Deep Work

Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

By: Cal Newport

Narrated by: Jeff Bottoms

Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

AN AMAZON BEST BOOK OF 2O16 PICK IN BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP

WALL STREET JOURNAL BUSINESS BESTSELLER

A BUSINESS BOOK OF THE WEEK AT 800-CEO-READ

Master one of our economy’s most rare skills and achieve groundbreaking results with this “exciting” book (Daniel H. Pink) from an “exceptional” author (New York Times Book Review).

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. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there's a better way.

In Deep Work, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four "rules," for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill.

1. Work Deeply

2. Embrace Boredom

3. Quit Social Media

4. Drain the Shallows

A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, Deep Work takes the listener on a journey through memorable stories—from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air—and no-nonsense advice, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored. Deep Work is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2016 Cal Newport (P)2016 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"This book changed my mind. It has moved me from 'find your passion, so that you can be useful' to 'be useful so that you can find your passion.' That is a big flip, but it's more honest, and that is why I am giving each of my three young adult children a copy of this unorthodox guide." (Kevin Kelly, senior maverick, WIRED magazine)

"'Do what you love and the money will follow' sounds like great advice - until it's time to get a job and disillusionment quickly sets in. Cal Newport ably demonstrates how the quest for 'passion' can corrode job satisfaction. If all he accomplished with this book was to turn conventional wisdom on its head, that would be interesting enough. But he goes further - offering advice and examples that will help you bypass the disillusionment and get right to work building skills that matter." (Daniel H. Pink, best-selling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind)

"Entrepreneurial professionals must develop a competitive advantage by building valuable skills. This book offers advice based on research and reality - not meaningless platitudes - on how to invest in yourself in order to stand out from the crowd. An important guide to starting up a remarkable career." (Reid Hoffman, cofounder and chairman of LinkedIn and coauthor of the best-selling The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career)

I quit Facebook after reading... And I love it!

Cal Newport writes a wonderful argument for doing the things that really matter in your life. He wrestles with those that disagree in a way that is very compelling. I am making life changes because of this book. Hopefully it will make me wealthier, healthier, and happier. Perhaps more important: more fulfilled, which I see as different from happiness. Enjoy the book.

Reality and Cost of Social Flow,

The reality that shallow work pressures distract us from deep work has a significant impact on many people and organizations. Coming from the technology world where Agile development, open office, social collaboration is the trend, we need to be conscious of the impact this shallow work has on the deep work required to build strong foundations. The key to success will be finding the right balance.

Satisfyingly informational.

Too many people listen to self help books and expect to hear some revolutionary method to instantly become a billionaire. Cal Newport did a fantastic job in this book to provide truly actionable options to improve your productivity. I'm glad to have listened to this book.

An essential resource for career success.

this is an amazing resource for charting a path that leads to long term sustainable career success. The author author does an excellent job of giving you the reasons why and the steps to take to make that path a little bit easier.

Great

Great foundations for a more focused, disciplined, and meaningfully-contributing life. I listened on 1.5x speed.

Extreme steps

This advice would be difficult for most people in business to follow. Turn off cellphone.

great book!

This book will change the way you view your time... and what got ar capable of in your lifetime.

Insightful and practical

I took away practical steps to improve my working habits and minimize my addiction to distraction. Definitely recommend!

Where is the supplemental pdf?

The beginning of the recording mentions a supplemental pdf, but I have no idea how to access it.

Content is great, although there's a *tiny* bit of "make yourself more productive by making others less productive" in here.

Mainly, I want my pdf! ;-)

Pragmatic Practices

Newport lays out a compelling argument for creating space to focus deeply on one's work.