Deep Work Review

Deep work can be summed up into an oversimplified equation:

High-Quality Work Produced = (Time Spent) * (Intensity of Focus)

My Main take-aways

This includes pop-up notifications, over-heard conversations, briefly checking emails.
Task switching leaves task residue. Switch from task A to task B and there will be some residue of task A in your brain occupying space and reducing the depth of your work.
This can also include thinking about another task that isn’t what you’re working on. Like mindfulness meditation if you notice yourself wandering then bring your mind back to the main task.
Checking email is a good example of multitasking that lowers the impact of deep work. If you switch from deep work to checking your emails you see will then leave a residue on your mind. You either have to deal with that email immediately, or it will linger on your mind until it is eventually completed. This residue impacts deep work.
The more you try to do at once, the less you actually accomplish.

If not measured the right way, the success of deep work can only be seen in lagging results. e.g. number of papers written, speed with which a project is finished.
Deep work needs an immediate measure which you can track, using pomodoros is a useful measure. At the end of the day see how much work deep work you have done and track this over time. Incremental increases in total deep work will be a good measure of success and is also rewarding.
Busy task-switching such as making phone calls, emailing and meetings are all light-work that distract from deep work. However, they are much easier to measure as they have immediate results. e.g. I’ve emailed 5 people and made 10 phone calls. But busy does not equal quality time spent.

Mastery of your work leads to a happy and fulfilling life.
Losing focus leads your mind to wander, often landing on things that are unpleasant with your life.
Happiness / contentment occur when we are stretched physically or mentally to our limits, by choice, and make incremental accomplishments. Csikszentmihalyi calls this ‘flow’.
It is easier to be happy while working than it is when you have free time. Deep work has goals with inbuilt feedback and difficulties to overcome. This leads to a sense of accomplishment. Free time is unstructed and may lack this.
Csikszentmihalyi’s research confirms this. Deep work helps order your mind in a fashion that brings purpose and contentment, leading to overall more happiness.

Cal has a routine at the end of his work day where he makes sure to, in essence, tie up loose ends so that he is able to switch off.
Not all jobs can be finished at the end of the day, but a brief plan of action can be decided upon. An unfinished job may have the next step for that job planned out so that when the day is done there’s no loose thread occupying space in your brain.
Confident that all loose ends have a next step then you may finish the day and let your brain detatch and unwind.
Regular rests are important for your mind to work efficiently. The rest may also lead to insights through the work of your subconscious.

Like a muscle your brain needs to be trained to focus. Cal say’s that the evidence shows that a child, for example, may only be able to focus for one hour in the beginning. That we as adults should increase our focus and deep work to roughly 4 hours, which is near our capacity.
While nearing the end of your deep work your brain will get tired and seek distractions. You must resist these distractions and push through, your brain will harden and begin to resist these distractions more easily.

Carve out a specific time in the day where you can have uninterrupted blocks of time to focus. Early in the morning is often a good time for this.
Do nothing else in this period, if you can, and focus as much as you can on one deep task. Do not switch between multiple deep tasks.
During deep work your mind may wander, or think about unimportant details of the task. Like mindfulness notice these unproductive thoughts and bring your attention back to the main task.
Avoid high dopamine rewarding activities like Social Media, YouTube and click-bait news.
Not from the book - dopamine detox and get used to doing nothing (embrace boredom)
Do not respond to emails / chats immediately, people will get used to the delay. My thoughts - people will also use that time to think through the problem themselves and may find a solution.