Dear Blog Subscribers: Welcome to the Sort of Book Club of the Month. Sort Of … because I am only going to post a book review when I have actually read one that I like a lot. No matter how often that is. Which could turn out to be more or less once a month, since I read a lot of books. As you may know, I read a lot of different kinds of books so there won’t be any pattern here – other than they will probably all be non-fiction. The only kinds of novels I read are running novels, and even I understand this is a narrow niche … Here we go …
I recently read Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, by Cal Newport. Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown, but I decided to stay open to the possibility that a computer science professor could write a good book.
I was not disappointed.
Newport makes a compelling case for the need for more Deep Work in a 24/7 wired world full of interruptions and “breaking news.” His central thesis is “to succeed you have to produce the absolute best stuff you’re capable of producing- a task that requires depth.” He argues that deep work is valuable, rare and meaningful.
I processed this central thesis with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I agree with Newport that the most meaningful work that I have ever done is deep work – the kind of work where you lose track of time. I’ve had moments when I have been working with a team to create a product idea, or writing, or even having a deep conversation with someone which felt impactful for both of us, which felt like Deep Work in the way that Newport describes it. On the other hand, when I was a CEO for about four years, I hardly ever remember doing any deep, uninterrupted work – even though my work sometimes felt important. I felt better when Newport wrote that most CEOs don’t do much deep work.
Newport makes the point that in the new economy, we need to quickly master hard things. And that doing so requires Deep Work. He also says that those who can master deep work are rare and therefore those who can do deep work (at least in certain lines of work) can distinguish themselves from the crowd. I certainly agree with that. Anyone who sits in a meeting and observes everyone looking into their phones, or notices how many people seem addicted to text messaging, starts to wonder how really productive or healthy all these distractions are. Newport spends quite a bit of time on the dark side of the culture of connectivity, even devoting a chapter to trying to convince the reader to quit social media.
These are all fair points. But Newport didn’t really win me over until he made the point that doing Deep Work is actually a better way to live. He says “a deep life is not just economically lucrative, but also a life well-lived.” Now you have my attention. There are lots of ways to make money, some of them sleazier than they are deep; but, now that I think about it, a life where you spend time thinking deeply, and examine both the world and your own inner life, is almost certainly a better life. And a life that is not guaranteed in today’s world.
Newport explains what he means by Deep Work in the first half of the book, and then devotes the second half to “rules for Deep Work.” I liked the first half better than the second half and, assuming you are not burdened by my compulsive disorder of having to finish books that I start, you might want to just read that first half.
In my view, his rules get overly prescriptive and, in some cases, even a little strange. For example, he recommends that we schedule every minute of our day. This may or may not be the way to maximize our productivity, but it’s almost certainly not a great way to live.
In the end, Deep Work made me think more deeply about how I spend my time, and more conscious of all the ways the world can be distracting to good work. That alone made it worth the read.
If you read it, let me know what you think. Thanks.
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