Essential Lessons from Deep Work by Cal Newport

Deep Work by Cal Newport is a book that’s chock full of invaluable advice for being a more productive you, so in this article, I want to look at four of the most important lessons from Deep Work.

If you’re someone who has a lot of deadlines, or needs to spend a lot of time typing away on a laptop, you’ll find this book incredibly helpful.

In the always-connected, social media-driven world we live in, being able to remain focused and concentrate on one task for an extended period of time is an invaluable skill – but not something that many of us can do.

In Deep Work there are of course plenty of lessons and advice that’ll help you be more productive, but in this article, I want to look at the four that helped me the most. But first…

What is Deep Work?

Deep Work is defined as a period of extended, unbroken focus that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts will create new value, improve a skill, and are very hard to replicate.

As a counter to that, Newport also posits another type of work in his book, which is Shallow Work, which is defined as: Non-cognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.

From the description, I’m sure you can already see why being able to enter this work state is important, but for the sake of clarity, some huge benefits that can come from introducing Deep Work into your life are:

• Drastically improved output

• A deeper understanding of your work

• An ability to go beyond your current skill level

• Enhanced ability to focus and remain undistracted

Use it or lose it – So USE it

As we age, our bodies naturally begin to wear out. But with regular exercise, good nutrition, and constantly working to maintain your health, you can maintain your body’s peak condition for longer than someone who doesn’t take as good care of themselves.

The same can be said for our attention spans too. In Deep Work, Newport writes that “when you spend too much time in a frenetic state of shallowness, you run the risk of losing your ability to focus on anything.”

What that means is that to maintain your ability to focus, you need to regularly train your mind, in the same way you’d train your body. In this sense, entering regular periods of Deep Work can be hugely beneficial.

Focus on being productive, not just busy

Our lives are becoming busier and busier. It feels like with each passing day, we all have more things put onto our plates, but how much of our regular work helps us work toward our goals?

An example that was put forward in Deep Work was that of Yahoo, and the CEO Marissa Mayer banning the workforce from working from home. The reason for this was that remote workers, according to her, weren’t logging into the email servers enough.

But it’s pointed out that this mindset was highlighting the fact that her team wasn’t checking their email enough, which as we all know, is the opposite of being productive. Mayer argued that she needed her team to be “visibly busy.”

It’s here that Newport argues the opposite. Doing things that make us feel productive often has the opposite effect – with checking email multiple times throughout the day being a prime example.

Treat your work like a craft

In the same way that a carpenter approaches building a chair with the utmost care and precision, you too should be doing the same with your work.

Approach everything with dedication and fully commit yourself to the task at hand. Doing this will not only allow you to produce a much higher quality of work, but also grow your skills.

Tackle every job with the dedication of a craftsman.

Willpower is finite

Think of willpower as a sand timer. When you first wake up, your willpower is at its strongest, but throughout the day it’ll gradually wane and fade – just as the grains of sand gradually make their way to the bottom of the bottle, eventually leaving the top empty.

Something that Newport preaches in Deep Work, and something that I entirely agree with, is the importance of scheduling periods of Deep Work when you have the most willpower.

For me, that’s first thing in the morning, until about 1pm, so it’s during that time I place all of my periods of Deep Work.

The key to developing your ability to focus is to exploit your already existing reserve of willpower. By combining the two, you’ll soon enhance your ability to concentrate for extended periods of time.

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