Deep Work - Cal Newport

Deep Work

By Cal Newport

  • Release Date: 2016-01-05
  • Genre: Management & Leadership
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 625 Ratings

Description

AN AMAZON BEST BOOK OF 2O16 PICK IN BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP

WALL STREET JOURNAL BUSINESS BESTSELLER

A BUSINESS BOOK OF THE WEEK AT 800-CEO-READ


Master one of our economy’s most rare skills and achieve groundbreaking results with this “exciting” book (Daniel H. Pink) from an “exceptional” author (New York Times Book Review).

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep Work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there's a better way.

In Deep Work, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four "rules," for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill.

1. Work Deeply
2. Embrace Boredom
3. Quit Social Media
4. Drain the Shallows

A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, Deep Work takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories-from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air-and no-nonsense advice, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored. Deep Work is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world.

Reviews

  • Excellent book!

    5
    By xxMac
    A good way to commit a sizable time each day to doing something meaningful and producing usable content.
  • On point!

    5
    By Picknanup
    I have been struggling to continue working in a job i have had for over 30 years. This job has always provided challenges and great satisfaction until recent years. I now realize this is because I have allowed far too much shallowness into my routine and cannot focus on anything meaningful. This book woke me up to this fact and I have already made significant changes (before I even finished reading it!). So far I am much happier and, as I continue eliminating distractions, I expect to only be more satisfied in my work. Thank you Cal for a wonderful wake-up-call! Joe
  • Highly recommend

    5
    By Wero_98
    Great read. I would gift this to all the people close to me so that they could understand the long term impact of deep work.
  • Read it

    5
    By ilya the speedy russian
    A great read if you find yourself feeling like you’re constantly distracted and want to develop better work habits
  • Awesome title and book

    5
    By Themig6
    I am 55 years old and I consume books constantly. This ranks in my top 5 ever. Could not put it down and have never read a book so fast. Excellent advise, blunt but the truth everyone needs to hear.
  • Excellent

    5
    By Rover2021Daws
    Excellent
  • Just what I needed at the right time

    4
    By Dwellman
    This book is being read at a time I am inundated with huge volumes of distraction at work, and in home-based projects. Email, social media, endless calls, meetings, supposed emergencies, etc. Now I have ideas on how to tackle the noise and will set up ways to measure my successes—or lack of successes.
  • Similar to Digital Minimalism, but still relevant

    4
    By robdog151
    Lots of great examples and ideas to being more focused. I can tell Cal greatly benefits from Deep Work and I plan to implement these tactics.
  • Good Reminder. Wish book was more concise.

    1
    By Kelley U
    Certainly a good reminder of why depth in work matters. Book was only average in insights and riddled with personal stories. Main points could be written in 20 pages or so. In fact, reading all the words in this book would be classified as “shallow work”.
  • Life changing

    5
    By Terrance B
    I decided to make the goal of finishing this book while on vacation after hearing so many great things. It certainly didn’t disappoint. I now have the appropriate mindset of taking my mindshare back (think social media and distractions) that gives me that deep, slightly disturbing feeling that leaving these distracting habits behind is what will propel me forward in the things I wanted to do. Without going too specific, if you seek what I seek, (control of your mind, time, and space) the chance to do work that you’ll be proud of when your time’s up, don’t waste it. Start by reading it here.

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