Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (Blinkist Summary)

“Embrace boredom. Acute concentration is a skill you should cultivate. Like the way athletes take optimal care of their body outside the training sessions, you need to hone your concentration skill outside of your deep work sessions. If you give in to distractions every day of your life at the slightest sign of boredom, it will become challenging to cultivate the intense concentration needed for deep work.

To prevent this, embrace boredom! Stop yourself from checking your phone notifications every time there is a beep. Train your ability to resist distractions.”

“Quit social media. Social media are prime examples of shallow living. As the author points out, they offer nothing beneficial in return for all the time we give them. It will be a barrier to working deep if you feel the urge to check on your social media account every few minutes. Due to addictive tendencies, deep living and social media do not go well together.”

“To implement deep work into your life, you need to create rituals and routines — this way, deep work becomes easier and second nature to you.”

“Drain the shallows. “The Shallows” is the book's name, which depicts the adverse effects of the Internet on our mental life. Examples of shallow work from the previous chapters include: attending meetings, making phone calls, answering emails, and many other low–value activities.”

“If you want to work deep, you need to drain the shallows. Create time for deep work, and spend little time doing shallow work.”