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DownloadThis book divides work into two categories: 'Deep Work' and 'Shallow Work.' Shallow work is meetings, emails, phone calls, and all those other daily tasks. The internet and social media have added even more distractions, creating more problems in time management. Getting these constant interruptions under control allows more time for deep work.
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Deep work is the tasks that need undivided attention and a distraction-free place. The book offers a simple formula for understanding how it works: High-quality work produced = (Time spent) x (Intensity of focus).
The need for uninterrupted concentration has become more important than ever because of the amount of information and the never-ending digital distractions. While social media and other digital distractions are notorious time killers, they also provide networking opportunities that can only happen online. The key is to strike a balance with sufficient attention to the important work that needs to be done.
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The digital world provides opportunities to develop skills, promote services or products, and interact, but using these powerful tools requires discipline. Developing the ability to know what's important and what isn't is the key to taming shallow work. To understand the concept of deep work, it helps to take a look at the revered concept of multitasking.
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Long thought to be a desired trait for any successful person, multitasking has now been shown to be ineffective and a hindrance to deep work. Recent research shows that multitasking is nothing more than single-tasking performed by switching from one task to another rapidly. This switching makes real focus almost impossible because attention is divided and diluted. When someone switches their attention to checking email or a quick news update, it can take 10-20 minutes to get the mind to re-focus. This lapse in focus makes it difficult to give deep work the attention it needs.
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"The ability to concentrate is a skill that gets valuable things done."
Deep work is "the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time." Newport describes how deep work allowed him to not only complete this book but also write several peer reviewed papers during the same year. This kind of focus could only be achieved by single-tasking and getting shallow work under control.
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Getting a handle on shallow work is tough. It takes effort, focus, and practice to break the habits that may have taken years to develop. The book offers some effective strategies for minimizing distractions and getting control of all that wasted time.
"Great creative minds think like artists but work like accountants."
A case study reveals the benefits of identifying and eliminating the damaging distractions that prevent deep work. The Boston Consulting Group conducted their own "deep work" experiment by cutting out nearly all distractions and shallow work. This "no contact day," as they called it, was a commitment by employees not to check emails, respond to phone calls, etc. This focus on deep work instead of shallow work revealed some important and positive points. Employees became more productive and satisfied with their performance because they were able to focus their efforts. Maybe more telling, the company's customers were still happy and oblivious to this change in focus. Without all those day-to-day distractions, work got done quickly and effectively, and no one was any worse for the wear.
Questions and answers
Deep work is simply more productive and effective. It's an important element of success that is becoming more and more necessary.
"Instead of scheduling the occasional break from distraction so you can focus, you should instead schedule the occasional break from focus to give in to distraction."
Learning how to focus on deep work consistently is a process that includes commitment, practice, and a diverse toolbox. Knowing the importance of deep work is one thing, but learning how to develop deep work skills requires different approaches and different ways of thinking.
Deep work skills can be developed by using a variety of tools. The key is to be willing to experiment and take different approaches to find the time necessary and develop the right skills. With commitment and practice, these skills can be learned and used to create important work better and faster.
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