Book Report: Deep Work

Elevator Pitch:

The logical sequel to best-selling So Good They Can’t Ignore You (see my book report here) is perhaps best described by the author himself. The featured guest of BiggerPockets episode 330 describes: 

"It was readers of So Good that said, ‘Okay, if I buy this premise then I have to become really good at hard things, right? How do I do that?’ ... How do people do elite level work in knowledge work situations? How do [people] do elite level work in various types of careers? It was there that led to the basic premise of Deep Work."

“Deep Work” is a moniker invented by the author himself, but describes a core principle understood by many of history’s most illustrious thinkers & prolific contributors to the modern world: that focused time on task, devoid of distractions, which stretches one’s cognitive abilities to its maximum to solve one specific problem, is the soil in which all great ideas blossom.

The 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.

Who is the book for:

- Knowledge workers whose livelihoods are tied up in one’s ability to make better products, increase production efficiency or otherwise strive for optimization through their own intelligence and creativity

- Anyone seeking growth & improvement in the age ubiquitous digital distraction

- Fans of Newport’s other works So Good... and Digital Minimalism

- Those who have become self-aware of the addictive nature of smart phone and social media use, and would like the phenomenon described more concretely.

Who should avoid it:

- Those whose livelihoods are dependent on the platform of social media, e.g. professional digital marketers, celebrities who place a high value on accessibility. Newport's points assume you have more important tasks to focus on

- Those who have achieved high levels of success in their fields through ubiquitous communication, and therefore have a lot to lose by ceasing to use those platforms.

4 Big Ideas from Deep Work:

1) Your willpower is finite and must be managed

This topic has also been discussed in works like The One Thing and The 4 Hour Work Week, and it's always worth pointing it. Success is not the indiscriminate application of your own personal will upon each and every problem in your life, it's a process of identifying what few problems can you solve which will make the most difference. I appreciated the angle of your will being like "a muscle that tires;" it will tire, and both efficiency & effectiveness goes down when it does. Plan for it, and work around it.

2) Mental shift work: conscious & unconscious mind

Newport dedicates much of a chapter to arguing this and related points, but I thought it was an especially uplifting idea. When describing a "shut down ritual" which ends your work day, doing so does not necessarily mean you are no longer making progress towards growth & problem solving. It means that while your conscious mind recovers by retreating elsewhere your unconscious mind is able to take not only a shift in working on your toughest challenges, but also taking a different approach on things.

3) Recharge your mind through "productive meditation"

Another idea so big it's difficult to quickly summarize: Deep Work is deeply fatiguing, and there is an upper limit on how much an individual can do in a sitting or in a work day. Is there a way to "speed charge" one's ability to go deep? Yes there is, at least according to meditation experts and famous philosophers.

Newport describes purposefully walking outdoors as a means of removing exterior distractions and a great way to schedule blocks of deep work. Endurance activities like running & bike riding and commuting to work on foot were both mentioned as ways of working it in, as is more drastic approaches such as building a literal cabin in the woods.

Citing research and historical evidence, Newport advocates looking for opportunities to escape the distraction-laden world for "natural, interesting stimuli to keep your mind occupied" long enough to replenish your attention.

4) Deep Work takes practice:

Mindfulness meditation and other strategies branded "new age" tend to garner a lot of negative opinions quickly, largely because people are very usually bad at them. Novice meditation practicers find it impossibly frustrating to turn off their minds, believing the goal is to outfox the mind into no longer generating distracting thoughts; a complete red herring.

The purpose is to notice the distracting thought and thoughtfully, mindfully redirecting your mind to the more important task at hand. If you aren't already really good at ignoring distractions, no matter how loud they can be at times, your mind may not yet be ready to realize the full benefits of working deeply. A skill to be cultivated right now!

The 4 Deep Work Philosophies:

1. Monastic Philosophy:

- Deep work is so important as to totally reject all interruptions, typically involving drastic & semi-permanent alterations to one’s life.

- The theatrical “cabin in the woods” idea

Examples: 

- Henry David Thoreau writing Walden 

- Quentin Cassidy, as described in John L Parker's Once a Runner

2. Bimodal Philosophy:

- Monastic living part time with a return to distracted, shallow work part time

- Time periods are still significant: 4 days of deep work in a week, or a couple of months of seclusion every year

- Minimum: 1 full day with no distractions

- Those who apply the bimodal philosophy admire the productivity of the monastics, but also respect the value they received from the shallow behavior in their working lives.

Examples: 

- Carl Jung's Bolingen Tower described in book

- Bill Gates “Think Weeks” while CEO of Microsoft

- Josh Dorkin, CEO of BiggerPockets, long-time custom of taking all Wednesdays off for deep thinking and reflection

- “Those who apply the bimodal philosphy admire the productivity of the monastics, but also respect the value they received from the shallow behavior in their working lives.”

3. Rhythmic Philosophy:

- The easiest way to consistently start deep work sessions is to transform them into a simple, regular habit. The goal is to create a rhythm for this work that removes the need for you to decide if and when to go deep.

- Work in regular, repeated deep work blocks, scheduled in a predictable way and never wavered from

Examples: 

- Jerry Seinfeld’s advice to “write jokes every day", and "don’t break the chain”

- Regular time-blocks scheduled each week to work deeply.

- “perhaps fails to achieve the most intense levels of thinking experienced by the bimodal philosophy, but arguable the best fit for life as it is. Also seems to be the most popular approach for modern day knowledge workers"

4. Journalistic philosophy

- Ad how deep work blocks as time allows

- Not for novices, best for this established in their careers and confident in the quality of their product.”

- What Newport uses: “I face each week as it arises, and do my best to squeeze as much depth out of it as possible.”

- Naturally consists of a lot of mental residue, and requires quick and disciplined transitions back to the act of deep work.

In Closing

Deep Work is another incredibly insightful book which I will surely find myself referring back to dozens of times over the years. The Deep Work Hypothesis is being played out in the entire landscape of modern-day business. A firm reminder that the tools to improve yourself are very usually simple, and often right in front of you. So long as you can avoid all those distractions!

Are you going to be one of those who is able to leverage Deep Work into building rare and valuable Career Capital?

Tell me about it in the comments!