Summary of 'Deep Work' by Cal Newport. (2 Summaries in 1: In-Depth Summary and Bonus 2-Page PDF.)

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.

Shallow work is "easy to replicate," so training a smart person to perform the task shouldn't take long, perhaps a few weeks or months. Deep work is "hard to replicate," so training could take many months or even years.

Deliberate practice is a complex topic. In a nutshell, it is practice designed to improve a specific skill using intense focus, repetition and continuous feedback. Deliberate practice is cognitively demanding, requires intense concentration and cannot be done with distraction. As Ericsson explains, "Diffused attention is almost antithetical to

The consistency of a rhythmic approach creates a daily deep work habit, which over time becomes stronger and requires less willpower. The rhythmic approach is also great for making progress on big projects that require weeks or months to finish. A lengthy project can be demotivating and lead to procrastination, especially if the project does not ha

Newport proposes a more rigorous approach called the craftsman approach to tool selection, which involves a careful evaluation of a tool's pros and cons as it relates to your most important goals and activities.

Instead of quitting the Internet completely or on a weekly sabbatical, a more sensible approach is using offline / online time blocks,

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.

When time is limited, shallow work and time-wasters will be the first to get squeezed out, as Basecamp experienced when it moved to a four-day workweek.

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