Deep Work - Deepstash
Deep Work

kat sy's Key Ideas from Deep Work
by Cal Newport

Ideas, facts & insights covering these topics:

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Introduction: Deep Work Defined

Introduction: Deep Work Defined

1. Deep Work

  • Performing activities in a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit.
  • These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.
  • Psychologists used to refer to deep work as “being in the flow."
  • Requires long periods of uninterrupted thinking.

2. Shallow Work

  • Non-cognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted
  • Tend not to create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.

Deep work is the type of effort that is needed to stand out in a cognitively demanding field.

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The Idea: Minimize The Shallow

Minimize the shallow.

• Shallow work includes a low level of focus and consists of tasks that can be performed while distracted. These tasks don’t create new value.

• It is much more satisfying to create something extraordinary that only you can create.

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The Idea: Master Hard Things

Master hard things quickly.

  1. Focus intensely without distraction.
  2. Tackle relevant topics sysyematically.
  3. Deliberate practice.

• Focus on developing your high-level skills, and you will be more valuable.

Be a superstar. Climb to the top by becoming the best in your field.

• Work your way up to being an owner. Owners are the most valuable people out there.

• Immerse yourself in your work to master hard things quickly.

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The Idea: Produce At An Elite Level

Produce at an elite level.

  1. Enforce strict isolation until task is completed.
  2. Consolidate work into intense, uninterrupted pulses (batching).
  3. Maximize performance on 1 task.

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The Idea: Deliberate Practice

Deliberate practice.

  1. Attention focused on a specific skill or idea that you are trying to improve or master
  2. Receive feedback so you can correct your approach

• Uninterrupted concentration, no distractions.

• To be great at something is to be well-myelinated

• Isolate relevant neural circuit enough to trigger myelination.

• Isolated, repetitive firing of neurons

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Quickbites 1

3 groups that will thrive/ are at an advantage:

  1. The high-skilled worker - those that can work with intelligent machines.
  2. The superstars - those who are best at what they do.
  3. The owner - those with access to capital. Venture capitalists.

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Quickbites 2

2 Core abilities:

1. Master hard things quickly.

  • Intelligent machines are complicated, hard to master and change rapidly.
  • Therefore the process of mastering hard things never ends, you must be able to do it quickly, again and again.
  • If you can't learn, you can't thrive.

2. Produce at an elite level.

  • Transform latent potential to tangible results
  • If you don't produce, you won't thrive

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The Idea: Produce At An Elite Level 2

•High quality work produced = time spent x intensity of focus

• More intensity of focus, less time spent

Attention residue - when you switch from some Task A to another Task B, your attention doesn’t immediately follow—a residue of your attention remains stuck thinking about the original task. 

• Work on a single hard task for a long time without switching to minimize the negative impact of attention residue.

• the common habit of working in a state of semi-distraction is potentially devastating to your performance

Clarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not.

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IDEAS CURATED BY

Curious about different takes? Check out our Deep Work Summary book page to explore multiple unique summaries written by Deepstash users.

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