Preface

This is my first blog post … ever. A year or two ago I started reading quite a bit. “Quite a bit” is relative considering that it took me a year to finish “The Invisible Man” when I was 13 (I am lying, I don’t know if I was 13, but it sounds close enough). Over the course of 18 years or so, I had only read a handful of books. Now, however, I quite enjoy the simplicity and novelty of a book. But I realized that few months after finishing one, I don’t really remember most of what was in it.

So that’s why I am doing this. I had heard Derek Sivers mention on Tim Ferriss’ podcast that he was having similar issues as me and therefore he decided to write a book review for each one he read. My intent for these reviews are purely selfish. Here are the reasons for my ‘Book Notes’:

1. I want to summarize whatever I’ve learned so that I can cement some of the lessons learned in memory, and hopefully implement it in my life effectively.
2. I want to improve my writing skills. Considering that every time I stare at a white paper intending to write, in the words of Chandler Bing, it’s “panic, anxiety and a great deal of sweating”.
3. It seems everyone is writing a blog these days, so why not? I’ll gladly jump on the bandwagon.

The goal is to write these posts just for myself and no one else. The moment I start thinking of someone reading what I write it’s “anxiety, panic and I’m afraid even more sweating”.

Book Notes

I learned of this book while listening to the James Altucher Show. During this particular time I was going through a “I need to learn to focus” phase. This is when Cal Newport came on the show and bluntly stated a number of reasons why millennials like me can’t truly focus on a given task. What he said about social media, cellphone usage and their effects rang surprisingly true. Ironically, I immediately unlocked my phone and using the magical powers of Taobao (the Chinese Amazon) bought the book.

I am going to start off with the main critique: what’s written on 250 pages or so could’ve easily been diluted to a 100 pages or less. That being said, Newport makes a number of claims which he sufficiently substantiates. The first half or so talks about why ‘Deep Work’ is valuable and necessary. The second half gives you some actionable directives that you can apply to your life.

The following paragraphs are some of the ideas I’ve picked up from the book and my thoughts about them. They are in no particular order. Consider it literary Parkour.

Deep Work helps you to stand out from your competition

This made a lot of sense to me. My 8-to-5 job has shown me how easy is to get sucked into the humdrum of mindless ‘busy work’. There are times when I feel like I’ve really accomplished something. However, looking back at it makes me realize how little this busy work helps me grow in my profession. It can be so easy sometimes to muddle busy (or “shallow”) work and deep work. Every day I spend on shallow work is a day lost in terms of growth opportunities.

Deep work doesn’t have to involve many hours of working

Cal makes it very clear that he doesn’t slog 16-hour days to achieve deep work. He suggests keeping the working time short, precise and effective. However, I know this works for Cal because he has already built the propensity to engage in intensive focus right out of the bat because he has honed this skill over many years. For someone like me, I would have to spend 5 hours to get an hour of deep work. It’s almost like REM (deep) sleep. Good sleepers get, more deep sleep in a short amount of time. I, however, would be lucky to get deep sleep during weekdays.

Be comfortable being bored

This is one of, if not, the most valuable takeaway from this book. I am so used to attending to unimportant external stimulation. Sometimes it’s checking my phone on a regular basis, giving my attention to the constant barrage of notifications. Other times it’s continuously listening to music to white out the internal talk in my head. Subconsciously, my mind is looking for the next dopamine fix. I need to learn to get comfortable in the state where there is no external stimulation. At least not of the futile kind. Furthermore, it’s the switching between low and high stimuli that weakens the mental muscles responsible for attention. So when you feel yourself reaching for that phone, compel yourself to not do it, negate the impulse. Just like weightlifting — muscle is built on the negative.

Attention Residue

This concept seems intuitive, but it’s worth elaborating on. It helps give you more motivation to not reach for that phone every few minutes. Let’s say, for example, you’re writing an essay. While writing, you decide to quickly check your phone and say answer that text from your Dad about your flight. Then you go back to writing the essay. Your attention now is not a 100% on the essay, there is still some residue that’s stewing on the flight thought. This curbs the intensity of your focus.

Deep Work & Flow State

Newport implies that Deep Work makes you a happier person. Deep work puts you in ‘flow state’ and there is numerous research papers out there on how being in flow state makes you a more happier person so I don’t feel the need to belabor that point here.

Finite Willpower

Newport states — “You have a finite amount of will power that becomes depleted as you use it”. This, like most other observations made by Newport, seems intuitive but the implications of it are rarely thought through. This means that if you spend your afternoon swiping left and right on Tinder for a significant amount of time, you are less likely to be able to conduct deep work for the rest of the day, since you become ‘decision-fatigued’. You only have so many bullets in a day. Use them wisely.

UTT — Unconscious Thought Theory

Apparently the subconscious mind is well suited to tackle issues that require processing large amounts of of information. This is not the first time I’ve come across this concept. If you notice, a lot of times you’ve come up with good solutions is when you’re in the middle of a mundane task like showering or driving. And that’s because the unconscious mind is at work during these tasks.

Be Wary of Looping

I am guilty of this. There are times when I read a question over and over again and expect to get the answer every time. I am not really trying to build on it and look at it a different way. I just get stuck in this loop which then allows me to dig myself in a bigger and bigger hole.

Final Word

Deep Work is a good read. I would suggest it to anyone who has issues focusing. In this day and age that would be a significant portion of us millennials. I have been applying some of these concepts to my daily life and I am seeing changes already.

Words & Phrases I like

…shiny tangle of infotainment sites— the allure of infotainment sites
…such arguments tend to open impassible rifts — situations with nowhere to go
.. to the chagrin of both my friends— to the annoyance of
At the risk of quelling your rising enthusiasm — suppressing or putting a cap on your rising enthusiasm.
…minimize the urge to bloviate — minimize the urge to talk at length or ramble on
…bereft of other ideas are turning toward… — deprived of other ideas
The myopia of your peers — The short-sightedness of your peers
rapt attention — spellbound, fascinated attention
monasticism — the monastic mode of life
…simple to describe but radical in concept.
[I’m being] facetious — I’m exaggerating
…helps cut through this veneer — helps breaks and open this pretentious front
allow to slip insidiously [into your]— allow something to creep up on you without noticing
fait accompli — a grim reality, a done deal
to cede all authority over its your in mental landscape — give in to something
arrest the erosion of autonomy — stop being on auto pilot which affects your propensity for attention.
your mind can reclaim mental real estate —you can get some room to think.

Favorite paragraph:

“ A commitment to deep work is not a moral stance and it’s not a philosophical statement — it is instead a pragmatic recognition that the ability to concentrate is a skill that gets valuable things done. Deep work is important, in other words, not because distraction is evil, but because it enabled Bill Gates to start a billion-dollar industry in less than a semester.”