DEEP WORK: RULES FOR FOCUSED SUCCESS IN A DISTRACTED WORLD

Great Read!! Might take a little bit more time than usual books as the concepts and examples are very thorough and initiates oir brain to think about how so many day to day Activities we do are related to these concepts and especially what are the reasons behind the people's actions about Deep and Shallow Work.

Helped me excel in my prep

Best book to avoid distraction

nice cover and page quality 👍

Best purchase

Overall, the book is excellent. The reading experience is great, and the content is very good. The quality is better than I expected it looks fresh and new, with almost no damage. The chapter topics are well organized and interesting. I highly recommend reading this book at least once. I give it 4 stars for its content and quality. There are a few small marks and slight bends on the cover, but that’s normal when buying books online.

it's good, but English is a little complicated to understand

Was a decent read. Felt the overall context to be good but not very engaging. Could have shared more examples of real life case studies.

Libro interessante e pieno di contenuti

Kitabın çoook kısa bir özeti: Sıkıldığınız zaman öğrenmeye başlarsınız... Harika bir kitap

I really resonated with this book. I work in software, and even though my job requires a lot of hard thinking and problem solving, I find myself constantly distracted by a work culture which seems to think it's ok to be perpetually interrupted. This book has been my guiding light and adopting even half of what it recommends is challenging, but very worthwhile. If you read "So Good They Can't Ignore You" you might remember Cal Newport highlights the need to develop "career capital", that is, hard-earned rare and valuable skills, which enable you to get a meaningful / satisfying job. This book is a substantial part of the answer to the question of: "how do I get rare and valuable skills?". Newport starts the book by arguing quite convincingly that deep work is not only increasingly rare, but increasingly valuable. But let's rewind a bit, what is "deep" work? Deep work is defined as working in a very focused manner, free from distractions, intensely concentrating on something that hopefully yields a valuable outcome. The output need not be something physical, it could be an insight, an idea, or a skill. Think of straining your brain to solve a puzzle versus copy and pasting things while chatting to a colleague. The former is deep, the latter shallow. Deep work is becoming increasingly rare because of our work culture's obsession with "connectivity", open plan offices, and social media. Why are we destroying our ability to work deeply then? Some things stand out, like the fact that it is hard to get metrics for how these things make us less productive, how hard it is to quantify the productivity of a knowledge worker, and how we tend to jump on the latest tech without thinking about alternatives / downsides. The case is made for deep work becoming increasingly valuable partly because of these distractions: if you can do it, you will stand out. But it's also valuable because of what it leads to: mastery of hard skills, and valuable output. Apart from these extrinsic benefits deep work is also intrinsically meaningful. It can cultivate a sense of craftsmanship and can lead to the fulfilling "flow" state. After the "what" and the "why" the rest of the book focuses on the "how". Lots of useful ideas and techniques are explored here. The general theme is do what you can and be thoughtful about how you spend your day. For example identify how you can do deep work: is it possible for you to go to the woods for the weekend, or (like most busy people with jobs) do you have some morning/evening time to use well? Make good routines / rituals. Schedule distractions and make focus your default state. Quit (or reduce your time on) social media. Adopt tech with a more critical mindset. Be less available on email etc. To conclude, this book is a shining light in the fog of modern work practices. If you are an attention deprived knowledge worker, it will likely help you a lot. But I can see it benefitting a wider class of people, because our ability to focus is so important.

Excellent book to improve productivity

This is a well-considered, balanced and persuasive book with many insights. While the author is in the sciences, I recommend this book to anyone in the arts who is looking to nurture their creativity and production. This book provides a foundational concept for people who want to build a body of work that creates a meaningful difference. The idea is that we do our best (deep) work when we have the habits and conditions that support, encourage and build that capacity. It is not for everybody. If you want 'hacks' or shortcuts, this is not the book for you. This book goes beyond the "hustle and grind" approach of putting in time and effort - it presupposes that you're willing to do both of those things. It asks – what will differentiate you then? That is the core goal this book will help you with - to sustain creating and producing work that is the best quality you're capable of (or even better than you've been capable of in the past). Newport spends the first half of the book providing the research and context to back up the argument that deep, focussed work is what will generate these breakthroughs. The second half of the book steps through the how. Each of the four rules is given with guidance and ideas for implementation that refers to the examples and context given in the first half of the book. This book is not for everybody, that's okay, just consider your needs, your work/art. If you need time to think or plan or create before you do what you do, this book is aimed at you. I'm grateful to Cal Newport for this book. There are things I have already been able to use as I have made this first read through, and other aspects that will take me longer to try, and test for my own needs. It was absolutely worth reading.