Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (Grand Central Publishing, 2016)

Cal Newport · c. 2016

Cal Newport did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this book, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The book prints chapter headings its extracted text does not preserve, so the claims below are in the book's order but not grouped. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
The few who make deep work the core of their working life will thrive

Their wordsAs a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.
Our reading
Clarity about what matters gives clarity about what does not

Their wordsClarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not.
Our reading
A deep life is a good life

Their wordsA deep life is a good life.
Our reading
Without clear measures of value, knowledge workers fall back on looking busy

Their wordsIn the absence of clear indicators of what it means to be productive and valuable in their jobs, many knowledge workers turn back toward an industrial indicator of productivity: doing lots of stuff in a visible manner.
Our reading
Deep work is needed to get full value from one's intellectual capacity

Their wordsDeep work is necessary to wring every last drop of value out of your current intellectual capacity.
Our reading
Network tools lead knowledge workers to replace deep work with shallow work

Their wordsIn an age of network tools, in other words, knowledge workers increasingly replace deep work with the shallow alternative

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