Deep Work (Cal Newport)


Deep Work

by: Cal Newport

Deep Work: Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit.

Every day, distractions, interruptions, and urgent (but relatively unimportant) demands on our time attention pull us toward a state of shallow, near-sighted, and frenetic busyness. If we don’t actively create space and time to think deeply and focus on work that is truly important, the likely outcome is that we will sink into (and remain in) this state of shallowness by default.

In the first half of book, Cal Newport argues that the ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. Mastering the skill of going deep work and making it the core of your working life can help you succeed because it creates new value, improves your skill, and is hard to replicate.  In the second  half, he shows you exactly how to do this.

This is an excellent read for anyone who wants their work to be meaningful, and a must for anyone who is considering graduate school, starting a company, or getting serious about writing/designing/building/creating truly useful and important work.