26 - Deep Work
Credit to
@Gander7#5328for sharing the link in our#what-are-you-readingchannel for this week's Dendron Reading Series!
Do you struggle to get deep into your work? In this weeks reading series, we look at Charles Féval's cliff notes on Cal Newport's book Deep Work and consider Newport's hypothesis that deep work (as opposed to shallow work) is becoming increasingly rare, and increasingly valuable.
Newport claims that deep work has become harder due to a constant stream of distractions and immediate gratifications offered to the brain. Texts, likes, replies all offer small nuggets to reward and distract our brain, at the expense of other work we are doing.
So how can we hone our deep working skills? Newport recommends a host of solutions, from habitual self-care like getting enough rest and walking meditations to constrained availability like seeking isolation or making yourself harder to reach. We can also increase the importance by making monetary commitments or setting aggressive deadlines.
At it's core, deep work seems to be a matter of priorites. Have we pre-planned and scheduled time for deep work? Are we willing to forego other mental tasks and focus solely on the task at hand? Have we committed to rigorously work in mental, physical and social ways?
What do you think? How do you plan for, enter and maintain in deep work? Does the modern technology set really pose such a distraction to deep work?
Backlinks