Book Summary: Deep Work
Wisdoms from the Productivity Guru
Recently, I read Cal Newport's book "Deep Work," and the book has had a profound impact on my own productivity. I believe you can benefit from reading the book, regardless of your career path.
Let me share my findings with you.
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Who Will Thrive in the New Norm?
With the proliferation of technology, Newport argues that only three types of workers will thrive in the new norm:
Highly skilled individuals
Superstars
Owners
Highly Skilled
Advancements in technology have automated many low-skilled positions, but those with the ability to work with and extract valuable insights from complex machines will thrive.
For example, Nate Silver is a self-proclaimed baseball statistics geek who turned his analytical skills toward politics and became a renowned election forecaster.
His election forecasting system accurately predicted the outcomes in 49 of the 50 states during the 2008 U.S. presidential election, catapulting Silver into the national spotlight.
Silver continued his track record by accurately forecasting the results of the 2012 and 2020 presidential elections, establishing himself as a reliable authority in the field of political forecasting.
Although his model did not predict Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 election, Trump’s win odds predicted by his model were higher than those of other forecasters.
Superstars
Thanks to communication and collaboration tools, labor is no longer constrained by geographical boundaries. Labor markets have evolved into a global marketplace.
Companies benefit, as they now have access to a broader talent pool. Top talents benefit as well, as they have an increased opportunity set and greater leverage when negotiating terms with potential employers. However, average skilled individuals face stiffer competition, as local companies can hire better talents globally at lower salaries.
In this new norm, power law will be in effect where the superstars create and extract the majority of the economic value, leaving others to grapple with a more competitive landscape.
David Hansson is a prime example of a tech entrepreneur who has harnessed the power of his innovative creation. He is the mastermind behind the Ruby on Rails website development framework, a technology that has powered prominent internet companies like Twitter and Hulu.
While his net worth remains unknown, it's evident that he has prospered. This affluence is reflected in his lifestyle, allowing him to split his time between multiple locations, including Chicago, Malibu, and Marbella, Spain, where he indulges in high-performance race-car driving.
Owners
Historically, the profits generated through a combination of capital investment and labor were distributed proportionally to the inputs. However, with the increasing role of technology in various industries, the proportion of rewards flowing to those who own and operate intelligent machines has grown.
This shift is evident when examining the list of the world's top 10 wealthiest individuals, a substantial portion of whom are technology company founders.
Additionally, venture capitalists who specialize in owning equity in technology startups, such as John Doerr (Kleiner Perkins) and Doug Leone (Sequoia), achieved remarkable success with their early-stage investments in tech companies. These trends underscore the evolving nature of wealth creation and accumulation in our modern, technology-driven world.
How to Thrive in the New Economy
In the this new economy, thriving requires
the ability to master essential skills quickly
the ability to translate them into valuable products or services
Learning to quickly master complex and challenging concepts is paramount. Consider the case of Nate Silver, whose success in election forecasting relies on his adept use of technical tools like STATA, a statistical programming language. The mastery of intelligent machines or even the skill to craft effective prompts for AI, creates a barrier to entry for those who can harness such skills. This skill set holds substantial value in the current economic landscape.
However, mastery is not enough; you need to transform these abilities into outcomes or products that people are willing to pay for.
A classic example is David Hansson, who leveraged his programming prowess to create Ruby on Rails. This product not only solidified his reputation but also found widespread adoption, allowing him to capture economic value from his creation.
In the new economy, your ability to produce is the ultimate determinant of your success, irrespective of your talent or skills (I guess the Kardashians exemplify this point).
How do you master skills quickly? You must embrace deep work as a foundational skill, as it forms the cornerstone of producing at an elite level.
The Power of Deep Work
Learning quickly necessitates intense focus and dedicated practice. What separates experts from the rest is deliberate practice in environments devoid of distractions.
If you find yourself uncomfortable with deep, uninterrupted concentration, you shouldn't expect skills and knowledge to come easily. The support for deep work has neurological underpinnings.
In the age of technology, distractions are everywhere and have the potential to derail your deep work.
Professionally, there's growing pressure to engage in shallow, attention-splitting activities. Immediate email responses and an active presence on social media prevail, often overshadowing the value of focused work.
For individuals, the current state of the world can be to your advantage. It's imperative for you to commit to deep work consistently, helping you unlock great personal and professional rewards in the new economy.
Research shows that people tend to be at their best when they are fully immersed in complex tasks, experiencing what psychologists call "flow." Surprisingly, studies reveal that people often derive more happiness from work than from leisure activities. This happiness seems to be closely linked to the flow state achieved during deep work.
In an ideal world, jobs should be structured to mirror these flow activities as closely as possible, allowing individuals to thrive while immersed in their work. Of course, that's wishful thinking.
So create routines and rituals that minimize the need for willpower to transition into and sustain a state of uninterrupted concentration.
Even a small lapse in concentration can undermine hours of effort. If you attempt to shift from mindless web browsing or social media scrolling to a cognitively demanding task without a structured plan, you're likely to fail. However, setting aside a specific time and location for deep work, such as dedicating your afternoons to such tasks, reduces the required willpower and creates a conditioning for a deep work routine.
Strategies to Enable Deep Work
Personally, I struggle to concentrate due to the presence of video games on my powerful personal computer and my nearby phone (definitely doesn’t help as I am also an Instagrammer).
To combat this, I established a habit of working in coffee shops for a set number of hours every day at the "admission price" of one small plain coffee, significantly increasing my productivity.
Lists can also be helpful, allowing you to track and cross off the successful execution of daily deep work tasks.
In the book, Newport discussed 4 philosophies for establishing deep work habits. The rhythmic approach resonated with me the most and is a pragmatic choice for office workers who must contend with distractions and low-value tasks. This approach involves working in a flow state during time slots where you have control.
Finding a ritual that works for you may require experimentation, as it is highly personal. Definitely refer to the book for the other 3 methods that might resonate with you more strongly.
Surprisingly, detaching from professional concerns during designated times of idleness can enhance your deep work capacity. Therefore, it's crucial to rest your brain regularly to optimize the quality of your deep work.
For example:
At the end of the workday, shutting down work-related thinking until the next morning allows your unconscious mind to disengage from work, facilitating better decision-making and focus on challenging tasks.
Spending time in nature can also significantly improve your ability to concentrate. These breaks can refresh your mind and enhance your focus.
For those who work independently, audio cues and specific phrases can serve as signals for completing your deep work sessions. A simple phrase like "Okay, I am done for the day" might sound cheesy, but it effectively marks the transition from deep work to leisure or other activities, helping maintain a structured routine.
The ultimate goal of deep work is to accomplish ambitious, long-term objectives, such as writing a book, building a successful side hustle, and so on.
The media loves to portray wealth as an event. In reality, it's a process (except for the lottery winners). While many aspire to the "I work 5 hours a week and make $130k a month" lifestyle (who doesn’t), it's important to recognize the years of consistent deep work required to achieve such a level of success.
I will share with you next time Newport's techniques for effectively neutralizing distractions in personal and professional lives.
Training for deep work
To shake distractions, one needs to adopt a strategic plan.
Schedule in advance when you will allow yourself to use the internet, and consciously avoid using it outside these specified hours. This not only limits your exposure to potential distractions but also instills a sense of control over your online activities.
Avoid multitasking, as the constant switching between tasks weakens the mental muscles responsible for organizing the many sources vying for your attention. Learn to focus on a single activity during deep work hours.
Teddy Roosevelt, despite his busy schedule as a Harvard student, managed to excel academically by devoting his in-between hours exclusively to studying. This principle emphasizes the importance of injecting occasional dashes of intensity into your own workday, which can significantly boost productivity.
After a few months of deploying this strategy, you will come to understand the true meaning of focus and experience levels of intensity stronger than anything you've encountered before. As a result, you'll be better equipped to accomplish your goals.
Case study on memory athletes
Newport conducted interviews with memory athletes, individuals who memorize vast amounts of information competitively. They revealed the most significant difference between memory athletes and the rest of us isn't directly tied to memory, but tied to "attentional control," which measures one's ability to maintain a sharp focus
Memory athletes are not only training their memory but also sharpening their capacity to concentrate. This side effect of memory training is profound because it translates into improved attentional control, allowing individuals to focus more effectively in all aspects of their lives.
On social media
In most cases, social media is an adversary of focus, especially when your professional success doesn't hinge on its constant use.
Even as an influencer, I firmly believe that I don't need to be on social media all day. Social media platforms are designed to offer personalized information that arrives on an unpredictable and intermittent schedule, rendering them massively addictive. As a result, they can seriously hinder your efforts to deeply concentrate.
The issue isn't whether social media offers any benefits, as they likely do to some extent. The key is to continue using them only if their positive impacts substantially outweigh the negatives. For most of you, I believe social media usage is a net negative.
We all have the same 24 hours in a day, and how we choose to allocate that time can significantly influence our ability to capture value. Time spent on low-impact activities is an opportunity cost that could be allocated to higher-value endeavors.
Newport's experiment by refraining from posting anything on social media reveals a sobering truth for you: most of your family and friends likely will not even notice your absence from these platforms. This finding underscores the need to reevaluate the necessity of social media in our lives, especially when it comes to maintaining our focus and pursuing deep work.
Leisure outside the 9-5
When you finish your workday, you have a choice – immediate gratification of Netflix or YouTube for leisure, or something more intellectually stimulating. The key is not to default to whatever captures your attention at the moment.
One excellent option is to establish a structured program of reading. Another worthy option is to engage in exercise or the enjoyment of good, in-person company. Physical activity can rejuvenate your body and mind, while meaningful interactions with friends or loved ones provide a sense of fulfillment and social connection that can't be replicated through a screen.
This deliberate approach to leisure not only enriches your mind but also enhances the quality of your free time.
You might wonder if you're too tired after work to engage in such activities and if relaxation is the more appealing option. Empirical studies reveal if you give your mind something meaningful to do throughout all your waking hours, you'll end the day feeling more fulfilled and begin the next one more relaxed.
Effective Professional Communications
As a creator, I get tons of emails that I don’t want. Responding to all the emails with tailored answers is time-consuming. One effective approach is to make others work to earn my response.
Newport discussed his implementation of a “sender filter:” his correspondents have to filter themselves before attempting to contact him. He adopted a stance where he only responds to proposals that align well with his schedule and interests.
And so have I. This approach has significantly reduced the time I spend dealing with incoming communication.
Similarly, dealing with email at work can often feel like navigating a field filled with productivity landmines, especially when faced with interrogative emails that demand your attention.
Instead of simply reacting to them, you should think about what's the most efficient process to reduce the number of exchanges needed to reach a successful conclusion.
When you respond to emails, meticulously outline the process required to move from the current state to the desired outcome with the least number of back-and-forth interactions. The final step is to compose a reply that clearly articulates the process and current status.
This technique translates well to networking outreach. Apply the aforementioned approach to reduce the workload imposed on your counterpart to maximize the response rate.
Conclusion
Deep work, with its emphasis on deliberate productivity and meaningful engagement, is not for everyone. It demands hard work and significant changes to one's habits.
For those willing to make these adjustments, the rewards in terms of enhanced focus and effectiveness are substantial, making the journey a worthy endeavor.
What techniques have you implemented in your work and personal life to boost productivity? Leave a comment so we can learn from each other.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Thanks for reading. I will talk to you next time.
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