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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
What an eye-opening book this has been. It didn’t take Newport long to convince me of the importance of deep work. The most important aspect of this book was the useful strategies he included to incorporate deep work into my life. This is certainly one of the best productivity books I have read. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to do more high level work.
This book changed the definition of Deep work for me, and made me realize how much time I wasted in my teens that could be put to better work. I also like how there are segments for how to reply to an email in the most effective way, I have used that quite often. Also it kind of made me disdain social media. All in all, great book, it made me reflect a lot which is a good sign. I wish I had it physically instead of on my kindle though. It makes it easier to skip through after reading.
We live simultaneously in an age of distraction and an age of unprecedented production. We are at the same time more busy than we have ever been and also more free to waste time with more pervasive frequency. This is what makes Cal Newport's suggestions in Deep Work prophetic - both in their insight, and in their potential for congregational unwelcome.
My own vocation borders somewhere between the spheres of 'knowledge work' and 'people work' - as I estimate most jobs also do - so it is hard to know how to apply Newport's ideas into my own schedule. Suggestions for retreat mitigated by offer of limited access were admittedly idealistic and unattainable by most, but these suggestions also hold potential to be revolutionary if managers would only read them in droves. Those in the gig-economy or those with institutional power have the greatest likelihood of incorporating his advice, but what might happen if a spark like this could spread?
From my current reading of Newport, it is hard to tell whether the pandemic escalated or inhibited his ideas. Can a knowledge worker quarantined in his guest bedroom truly do the type of 'deep work' recommended with children or laundry in the next room? Or, is the newfound freedom given by tech startups in Silicon Valley and elsewhere - of fully remote work, or shortened work weeks - assisting the capacity and the acknowledgement for deep work, or the more trendy 'flow' state?
Though I - along with, I am sure, many readers of Newport - will be unable to incorporate every idea into my work week, but there are some key takeaways that have already begun to take root and bring true refreshment.
Deep Work is a book that I am sure to return to in the future - guaranteed by already scheduled audits of my deep work implementation in the coming months. If anything, this book has helped me to clarify my time and attention in service of my ambitious, and for that I will move mountains, and maybe even meetings.
My own vocation borders somewhere between the spheres of 'knowledge work' and 'people work' - as I estimate most jobs also do - so it is hard to know how to apply Newport's ideas into my own schedule. Suggestions for retreat mitigated by offer of limited access were admittedly idealistic and unattainable by most, but these suggestions also hold potential to be revolutionary if managers would only read them in droves. Those in the gig-economy or those with institutional power have the greatest likelihood of incorporating his advice, but what might happen if a spark like this could spread?
From my current reading of Newport, it is hard to tell whether the pandemic escalated or inhibited his ideas. Can a knowledge worker quarantined in his guest bedroom truly do the type of 'deep work' recommended with children or laundry in the next room? Or, is the newfound freedom given by tech startups in Silicon Valley and elsewhere - of fully remote work, or shortened work weeks - assisting the capacity and the acknowledgement for deep work, or the more trendy 'flow' state?
Though I - along with, I am sure, many readers of Newport - will be unable to incorporate every idea into my work week, but there are some key takeaways that have already begun to take root and bring true refreshment.
Deep Work is a book that I am sure to return to in the future - guaranteed by already scheduled audits of my deep work implementation in the coming months. If anything, this book has helped me to clarify my time and attention in service of my ambitious, and for that I will move mountains, and maybe even meetings.
Super basic concept that was dragged out and boring.
There's no arguing shallow work can stack up against a person. Deep Work addresses that, and explains the importance of being able to focus on the bigger, more difficult job that comes with creating something, whether it be an article, a software program, a marketing concept, etc. All well and good. There was heavy emphasis against social media (where it might distract from focus on this deep work), and how easy it is to become addicted to it. I disagree about social media being shallow when it's used to keep up with close friends & family that don't live nearby (or addictive, for those that no how to prioritize their time). And defend it's downright efficient when local friends & family are planning to meet up. It can be a tool as much as a distraction, based on one's use of it. Did that sound defensive? Listening to this portion of the book kind of made me feel defensive, in a, "Hands off my down time, Mister," kind of way. But I heard what he was saying. So... 3 1/2 stars.
DEEP LIFE
I went in expecting work advice, came out with life advice. 11/10, helped me to understand why Ali Abdaal’s productivity isn’t the full answer.
I went in expecting work advice, came out with life advice. 11/10, helped me to understand why Ali Abdaal’s productivity isn’t the full answer.
The first self help book I've written. The first half is an argument for "Deep Work," why it produces valuable outputs and is increasingly scarce. The second half is very specific strategies for engaging in Deep Work, including protecting yourself from the distractions of social media, scheduling yourself, and not taking letting work invade every corner of your life.
I found the broad message compelling although somewhat specifically tailored to certain types of vocations--which happen to include mine. But I was not convinced that many of the specific strategies made sense for everyone--and in particular the emphasis on minutely scheduling and ritualizing every aspect of work seems to miss how a lot of my own work, at least, gets done. Moreover, his "proofs" of his propositions were largely examples of people that followed them and were successful, without any serious exploration of people who followed the advice and failed or succeeded without all of the highly regimented rites and rituals that he prescribes.
That said, just making FaceBook less accessible--which I did after hearing his interview with Ezra Klein--has certainly improved my life.
I found the broad message compelling although somewhat specifically tailored to certain types of vocations--which happen to include mine. But I was not convinced that many of the specific strategies made sense for everyone--and in particular the emphasis on minutely scheduling and ritualizing every aspect of work seems to miss how a lot of my own work, at least, gets done. Moreover, his "proofs" of his propositions were largely examples of people that followed them and were successful, without any serious exploration of people who followed the advice and failed or succeeded without all of the highly regimented rites and rituals that he prescribes.
That said, just making FaceBook less accessible--which I did after hearing his interview with Ezra Klein--has certainly improved my life.
While I agree that this book can be summarized into one sentence - if you want to be productive and deliver quality results, you need an intense level of focused attention, no distractions and discipline - it is interesting to read Cal Newport’s ideas and how he develops them. There isn’t necessarily anything new in what he exposes but rather, I think he explores how our minds - and by extension, how we - work to give a better understanding of how, if we want, we can achieve a supra-version of ourselves. He dives into ideas we often ourselves skim or leave completely unearthed because we often aren’t interested in why something works, only that it does. So, it was fun and interesting to reflect on what he said, on what I do in my work, agreeing and disagreeing, pondering and reviewing things I do or do not do. It was enjoyable.
Nagyon tanulságos és elgondolkodtató. A sok tipphez, stratégiához még mindenképpen vissza fogok térni.
informative
medium-paced