By Annette Finley-Croswhite
Cal Newport's book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World has received much praise since its publication in 2016. Cal Newport is an associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University, although he was not yet tenured when he published this book to promote his concept of "deep work" as a survival strategy for successful people.
Newport defines deep work as "professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit" (3). He advocates turning off phones, quitting email and social media, and shutting out all those electronic distractions that produce great quantities of what Newport calls "shallow work" or those activities that all too easily divert us and are not cognitively demanding. Instead, readers are encouraged to cultivate intense concentration that Newport labels "rapt attention" to become more productive and live more meaningful lives.
The latter part of the book is filled with helpful advice about scheduling Internet blocks so that Internet-free time is available, treating one's time with respect, and finishing all professional work by 5:30 p.m. in order to allow room for a life outside of work and the necessary downtime to recharge one's focus. Not all of Newport's advice is practical, especially given one's own work speed or work environment preference. I'm a morning person, for example, but I also write professionally with a colleague who is more creative and focused in the evening, so ending at 5:30 p.m. is out of the question when we collaborate. For the most part, nevertheless, Newport's advice is sound.
The book is an engaging read that uses interesting stories to illustrate key points like one about the psychiatrist Carl Jung, who built a private retreat on the banks of Lake Zurich and then set up an office to which only he had a key. Newport emphasizes that Jung's isolated office was not built to avoid work but rather to ensure that deep work was done.
Newport hammers home the message about the shallowness of email and how it inhibits deep work. He analyzes his last five emails, and so I looked at mine as well. In my inbox, the most recent emails included a receipt from an on-line purchase, two meeting requests, one LinkedIn inquiry, and one about my frequent flyer miles (and how I might purchase more). Obviously, none of these emails reflects my life as a scholar.
Newport isn't negative about technology — he is a computer scientist, after all — but the book offers vital strategies for limiting constant attention to certain technologies and regaining control over them. Newport's approach ideally can lead us to develop deep work habits of mind by better managing our mental landscape, thus privileging intense focus in order to realize the rewards of creativity and discovery.