Deep Work
The case that uninterrupted concentration is a rare and valuable skill
Focusing without distraction on a demanding task is becoming both rarer and more economically valuable, Cal Newport argues, and it can be trained deliberately. The second half is a set of scheduling rules for protecting it. This is the origin of the deep work block as a widely used practice.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Ali AbdaalRecommends
Doctor turned YouTuber · author of Feel-Good Productivity
Concentration is trainable, which is the argument he recommends it for, and he has interviewed its author about applying it.
Source: Ali Abdaal YouTube channel - Cal NewportRecommends
Computer science professor · author of Deep Work
Undistracted concentration is a trainable skill and increasingly the source of value in knowledge work, which is the argument of his own book.
Source: calnewport.com: his books - Chris WilliamsonRecommends
Host · Modern Wisdom
Rates it for the argument that sustained concentration is a trainable and increasingly rare skill.
Source: Modern Wisdom Reading List, Volume 1 - James ClearRecommends
Author · Atomic Habits
One of the books he recommends on deliberate practice and getting better at hard skills.
Source: jamesclear.com: deliberate practice - Lex FridmanRecommends
AI researcher · Lex Fridman Podcast
Very much with Cal Newport on focus, by his own account, and he has hosted him on the show.
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast: Charan Ranganath transcript - Tiago ForteDiscusses
Productivity writer · Building a Second Brain
Calls himself a proponent of deep work and a reader of Newport's blog, then pushes back on the book in his review. Treating every network tool as pure distraction is too simple, he argues, because weak ties and online reach open doors the book does not account for.
Source: fortelabs.com: A Review of Cal Newport's Deep Work
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under focus or productivity.
- Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's 1990 study of total absorption and what makes it happen
On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 recommend it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life
Penguin Press
Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2023 book on vision, work, failure and giving back
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Building a Second Brain
The case for one external note store, and four steps for running it
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Clear Thinking
Parrish on the ordinary moments where a decision is really made
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Effortless
Make the most essential activities the easiest ones to do
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Essentialism
The disciplined pursuit of less, applied to a career and a calendar
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it
Book entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.