Deep Work by Cal Newport - Review

As distracted as I am today, it is quite ridiculous that I am even attempting to tackle the subject of deep work, but, hey, you have to start somewhere, right? Even if you have the most scrambled, undisciplined and all over the place kind of brain ever.

(sigh)

Very well, then. Here goes nothing.

Deep Work and Mental Strain

"Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It’s a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy." -// Cal Newport

I have to confess - I hate mental strain and I have been notorious for avoiding it as the plague. My dad would call me out on my laziness to think as he termed it, and I'm guilty as charged. Mental strain makes me want to throw tantrums like a little kid. Anything that didn't come naturally to me, with little to no effort, I just presumed wasn't for me. Sigh. I know, right?

I now see the error of my ways and I am willing to try my best at attempting to correct this detrimental habit of mine. But I am aware of how much I'm going to hate the process and that by no means is it going to be easy, cause that's exactly the point - to lean in to the hard, the seemingly impossible. Because that is the only way to substantial change.

Implementing

The good news is, as Cal writes in his book - it is possible to train and get better at your deep work and focus. He suggests allocating a defined time and space for this practice, as leaving it to the chance may result in diminished returns, if you even manage to remember that you had this deep work thingy that you wanted to practice in the first place.

He also introduces different philosophies about implementing deep work into one's schedule, from which I recognised the rhythmic philosophy as the one best suited for me, since carving out early morning hours (4:45-7:00) for scheduling my deep work practice sounds most reasonable.

I just.. need to start getting up timely again. So far, from the five habits I'm trying to implement by tracking streaks, waking up is pretty much the only one I actually struggle with right now. But hey, one more reason to dig in and land it for good.

Cal emphasize the importance of cutting out all distractions, even in the form of your own distracting side-thoughts, as each such distraction leaves mental residue, seriously cutting away at your efficiency. He advises going for walks with just a single problem as a focus and warns against the brain's tendency to play tricks on you in the form of looping, just to avoid the painful unknown.

Why?

Unfortunately, Cal does not go into exploring why deep work is so effective, he only nonchalantly mentions myelination of neurons as a possible explanation, but since he doesn't quote any sources it kind of gives the impression that it's something he just made up and wasn't going to elaborate on it in any manner whatsoever. Which is sad - for a girl that quite enjoys herself some armchair neurology.

Josie disappear in the depths of YouTube, munching away at tidbits on myelin sheath, hippocampus, neurogenesis and such, never to be seen of again.

Conclusion

After all hissy fits are over and the big girl pants are finally on, it's actually quite amazing what can be achieved. And the mental strain might just become the new best friend, knowing that on the other side of it there are amazing goodies to be had.

So get you scuba gear on and get deep!

Hugs&Coffee,
~Josie~

Read a review of the book "So Good They Can't Ignore You" by Cal Newport - here.