“ We now know from decades of research in both psychology and neuroscience that the state of mental strain that accompanies deep work is also necessary to improve your abilities. Cal Newport
“ We have an information economy that’s dependent on complex systems that change rapidly. Cal Newport
“ Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and one traveler chose the path to mastery while the other was called toward passion’s glow. Cal Newport
“ Turning her attention to the workplace, Turkle finds young employees who retreat to email because the thought of an unstructured conversation terrifies them, and unnecessary office tensions that feste… Cal Newport
“ To learn hard things quickly, you must focus intensely without distraction. To learn, in other words, is an act of deep work. Cal Newport
“ To ask a CEO to spend four hours thinking deeply about a single problem is a waste of what makes him or her valuable. It’s better to hire three smart subordinates to think deeply about the problem and… Cal Newport
“ They seem to relieve him of the felt need to offer chattering interpretations of himself to vindicate his worth. He can simply point: the building stands, the car now runs, the lights are on. Boasting… Cal Newport
“ These interviews emphasize an important point: Compelling careers often have complex origins that reject the simple idea that all you have to do is follow your passion. This observation may come as a… Cal Newport
“ Therefore, if you’re in a marketplace where the consumer has access to all performers, and everyone’s q value is clear, the consumer will choose the very best. Even if the talent advantage of the best… Cal Newport
“ There is a popular notion that artists work from inspiration—that there is some strike or bolt or bubbling up of creative mojo from who knows where… but I hope [my work] makes clear that waiting for i… Cal Newport
“ The theory of serendipitous creativity, in other words, seems well justified by the historical record. The transistor, we can argue with some confidence, probably required Bell Labs and its ability to… Cal Newport
“ The superstar effect, in other words, has a broader application today than Rosen could have predicted thirty years ago. An increasing number of individuals in our economy are now competing with the ro… Cal Newport
“ The problem this research identifies with this work strategy is that when you switch from some Task A to another Task B, your attention doesn’t immediately follow—a residue of your attention remains s… Cal Newport
“ Strain, I now accepted, was good. Instead of seeing this discomfort as a sensation to avoid, I began to understand it the same way that a body builder understands muscle burn: a sign that you’re doing… Cal Newport
“ Sertillanges seems to have been ahead of his time, arguing in The Intellectual Life, Men of genius themselves were great only by bringing all their power to bear on the point on which they had decided… Cal Newport
“ Men of genius themselves were great only by bringing all their power to bear on the point on which they had decided to show their full measure. Cal Newport
“ Jordan had a name for the worries about what his friends are doing with their lives and whether his accomplishments compare favorably: the cloud of external distractions. Cal Newport
“ It’s natural, at first, to resist this idea, as it’s undoubtedly easier to continue to allow the twin forces of internal whim and external requests to drive your schedule. But you must overcome this d… Cal Newport
“ If you want to observe the power of control up close in the workplace, look toward companies embracing a radical new philosophy called Results-Only Work Environment (or, ROWE, for short). Cal Newport
“ I decided that focusing my attention on a bottom-up understanding of my own field’s most difficult results would be a good first step toward revitalizing my career capital stores. To Cal Newport
