1. The Law of the Vital Few (or the 80/20 Principle) To properly evaluate a network tool, you need to understand the role of that tool in the context of your goals and activities in 3 steps: Identify your primary professional or

Professorial approach to emails The last approach is based on the behavior of many professors; they simply do not respond to emails unless the sender convinces them that a reply is worth the time and effort. The professorial approach calls for ignoring the email for a few reasons: The message is unclear or difficult to respond to The subject is uni

The need for a shutdown ritual stems from the Zeigarnik effect, which is the tendency of incomplete tasks to continuously engage our thoughts. At the end of the day, your mind will continue to engage with these incomplete tasks, preventing mental rest. Fortunately, you don't need to complete all tasks to avoid this outcome. Experiments by Roy Baume

In the case of Internet distractions, the habit loop looks like this: Cue: boredom or frustration Routine: switch to Internet distraction (email, social media, games, news, etc.) Reward: feeling of relief, fun, stimulation and social validation As the loop is repeated, a habit forms which is reinforced by cravings.

So Newport create a sender filter on his website as follows: "If you have an offer, opportunity, or introduction that might make my life more interesting, e-mail me at interesting@calnewport.com. For the reasons stated above, I'll only respond to those proposals that are a good match for my schedule and interests." Newport's sender filter

Deep work: "Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit.

K. Anders Ericsson, a professor at Florida State University, found that outstanding performance isn't a result of natural talent. Rather, it is a result of hard work in the form of deliberate practice.

When either of these happens, simply revise the schedule for the rest of your day. It's not uncommon to revise the schedule six or eight times in a given day. The point is not to keep a perfect schedule, but rather to develop awareness of how long tasks truly take, how much of your day is spent on shallow versus deep work, and how your day evolves

the whiteboard effect: Creative energies produced by team members while bouncing ideas and experiments off one another. Social pressure to make progress towards a mutual goal.