Everybody has a book that changed their life. There was a time before the book and a time after the book. Cal Newport’s Deep Work is that book for me.
I can't stress just how much of an essential read this book is. It is THE essential read for pretty much anybody. This is one of those books marketed exactly right. It's targeted audience (professionals looking to boost their productivity) have no choice but to recommend this book to everyone because there are tidbits FOR everyone.
Premise
Newport puts forward the idea that much of the modern world has become hopelessly, and dangerously, distracted in the work place. The modern economy is what Newport calls a 'Knowledge' economy and therefore everyone participating in it are 'Knowledge' workers. A good synonym for Knowledge work is work behind a desk, on a computer all day, white collar work. This is Cubicleville.
But the Knowledge economy is sputtering badly. Workers are drowning in so-called Shallow Work. Emails, social media posts (most not even related to work), PowerPoint presentations, emails, and more fucking emails. And the ubiquity of email makes it almost impossible for anybody to be working, particularly if you keep your work email on your god awful smartphone.
Newport proposes a more satisfying, though difficult at first, alternative: Deep Work. Deep Work, and the book's argument, are thus:
The ability to focus on a single task for extended periods of time is not only valuable, but it is becoming evermore rare.
The book highlights early Deep Workers including Theodore Roosevelt, Carl Jung, and the guy who invented Twitter.
Why It's Essential
Newport's argument is the most logical, coherent, comprehensive, comprehensible rhetorical prose I have ever seen. You feel the urgency of the problem (c'mon, you checked your Facebook at work and you know it), and the urgency of the solution.
Newport acquiesces to his readers worries at every turn (like a master writer should). The book is divided into two parts. The first is a rhetorical argument in favour of Deep Work, outlining the concept and the dangers of not following it. Attention spans are getting shorter, so Newport has his work cut out for him. His examples of the minefield of Shallow Work and the superiority of Deep Work are dead on the money. People who are shallow will feel like their life is getting away from them, those who are deep control their lives to an extent that they can give their time away.
The reasons for its essential reading go deeper (no pun intended). Newport's strategies for fighting the shallow include something called a 'Shutdown Ritual' where you cease working, either deep or shallow, after you leave work. Tidbits like these, that aren't just about productivity but lifestyle, are critical in the book basically becoming a guide to reinventing your entire life.
For the better.
The second part of the book relates to draining the shallows (there is no fucking way you are walking away from Part 1 thinking this guy is wrong). Four rules, including the removal of Social Media completely, are the focus of part two.
Here is where Newport really succeeds, and its where most non-fiction authors fail. Non-fiction at its best is all about selling an idea, usually a solution to a problem. Newport's solutions are reasonable, clearly laid out, and easy to implement.
To be sure, a good chunk of Part Two relates to selling you on the idea of the solutions. The idea of quitting social media no doubt makes some squirm in their seats. I can assure you that these fears are misguided.
Again, at no point do you think this guy is proposing something radical, when in fact that is exactly what he is doing.
Even more goodies.
And there's still more worth your time in this book. The examples highlighted in the first part are not just soul-shaking, but fascinating. The descriptions of the rules in Part 2 also fascinate as much as they create urgency.
But it's the introduction that contains the most useful analysis yet. There is a short section where Newports highlights what could be described as 'success' in the modern working world and the solutions to reaching it (namely deep work). One of the paths Newport highlights is "become a rock star." In a world of abundant information, if you're not the best EVER, then you're stuck in shallows.
To put into context, when you walk into a vinyl shop, what are likely to pick up? The remastered Sticky Fingers or a debut by a talented rock band. The Rolling Stones will crush any of the competition, no matter how good.
Unless you become the equivalent of the Rolling Stones in your field, your working life is never going to get better.
Work Deep. Or die.