his slack. The work doesn't go away, it just gets displaced. Well, what if you don't have a wife to displace it to?

(Infomercial: Too busy running your business and thinking up big ideas to keep up at home? Get a wife! She cooks. She cleans. She takes care of the kids. She serves all your needs so you can focus on what's important: Your start up! The advanced model will even work full-time, bringing in a full paycheck to support you!.)

There are mentions of women in the book but they pale in comparison to the amount of page space ceded to the men. Einstein gets a whole column in the index. JK Rowling has a mention across a mere two pages.

So here I am with my vagina wondering WTF I'm supposed to do because I don't have a wife. I don't get to only work. No one else takes care of the home life so I can focus. I'll never have a tower I can hide in for months at a time to work.

Which leads me to believe, this is just a superficial look at deep work. It's a partial view, not the whole because it bases the paradigm on men and thus the ideas are smaller than they could be. This is a very narrow, gender biased view of the author's thesis.

Let's look at JK Rowling...his examples from her career are after she made her billions. Not before. But for the rest of us, the before is where the secrets we need are kept. If I were rich, I too could rent out an expensive hotel suite to finish my book/start my business (and a nanny to help with the kids and a cook and a maid). But I'm not. So that example from JK Rowling's life is rather useless for the layperson. It has nothing to offer me.

I'd like to see Mr. Newport go out into the world as a woman and work for a while. Further, I'd like him to simulate a working woman who is breastfeeding (in a room with no lock just to make it extra realistic) and not sleeping at night....while doing something that requires deep work. Who knows? Maybe the breast pump will be inspiring?

JK Rowling, for the record, wrote Harry Potter while a single mom, which is the height of a distracted work environment (but if we focus on it too much, we might undermine the entire premise of the book so...)

From Biography . com "Every Potter fan knows that Rowling was an unemployed single mother on public assistance when she wrote the first book." (Obviously Mr. Newport is not an HP fan. Or he would know these things.)

Along the lines of gender bias...while it's not possible to assign a gender to every review, it looks that primarily men read this book. Women appear to be a minority. Mr. Newport...you are leaving money on the table. Big time. FYI.

2. He declares that he doesn't bother to respond to emails unless they are worded to maximize efficiency and suggests we do the same. Therefore a college student, assuming ~$50,000 or more in school loans and underwriting Mr Newport's paycheck, will not receive a response to something so 'vague' as 'Is there a time when we could meet?'

Oh no. Don't respond to that. It just wastes your precious time. Because deep work makes you special. More special-er than anyone else. Okay?

Instead, expect a twenty-something to magically know they are supposed to suggest a specific time and date. Those emails you can respond to.

Seriously?

If a professor pulled this crap with my kid, I'd be in his office without bothering to ask when would be a good time. That's not what you're paid for Mr. Newport and you're not so special that you're above basic human courtesy. Either educate the kids--who I guarantee you have NO idea how your unwritten rules work-- with a copy/paste explaining how you want emails to be structured or suck it up and have some manners.

In addition, the person being so 'vague' is showing you respect. Busy important people in our culture get first dibs on days and times.

Further, corporate America doesn't work like that. People who pull that kind of crap get in trouble. Even CEOs...it's never perceived as 'deep work' but rather snobbery and elitism that will alienate and fracture staff. Please become a CEO and try it.

And anyone who thinks their time is too precious to bother with responding to emails should not be running a start up. It would be a nightmare. Important work requires attention to detail.

3. The book is light on solutions and as per point #1, very male centric in its approach. So it's of limited utility. In terms of practical action, take a look at Miracle Morning. That is more action focused and aligns with the principles of Deep Work (although also written by a man...WHERE are the women PHds? They need to write some of these books!).

All that said, it's worth a read, but if you have a vagina, don't expect much of it to pertain to you...unless you're rich or have a wife.

This book brings many hard-work principles together in very practical ways. There are suggestions for how to implement them and the freedom to adjust to fit anyone. The author builds such a compelling case at the beginning of the book that you are motivated to do what it takes to do meaningful work. This is the most helpful book I've read in a long time.

You could say that the book is just collection of common sense statements. Yes, we should not procrastinate on social networks. Yes, we should not let other distract us from work. But as always it's easier to say than to do. Cal Newport repeats one argument after another (sometimes going overboard) citing scientific research to back his claims but eventually he convinces you that it's really time to do something with the way you work. I'll recommend this book to everyone.

1. Magnificent book.
2. For this reviewer, immensely helpful at a pivotal time.
3. Perhaps not every generalization is universally true.
4. Taking a cue from the Cal, I have deeper things to do today than post a wordy review.

It's rare to find an author who can synthesize threads from many different sources, including personal experience, scientific studies, philosophy, and anecdotes. Yet Cal Thomas manages to do so, in this compelling and thoughtful book. It is a great read for both those who are seeking a way to work more deeply, and as the "pragmatic" counterpart to Carr, Postman, and McLuhan on the problems facing our attention-deprived society.

As many other reviewers have said. Deep Work is surprisingly shallow. But there is blatant misinformation in this book due to the author's frequent errors. The most notable and unnoticed error of this book are the interpretations of various neurological studies. Not only are the interpretations of the data wrong but they are foolish. On pp36 and 37 the author states, "To be great at something is to be well myelinated." This is referencing his understanding of how the brain works to effectively cement a skill. I spoke to a cog neuro Harvard PhD student about the neurological process described by the author. To quote the student's response, "No, this is not how the brain works at all. Whoever wrote that is an idiot." Cal should have put some 'Deep Work' into the research for his book.

There are some really important insights here on the necessity for concentration to actually create, as well as complete. A warning about the pitfalls of multi-tasking and distraction. A great companion to 'Flow'.

Great concepts with clear definitions of deep vs shallow work. Cal nudges us to think deep work..A lot of practical tips to help execute his ideas on deep work. But somehow this is where the book, in my opinion, falls short. It makes a great case for deep but falters on executing the key concepts..but there is a glimmer of hope.. Cal makes a case for 4 Disciples of execution..in my personal experience 4 DX works very well as far as personal/ professional goals..again remember 70 percent failures are because of execution..I would recommend to watch this YouTube on 4 DX video as an addendum to cals book link below. Overall I see cals book as a new look gtd for our digital hyperconnected age

https://youtu.be/qynXCJZ2xQI

My brother recommended me this book and it is one heck of a recommendation. After reading the book, I was opening my Udemy lessons and found it very difficult to just focus on the subject. It was hard to resist the urge not to check my emails, that stock symbol etc. And this lessons did not even extend for one hour. The same lack of focus extends to other areas of work that needs focus. Time To change!

I do agree we as a society are becoming shallow and anyone who can indulge in deep work will be a big winner.

This book could have been more valuable by trimming a full 150 pages and make it a 100 page book. Think of reading the summary of this book that is also being sold in the store.

The idea of deep work is rooted in the act of intense concentration on a specific task. At first glance, it is a very simple, arguably archaic (as noted by the many historical examples provided) idea, one that might not necessitate the focus of an entire book. However, with the advancement of technology, the modern work culture has transformed to discourage deep work, despite its increasing value. In his book, Cal Newport uses Part I to dive into this paradox and to argue for why one should make the habit of deep work an integral part of their routine. While you might find this portion of the book extraneous if you already agree with the idea of deep work, it still offers some compelling (and entertaining!) evidence for its significance. In Part II, he offers several suggestions on how to implement deep work into their careers.
The style of this book can be likened to a narrative, as it is bolstered by both historical examples and anecdotes. As somebody who enjoys storytelling, I appreciate how Cal Newport put extra effort into making this book entertaining as well as informative. However, if you’re interested purely in the idea of deep work and how to apply it, you might be better off skimming around for these essential details.
After reading this book, there are still some questions that remain, especially in regards to deep work itself. At the end of the book, Cal Newport provides a qualifier for determining which activities are deep work. While it was useful, I’m not sure that it can apply to every activity. Because this book is centered on deep work, this book could have been much better if it had a more comprehensive coverage of this topic. Admittedly, my perception might be colored because I am still a student and the qualifier is geared towards professionals. Still, this book could have benefitted from case studies of deep work in various fields, to help solidify the reader’s understanding of deep work.
One principle that appears in this book is the concept of a limited daily reserve of deep work. For novices, this number is around one hour and for experts, this number peaks at four hours. After this threshold is crossed, the individual will experience diminishing returns on their work. However, deep work is defined as the type of work that stretches limits. While this “limit” refers to knowledge work itself, it can also point to our threshold for deep work. Thus, the book could benefit from information on pinpointing this limit, in order to take full advantage of the capacity to do deep work.
Overall, Deep Work by Cal Newport presents a very intriguing point on the shortcomings of the modern work culture. His arguments are well-reasoned, as well as entertaining. Furthermore, the advice that he offers is pragmatic, but undoubtedly useful. However, this book is not perfect and will not resonate with everyone. There are still a few unanswered questions and although the style of this book is entertaining, some readers might prefer a much more straightforward version. In addition, as Cal Newport says in his book, there are also some individuals (though rarely) who will not benefit from deep work. Nevertheless, this book is a worthwhile read, especially because it has the potential to significantly improve your career.
(Note: To me, this book deserved a rating of at least 4.5. Unfortunately, due to the store’s system, I could only give out whole number ratings.)

Despite brining some good advice, I feel like Cal Newport is trying to appropriate the ancient idea of focused work. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi did re-iterate on the concept, calling it Flow, but he is redeemed in that he also brought to the table a lot of actual new science around the concept.

A helpful book that really delves into the value of concentration and how difficult it is to achieve in our day-to-day lives today during a world of smart phones, social media, and technology. The author offers evidence for the benefits to be gained from concentration and how to attain it.

I found this book exceptionally useful. Having thoroughly enoyed Cal's first book 'So Good They Can't Ignore You', I was very interested to see how he followed it up with a big specifically focused on deep work and cultivating fantastic working habits. I think he's done a tremendous job in identifying the problems associated with the modern work place and how making a very deliberate effort to carve out time to engage in deep work can prove extremely beneficial to one's career and life satisfaction in general.

There's a serious disincentive for me to write this review in many respects given that the more publicity the book gets, the more people may engage in deep work and the more competition there will be at the top! But in all seriousness, I think society's obsession with shallow social media is despairing and any efforts to try and move us away from a reliance on the addiction of checking facebook/twitter/instagram/snapchat/pinterest etc can only be a good thing. Cal rightly points out that these companies can provide very apparent benefits to the users. But just because catching up with an old friend on facebook once a year is beneficial, it does not mean that benefit outweighs hours and hours of useless scrolling through a newsfeed for mundane updates on past acquaintances' lives. Even more pernicious is the deleterious effect of craving the constant stimulation of an updated newsfeed on one's concentration. I absolutely relate to the need to constantly check e-mail and facebook when trying to accomplish something challening at work. It's not even that I feel concerned I have to respond to e-mails quickly, it is genuinely a desire to experience the rush of a notification, as sad as that may sound!

Therefore Cal's book is a massive breath of fresh air and I'm very excited about the prospects of committing to a life of deep work. It will be immensely challenging I'm sure. But the rewards will undoubtedly be worth it.

This book tackles a simple premise: deep work delivers more valuable results than shallow work. And, thus, we should engage in deep work more often. Despite this, the book does not shortchange the reader in explaining concepts and ideas thoroughly to elaborate the rarity and importance of deep work as well as steps to promote deep work in our lives. A must read for everyone.

Very convicted and inspired by this book. Cal Newport does an outstanding job in presenting the case for Deep Work and provides a plethora of practical ideas and strategies on how to improve creativity, satisfaction and usable insights at work and at home.

Lots of great tips for making the most of limited time and trading quantity for quality in email communication! Will probably reread it in the near future, but for now, back to the library where I waited to check out the eBook so the next person on the hold list can benefit!

This was a very good book. It really stressed the business of today's world and how hard it is to do work that matters with all of the distractions. I took a week long break from technology and I started to feel more energized and efficient. Great lessons on doing work that matters.

Deep Work means to work on cognitively demanding tasks distraction free.
The ability to perform deep work is becoming rare at the same time it is becoming valued by the economy. As consequence, those who can perform deep work will thrive.
To work deeply, design your life around distraction-free slots, train your ability to concentrate, quit social media and ensure you are hard to reach.

A great read that gave me some useful information on removing distractions. I got this book when I was preparing for a very difficult certification exam and the tips in this book not only helped me to pass my exam, but also have given me tools to have a successful career.

I just finished it and am going to start at the beginning. After reading so good they can’t ignore you I knew any more advice from him would be worthwhile. I am hoping to implement his advice going forward.

I’ve read a couple of books on working deeply, Flow and The Organized Mind, and I still had some big takeaways from Deep Work. I def recommend reading this book if after a long day you feel like it’s been a busy day, yet unproductive.

It used to be “You are what you watch"; in the Information Age I think the appropriate adage is "You are what you pay attention to”. Deep Work is a bit redundant and there are some dry passages, but it’s totally worth the time spent reading this work. Books like these can change the way you think and perceive the world.

An well-written and researched case for breaking free from the tyranny of distraction and focusing energy on worthwhile pursuits. A solid read for anyone interested in learning how to make time to accomplish more meaningful achievements.

This is a potentially life-changing book. I have three kids under six, a small business, and I'm trying to launch my author career. I have confidence that Newport's philosophy is going to help me get there. I'm officially a Deep Work disciple.

I read Deep Work in one sitting. Excellent and so empowering! A must-read for leaders who crave focused time for their important work. As a bonus, Newport’s tips will help you master your time. I am recommending it to all of my clients!
Joelle Jay, Ph.D.
Executive Coach
Leadership Research Institute

This book is set out in a logical flow, from explanation of the ideas through to practical application. Highly recommended - but know that putting the ideas into action takes a great deal of self-discipline, especially while you change old habits.

I thought I had a pretty solid grasp on managing distraction. But this book took my understanding to a whole other level. I was fortunate enough to have a conversation with Cal about this book. If you're serious about spending your time on things that actually make a difference in your life and work, read this book. It will be one of the best personal investments. This should be required reading for anybody who wants to do creative work, build things or do work that is high impact and high value.

Having read dozens of books on time management, finally Newport has produced something truly new. I've taken notes, followed up on references, and already started to use some of the strategies (like planning every minute). For anyone struggling with time, social media, priorities, and just finding 'down time' this is a must read.

I was waiting for this book with great anticipation, and it was worth it. First part being theoretical was a bit too boring and long, but the second part, practical advice, it`s really worth it. A book what makes you to reevaluate your life, where are you spending your precious time and - what`s the best of it- offers suggestions for living fuller life. As knowledge worker and PhD student I`ve found lots of ideas for myself. Highly recommended.

This was a great book! the only reason why I didn't give it a 5 star review was that I usually read in the evening before bed and found myself re-reading quite a bit as it is hard going through some places - but that's on me - I'm usually shattered after a 17 hour work day!
It certainly has made an impact on my thinking about shallow stuff and in a way gave me permission to put some boundaries around social media use (for work).

I've read So Good They Can't Ignore You and was hoping for a similarly inspiring book when I began Deep Work. The first idea that Newport explores is how authors and others who are doing "deep work" often seclude themselves by writing in a location that is tucked away from the noise and activity commonly encountered in everyday life. Newport describes the quiet locations where many well-known thinkers have written. Surprisingly, here, Newport does not include Virginia Wolfe and her classic A Room of One's Own. As I read Deep Work, I realized there are almost no references at all to the work of women writers and thinkers, even when the author explores the work guidelines and processes he follows to lead a more balanced life with time for his family in the evening. The book reminded me a bit of The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharpe, where Tharpe explores habits she used throughout her incredibly prolific career as a choreographer. Although Newport describes himself as a "busy father of two," he does not describe being actively involved with his children. he does write about "pacing and thinking while the baby slept." Newport also never acknowledges the invisible labor, likely provided by women, that allows the men he references throughout the book to do their "deep work." The book would have been much more useful if Newport had given more weight and value to the work of women both in the household and among intellectuals, whether they do their work for an academic institution or serve more broadly as a public intellectual. The odd absence of women in Newport's book kept me from being able to take his work as seriously as I otherwise would if he were more balanced in describing the contributions of both men and women to deep work in our society.

Easy to read. Challenging to apply. Will read again as I work through these concepts. Looking forward to seeing the changes this could make as someone who seems to bring too much work home with too little productivity.

This book offers a very organized summary of a skill that is more important than ever, complete with guidelines on how to cultivate the habit. Similar to So Good They Can't Ignore You, but with more insight and experience Cal created a more actionable read.

Work hard on highest priorities. This isn't exactly a new concept and many of the examples are pretty limited in terms of applicability. A single mother working 50 hours to provide housing and food for her kids will find very little time for deep thinking.

Well written and substantially argued book. Of course most of this is common sense but even so this book offers a viable road map of how to sustain focus in the knowledge economy and why that is so important.

Very good book, many operational advices, no bulls***. Just one question : I just wonder why the author doesn't speak about the pomodoro technique[...], another way to reach the concentration level required for a deep work...