Deep Work
Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
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4.5 • 709 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Millions of copies sold!
The bestselling modern classic that sparked a worldwide conversation about the value of concentration—and the true costs of fractured attention.
“I’m handing you the answer to the overwhelm you feel, and his name is Dr. Cal Newport.” —Mel Robbins, The Mel Robbins Podcast, author of New York Times bestsellingThe Let Them Theory
Deep Work— the ability to focus without distraction on cognitively demanding tasks—is one of the most important abilities you can cultivate in our current moment. It’s a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce quality results in less time.
And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep—spending their days in a frantic blur of emails, online meetings, social media, and AI slop, not realizing there’s a better way.
In Deep Work, bestselling author and professor Cal Newport makes the case for reclaiming focus as a critical skill in our digital world, providing step-by step instructions for achieving this goal, including four rules for transforming your daily habits:
1. Work Deeply
2. Embrace Boredom
3. Quit Social Media
4. Drain the Shallows
A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, Deep Work offers a vitally important message: in our age of constant distraction, focus is a superpower. With inspiring examples and clear rules, Deep Work will teach you to introduce this ability in your own life.
“As a presence on the page, Newport is exceptional in the realm of self-help authors … Six pages in, I powered down my laptop. Twenty pages in, I left the house to buy an alarm clock so that I wouldn’t have an excuse to sleep next to my phone.”—Molly Young, The New York Times
“One of the few books I would call life-changing.” —Tim Maurer, Forbes
“I’ve read lots of books about productivity and lots of books about distraction. For me, Deep Work is among the best, on both counts.” —Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker
“[Deep Work] has changed how I live my life. Particularly, it’s led me to stop scheduling morning meetings, and to preserve that time for more sustained, creative work.” —Ezra Klein, The Ezra Klein Show
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this strong self-help book, Newport (So Good They Can't Ignore You) declares that the habits of modern professionals checking email at all hours, rushing from meeting to meeting, and valuing multitasking above all else only stand in the way of truly valuable work. According to him, everyone should practice deep work: "professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit." Newport calls on psychology and neuroscience, as well as common sense, to back up his recommendations. As to why people don't already work this way, he implicates a cultural narrative that stresses activity over concentration and that encourages workers to follow the path of least resistance. Newport encourages readers to take breaks from technology, recharge with downtime, leave social media, and reply to emails more purposefully. It's tempting to blow off the message as the complaints of an admitted non-technophile, but Newport's disarming self-awareness "Deep work is not some nostalgic affectation of writers and early-20th-century philosophers" and emphasis on a meaningful work practice that's "rich with productivity and meaning" makes for an excellent lesson in focusing on quality rather than quantity at work.
Customer Reviews
Read it !! It’s worth it
This book goes from inspiring to very practical. It’s a well written insight to a new way of thinking about productivity. Anyone interested in doing meaningful or fullfilling work should at the very minimun read the sample. It’s a great read and definitely worth your money !!
Must read
Great book. Learned many new things
Great read and truly something useful that can change your professional career!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was both engaging and insightful, articulating concepts I had intuitively understood but never formally recognized—particularly about when I was most productive during my college and graduate years. As I transitioned into my professional career, I realized how often I became consumed by shallow work, believing it was the core of my responsibilities because it was what I was paid to do. However, this book illuminated the fact that my best work—the most impactful and fulfilling—has always stemmed from dedicating several uninterrupted hours to a single focused project or issue…deep work. It offers clear guidance on how to implement this approach .. this deep work ethic … in a professional setting. A fantastic read—I finished it in under a week!