Deep Work

Quotes

"Like fingers pointing to the moon, other diverse disciplines from anthropology to education, behavioral economics to family counseling, similarly suggest that the skillful management of attention is the sine qua non of the good life and the key to improving virtually every aspect of your experience." - Winifred Gallagher

"Develop the habit of letting small bad things happen. If you don't, you'll never find time for the life-changing big things." - Tim Ferriss

"Throughout most of human history, to be a blacksmith or a wheelwright wasn't glamorous. But this doesn't matter, as the specifics of the work are irrelevant. The meaning uncovered by such efforts is due to the skill and appreciation inherent in craftsmanship—not the outcomes of their work. Put another way, a wooden wheel is not noble, but its shaping can be. The same applies to knowledge work. You don't need a rarified job; you need instead a rarified approach to your work."

Paradigm Shift

While it has it's criticisms (isn't as universally applicable as Cal Newport makes it out to be) Deep Work was a total paradigm shift for me. His comments about the need to remove distractions and spend intense time with hard problems was revolutionary. I credit the guidance from this book for many of my personal and professional innovative achievements. Many of the truly novel patents, trade secrets, and other intellectual property I've created for companies only came after many hours of genuinely deep work. 

As you may notice from the essays and other topics that pervade my personal research, I have found the idea of deliberately curating one's attention and information "diet" to be key to an invigorating career and life. Deep Work is no exception to that, and is increasingly becoming the rule.