Exploring Deep Work by Cal Newport

We Don't Know Yet

Brian and Nsima dive into Deep Work by Cal Newport to understand techniques to perform professional activities with a sense of distraction free concentration and get better results.

Two necessary skills in today’s knowledge economy, the ability to quickly master hard things, the ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of quality and speed.

Biggest takeaway? Set wildly important goals and track your progress towards achievement.

Definitions

Deep work hypothesis - the ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.

Shallow work - non demanding tasks that we can perform while distracted, doesn’t added new value to the world and easy to replicate

High quality work produced = time spent x intensity of focus

Approaches to Deep Work

Monastic approach - shutting yourself off from the world. Examples would be JK Rowling when writing one of her HP books. Comes from the word monastery, where monks live.

Bimodal Approach - Have a set amount of time each day for deep work, similar to monastic, but once done, you can do whatever you’d like. Deep work is still prioritized.

Rhythmic Approach - Still planned and scheduled, but it turns your work into a habit. Set a timer, and get work done, similar to the pomodoro technique and Cal proposes one use a calendar to track progress (similar to Jerry Seinfeld).

Journalistic approach - Literally do what you can when you can. Have a spontaneous block of 20 minutes to get done? Dive deep in those 20 minutes. Have 2 hours when the kids fall asleep? Dive deep in those 2 hours. For those that are super busy, this can work well.

New Habits We’re Trying Out

Say ‘no’ to any tasks that detract you from your key goals (eliminate time sucks).

At the start of your day, schedule actual deep work time before anyone comes in. This blocks off your schedule for actual concentration that doesn’t get hijacked by meetings or shallow work.
Tabulate your day down to the minute! Although this may be ludicrous, planning out your day to the minute allows you to be clear about what needs to get done. If life happens and you have to adapt, simply shift your schedule to accommodate.

Get a phone tracker app! In this show, we mentioned the Moment app. But since airing, there are a lot of different ways to monitor your smartphone use, see below:

For iPhone users, Apple came out with Screen Time - which monitors what apps you use while Downtime gives you the opportunity to schedule for time away from the screen.

For all users: Another dope app is called Forest which helps you stay focused and off your smartphone. The longer you focus, the more your tree will grow.

Considerations

Use deep work for big ideas, knowledge work, and creativity. Remove distractions so that you can work deeply and produce something unique and of extreme value.

What does your work space look like? Is it distraction free or distraction laden? Open office layouts are better suited for collaboration but do come at the cost of major distraction.

Focus on 1-2 wildly important goals.

Set smart routines and habits.

Keep a compelling scoreboard how many hours of deep work completed and how many needed to complete certain tasks.
Eliminate social media.

Be lazy, ideless is necessary, Shut down work until the next morning, no schemes, shut down so you can be efficient the next days,