Book Review: Deep Work
Author: Cal Newport
Genre: A self-help book
Well! This is the first time I am writing a review of any book. But I love to read self-help books and articles which help me to improve my habits and become a better version of myself. But hectic routine due to academic and internship activities I read books after a long time.
This is a guide to achieving more meaningful and productive work in this distracted era.
Summary:
Deep Work by Cal Newport is primarily a self-help book revealing how to accomplish deep work which is an invaluable ability in this distracted world. And complete our task in a few hours rather than doing shallow work and remaining entrapped in it. It also revolves around practical strategies for learning skills and emphasizes both personal and professional success. It highlights the existence of shallow work in most workplaces and advocates the approach of productivity. And how to become a winner in a new economy. It briefly explains the importance of this skill in quickly learning new hard things. It also spotlights that deep work is rare and only applicable in a few places. Showcasing through examples as busyness becomes a proxy of productivity. For depth also includes arguments from neurological, physiological, and philosophical points. It also focuses on some rules for deep work.
Evaluation: Or Why Deep work is important?
As the name suggests, deep work is performed in a distraction-free state of mind that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limits. It creates new values, improves your skill and is hard to replicate. It provides insights into practical strategies like actionable things that can realistically be implemented in life. Includes invaluable suggestions to avoid distractions. It emphasizes the focus on the acknowledgment of deep work in today’s economy. It includes real-world examples interpreted as case studies, showing how individuals and organizations took advantage of it by adopting these strategies. The critique of shallow work is still persistent in a lot of workplaces and its negative effect on organizations. Some readers find the book repetitive because the same concept is repeated over time. Repetition can reinforce the basic concept of deep work. It provides the reader with realistic applications be some readers find difficult to implement in their lives. The Book draws its points from various fields like through physiological, and philosophical aspects to support its arguments. More like an in-depth scientific literature. The book acknowledges the balance between deep work and other aspects of life.
“Constant attention switching online has a lasting negative effect on your brain. People who constantly multitask can’t filter out irrelevancy. They can’t manage a working memory; they are chronically distracted and pretty much mental wrecks!”
However, it is still possible to get into a habit of deep work by creating rituals and systems and bringing your brain out of muscle atrophy!
How to perform deep work?
Cal Newport talks about various philosophies expert’s authors and scientists follow to perform deep work such as:
· Monostatic philosophy — Eliminating or radically minimizing shallow obligations e.g., discontinue emails.
· Bimodal philosophy — Alternating your time between deep work and everything else.
· Rhythmic philosophy — Transforming deep work sessions into regular habits e.g., 90-minute chunk every morning same time for deep work.
· Journalistic philosophy — Switching into a deep mode anytime you can find a free slot; however, it is hard for beginners to handle such context switching.
How to Proclaim Deep Work?
To create your own philosophy of deep work, it is necessary to create rituals and make them part of your system as follows:
How to filter out shallowness?
The above system to ritualize deep work can only succeed if you can weed out constant distractions or at least minimize them. Our brains have become accustomed to distractions that we crave constantly since it gives us dopamine high. As George Packer (New Yorker journalist) says -
“Twitter is a crack for media addicts!”
This applies to all online social media apps. Cal Newport suggests a craftsman’s approach to social media than viewing it as an “any-benefit mindset”. I.e., instead of viewing any small social media benefit as sufficient justification for using the tool (or simple FOMO), adopt a tool only if it has a positive impact on success and happiness in personal and professional life.
Recommendations:
I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a guide to learn about practical insights into deep work in this distracted world. It is a game changer for anyone finding tricks to boost productivity. This book provides practical strategies like how to achieve deep focus in work. Focusing more on eliminating distractions and finding a harmonized balance between personal and professional life. If you want to excel in your career and improve your work output by productivity “Deep Work” is a must-read. However, a key takeaway from the book is:
Don’t take breaks from distractions; instead, take breaks from focus.
If you haven’t read it yet, grab a copy. It will reset your thought process and compel you to do deep work along with tools and frameworks to achieve the same.