Reviews

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

Only show reviews with written explanations

zuomiriam's review against another edition

5.0

I literally took notes as I was reading this book, something I rarely do. The first part of this book discusses the value of deep work - as someone who deeply believed in the importance of deep work (though I didn't have a name to put to it) before reading this book, these two chapters weren't particularly impactful, but they did reinforce my belief. The second part, however, blew my mind: Newport lays out carefully structured, immediately applicable advice beneath the framework of 4 guiding rules:

1. Work deeply: on different deep work philosophies and strategies to implement deep work into your life)
2. Embrace boredom: on how to improve your concentration through the time outside of deep work sessions
3. Quit social media: on how to decide which social networks offer enough benefit for your life
4. Drain the shallows: on organizational techniques to reduce shallow work (and manage emails)

This book thoroughly exceeded my expectations. If you're looking to become more productive, read this.

spe31's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative medium-paced

3.0

reaperbeware's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Great Book; helped me realize that being in a noisy environment impedes my ability to make progress

lorenzadlung's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Very instructive, I’m already successfully applying some of the outlined strategies and will soon blog about it.

stephgrani's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.5

I liked a lot of the info in this book but didn’t really enjoy reading it. I think this author has grown a lot as a human in between this book and Slow Productivity (which I loved!)