Prince Rahul's Key Ideas from Deep Work
by Cal Newport

Deep work is a skill that needs to be practiced. You might only have the concentration and energy to do it for an hour or two a day. But slowly, slowly, as you keep honing in on the skill, you’ll be able to work deeply and produce massive amounts of work and reap all the benefits of deep work.

Rule 1: Work Deeply

Rule 2: Embrace Boredom

Rule 3: Quit Social Media

Rule 4: Drain the Shallows

• Monastic: isolate yourself for long periods of time without distractions; no shallow work allowed.
• Bimodal: reserve a few consecutive days when you will be working like a monastic (you need at least one day a week).
• Rhythmic: take 3-4 hours every day to perform deep work on your project.
• Journalistic: alternate your day between deep and shallow work as it fits your blocks of time(not recommended to try out first).

• It’s a lot easier to say no to distractions when you have a really big Yes that you’re pursuing.
• This begs the question, what’s your wildly important goal? What’s the subject that arouses a terrifying longing in your heart? Figure it out, then banish distractions from your life and use deep work to make it happen as quickly as possible.

• You need to constantly fight distractions, push yourself and your concentration to the limits, spend less time on social media, spend less time on the Internet, plan your days (even your leisure time!) in advance, and so on.
• The deep life isn’t for everybody. Much easier to give in to the comforts of artificial busyness. Much easier to waste away time on social media. Much easier to occupy yourself with shallow tasks. Much easier to give in to temptations whenever they arise.(Shallow Work)

1. Choose a Deep Work philosophy
2. Schedule deep work blocks
3. Decide where and how you’ll perform Deep Work
4. Execute like a business
5. Implement a shutdown ritual

• The New Law of Productivity: High-Quality Work Produced = (Time Spent) x (Intensity of Focus)
• The Principle of Least Resistance: Our tendency toward behaviors that are easiest in the moment.
• Schedule in advance when you’ll use the Internet, and then avoid it altogether outside these times. Do it both at home and work to further improve your concentration training.
• Practice productive meditation : This a period in which you’re occupied physically but not mentally—walking, jogging, driving, showering—and focus your attention on a single well-defined professional problem.

• Social Media fragment our time and reduce our ability to concentrate, making it difficult to improve your ability to work deeply.

Do a test run: without deactivating, stay off consciously from your social media of choice for 30 days. After 30 days, evaluate:

1. Was it impossible for you to stay away or were you greatly inconvenienced?
2. Did anyone care?

If you want to eliminate the addictive pull of entertainment sites on your time and attention, give your brain a quality alternative.

• Disable all incoming call/message notifications and badges
• Become hard to reach
• Quit social media
• Work in a quiet place
• Work at a quiet time
• Limit internet access