Work 4 hours and Get MORE Done than a 12-hour Shifter: Deep Work by Cal Newport- Part #1
I (and many others) believe one of the best self-help/ nonfiction books in the world is a book called Deep Work written by Cal Newport.
It’s not an underground book and most people reading this story have probably read it- however, if you haven’t, you NEED to.
Haven of the Readers’s last post was about choosing the wrong book when reading nonfiction. THIS IS A BOOK WORTH STUDYING AND LEARNING ALL ABOUT.
In this blog post I’m going to give you a simple review of Deep Work’s Part 1 chapter-by-chapter. To not waste any more time, let’s jump into it!
The Chapters of Deep Work
Deep Work is split into 2 parts.
Part 1 explains why deep work (more explanation on what deep work is soon) is vital and important and is NECESSARY to succeed in the modern world (which it is).
Part 2 has 4 rules to maximize deep work and has tips I was blown away by.
To summarize both parts, there’s a chapter in the story called “Work Like Teddy Roosevelt”.
Part 1:
The fact that Teddy Roosevelt, AMERICAN P-R-E-S-I-D-E-N-T used deep work just proves the fact that deep work is necessary to succeed and, furthermore, if it’s used properly it can lead to extreme success.
Part 2:
Since the quality and quantity of work you do is (time spent) x (intensity), one way to do insane amounts of work quickly is to work at rapid intensity for a very short time.
Teddy Roosevelt’s method guarantees both of these requirements (short time spent and high intensity) and it’s to set yourself a time to do work far shorter than how fast you think you can do it.
For example, writing blog posts usually takes 2 hours.
However, to incorporate Rooseveltian intensity and show you the power of working at amazing intensities, I am going to finish this blog post at 3:37 P.M. and YOU can keep me accountable.
At the end of this post, the last word, I’ll write the current time and I can GUARANTEE it’s going to be before 3:37 P.M.
This strategy works because when you know you have such a short time to do work, there are no distractions. There isn’t time for browsing social media or checking your phone.
If you’re worried that you’re just going to work at the same intensity for less time and your brain isn’t going to care about the fact that you have less time, you have 3 options:
- Set a timer on your phone and put it RIGHT next to your computer/ wherever you’re working. This creates a sense of urgency in your brain.
- When your time is up, don’t care about the quality/ how good you did/ if you don’t feel completely ready to be done. When your time is up, TURN IT IN NO MATTER WHAT.
For example, if you were writing an essay for school and you set yourself to goal to complete it in 4 hours, you might not feel ready to turn it in to Google Classroom because you feel you’re not “completely done”.
This feeling is normal. However, the only thing you can do is remember this feeling for the next essay you write so you write that one with blistering intensity.
That means you’re going to use your time wisely, HAVE that sense of urgency, and be able to take a 20-minute nap before turning it in because you worked so fast and with such BLISTERING INTENSITY.
3. All of the above. If your brain really doesn’t see the urgency, set yourself a timer AND finish your work when your time is up
Currently I have a timer next to my computer as I’m writing this. There’s 47 minutes left and I can SEE the seconds ticking away as I’m writing this in the corner of my eye. Every time I look at my phone, I recognize the time gone.
I feel paranoid but now I’m writing 2x faster than I was before. I’m already at 671 words when my goal (finish blog post at 3:37) would require 500 words written 2 minutes later. 671 words per 13 minutes isn’t that bad, is it?
P.S. If you keep seeing books on your TBR list that you know you’re never going to read but you just don’t know how to manage your TBR list, check out this post.
Chapters in Part 1
As I established before, Part 1 explains why deep work is good.
Chapter 1- Deep Work is Valuable
In Chapter 1 we get introduced to the idea of why deep work is so important to success.
There’s 2 abilities that will allow you to thrive and be successful in this era.
Without at least 1 of these abilities, you will not be successful.
- The ability to quickly master hard things.
- The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed.
The first time I read these 2 abilities I was confused. Okay, these abilities are here, but are these abilities that can be learned or are they there from birth? “Surely you can’t TRAIN these abilities!”
I had no idea how wrong I was…
First off, deep work helps you quickly learn hard things. There’s 2 GOOD pages on why deep work helps you quickly learn hard things which I won’t explain in detail…
But a CORE ability, a REQUIREMENT to thrive in the current economy, is pretty much FULFILLED by deep work.
Second, deep work helps you produce at an elite level.
In this section, Cal Newport uses Adam Grant as an example.
Adam Grant most definitely produces at an elite level. He’s the youngest full professor at the Wharton School of Business at Penn.
(context: the Wharton School of Business is one of the most renowned schools of business and economy in the WORLD. Graduating there is like graduating from an Ivy and the education you get is just as good or better)
In 2012, Adam Grant published seven articles. For his field, this is an absurdly high number, even more so for the youngest professor.
It turns out Adam Grant is OBSESSED at producing at an elite level (wow, what a surprise!) so you’d probably expect him to have amazing productivity.
And a KEY component of Adam Grant’s productivity and elite level is his method of batching hard and important work into long stretches.
I’ll explain what deep work is soon. Once I do, you’ll understand that these long, uninterrupted stretches are what gain him his highest-rated professor status and his many teaching awards.
P.S. If you want to increase your productivity and maximize what you have, check out this post on maximizing your reading speed.
I was going to move onto Chapter 2 immediately but if I don’t clear this up now there’s going to be confusion:
What is “Deep Work”?
Deep work is the type of work done uninterrupted in long stretches. During deep work, there is no phone checking, there are no notifications to bring you out your complete state of flow.
All there is is complete focus on your one goal for a long period of time.
One confusion to clear up is that deep work is based on 2 things:
How and What you do.
I just covered the How- you have to do work in long, uninterrupted, flow states.
However, you can’t do deep work on something everybody could do.
Deep work is something that also requires experience to do. This is becoming really confusing, so here’s a question that’ll clear stuff up:
“How many months would it take a recent college graduate to learn to do what I’m doing?”
Example: It would take a college graduate quite a while to…
- Generate the experience needed to perform a research thesis paper (years, not months).
- Learn what social media posts thrive and go viral.
- Make unique artwork that inspires millions.
- Eat a Big Mac at McDonald’s (just kidding, eating a Big Mac is not deep)
This was quite confusing to me and only made sense for high-intellectual work because if you really try you can learn nearly everything in about a month.
So if you need you can substitute “college graduate” for “middle school graduate” or “high-school graduate” or “average person”.
Essentially, this question is trying to ask if what you’re doing is something only YOU can do. If the work is unique and special, the “what” of deep work is fulfilled.
For example, writing this blog post could be considered deep work. Here’s why:
First, I’ve written blog posts for a short amount of time but it’s enough time that it separates me and my experience with writing from the average person. Therefore, my work is likely going to be somewhat unique. Of course, as I grow and you get to experience even better content, this “what” is going to be more fulfilled, but the “what” is still somewhat fulfilled.
Second, I’m writing this blog post in an environment with no distractions. It’s just me, this Medium page, and the phone (which is still ticking… ticking… ticking…). You could say I’m in a flow state right now.
To summarize,
Deep Work is work that is unique and needs experience to do + it’s done in a focused, uninterrupted setting.
Chapter 2- Deep Work is Rare
People that do deep work are rare. You won’t find many writers without a social media link or a contact page, but those that don’t have one truly have amazing books or short stories.
Here’s something pasted from J.K. Rowling’s “Enquiries” Page:
J.K. Rowling loves hearing from fans, but because of the volume of correspondence, regrets she is unable to:
- respond personally or answer individual questions from readers — please see the ‘Answers’ section where you may find your question answered!
- read or comment on your books, stories, ideas or artwork
- sign copies of books for individuals
- send out autographs or signed photographs
- do personal visits, write or record birthday messages, or attend your wedding!
Because her writing, charity and family commitments are now her priority, J.K. Rowling is unable to accept invitations to attend events, conferences or festivals. She is not available for paid or unpaid keynote or conference speaking of any kind.
If you have an enquiry outwith those areas then please do get in touch at:…
There aren’t even negotiations with J.K. Rowling- she’s fully staying away from them to do deep work! The BEST negotiator in the world might fail at reaching her.
J.K. Rowling can’t attend events for multiple reasons, one of which I assume is because when she writes a book she’s FOCUSED. However much she wants to have fun with events, her life’s work is on her passion and cultivating it- writing.
In the modern day, deep work is not prioritized. Office employees check their phone and have an abundance of distractions and Facebook has huge offices where distractions are constant.
Only successful people do deep work, evident by the thousands of writers and workers who achieved success through 1 of the 2 abilities.
But deep work SHOULD be a priority in today’s business climate, and it’s up to you to make it your priority.
Chapter 3- Deep Work is Meaningful
Since the beginning of time, humans have engaged in deep work and it’s what led to our success. Hunters would spend hours in the day just trying to catch an animal, cooks would cook for hours, and inventors would spend months, years, decades at a time where the sole focus of their day was to invent.
However, in the modern day, nobody does deep work. The workplace is a distraction beehive and emails reflect that. In Chapter 3 Cal Newport shares the last 5 emails, all of which are evident shallow concerns:
Re: URGENT calnewport Brand Registration Confirmation (a scam)
Re: S R. (conversation about an article)
Re: Important Advice (optimal retirement investment strategies, something that could just as easily be looked up on the Internet)
Re: Fws: Study Hacks (finding a time to meet with someone)
Re: just curious (thorny office politics)
None of these emails convey any sense of meaning or purpose. Meanwhile, craftsmen do deep work that fulfills them and makes them feel purposeful.
In Chapter 3, Cal Newport also cites the book Flow which has a psychological argument for depth. Did I mention Flow was written by one of the world’s best psychologists?
There’s so many arguments for deep work and all of them say the same thing: deep work is amazing.
Conclusion: Part 1 of Deep Work by Cal Newport shows that deep work is necessary to succeed in the modern world.
Thank you so much for reading this blog post. I was originally going to write 1 blog post on the entire book but then I realized I was writing too much and I enjoyed Deep Work too much so I’m splitting the post into 2 parts- next post will be uploaded Saturday the 20th.
If you’re considering reading this, definitely do. This was one of those nonfiction books that changed my life.
Have an amazing day and goodbye!
If you’re seeing this on Blogger or Medium, check out havenofthereaders.com (as of right now there’s 20 other posts on there for you to read) to see the original website.
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Question of the Post:
Have You Read “Deep Work”?
3:47 P.M.
(I will take full humility: that wasn’t 3:37 like I promised and now that I recognize that I will make sure I stop at directly 1 hour after I begin next time. However, I still saved 50 minutes of my time. Thank you for reading and goodbye!)
