“ Background-research process, which combines exposure to potentially relevant material with free-form re-combination of ideas, comes straight out of Steven Johnson’s book, Where Good Ideas Come From, Cal Newport
“ As we shift to an information economy, more and more of our population are knowledge workers, and deep work is becoming a key currency—even if most haven’t yet recognized this reality. Cal Newport
“ Your ritual needs to ensure your brain gets the support it needs to keep operating at a high level of depth. For example, the ritual might specify that you start with a cup of good coffee, Cal Newport
“ When deciding whether to follow an appealing pursuit that will introduce more control into your work life, seek evidence of whether people are willing to pay for it. If you find this evidence, continu… Cal Newport
“ When deciding whether to follow an appealing pursuit that will introduce more control into your work life, ask yourself whether people are willing to pay you for it. If so, continue. If not, move on. Cal Newport
“ What’s the alternative to this state of affairs? Bennett suggests that his typical man see his sixteen free hours as a day within a day, explaining, during those sixteen hours he is free; he is not a… Cal Newport
“ What interests me about Charness’s study, however, is that it moves beyond the 10,000-hour rule by asking not just how long people worked, but also what type of work they did. In more detail, they stu… Cal Newport
“ We no longer see Internet tools as products released by for-profit companies, funded by investors hoping to make a return, and run by twentysomethings who are often making things up as they go along.… Cal Newport
“ We had portable music before the iPod, most commonly in the form of the Sony Walkman and Discman (and their competitors), but these devices played only a restricted role in most people’s lives—somethi… Cal Newport
“ We can, therefore, still dismiss the depth-destroying open office concept without dismissing the innovation-producing theory of serendipitous creativity. The key is to maintain both in a hub-and-spoke… Cal Newport
“ Ultimately, the success or failure of the projects pursued in this middle level helps me evolve the research mission maintained by the top level. In other words, the system as a whole is a closed feed… Cal Newport
“ To Woolf, in other words, solitude is not a pleasant diversion, but instead a form of liberation from the cognitive oppression that results in its absence.[referencing Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's… Cal Newport
“ Thoreau establishes early in Walden: The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run. Cal Newport
“ Thoreau demonstrated similar concern, famously writing in Walden that we are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing importan… Cal Newport
“ Thomas had followed his passion to the Zen Mountain Monastery, believing, as many do, that the key to happiness is identifying your true calling and then chasing after it with all the courage you can… Cal Newport
“ This concept upends the way most people think about their subjective experience of life. We tend to place a lot of emphasis on our circumstances, assuming that what happens to us (or fails to happen)… Cal Newport
“ The traits that define great work are bought with career capital, the theory argues; they don’t come from matching your work to your innate passion. Cal Newport
“ The sugar high of convenience is fleeting and the sting of missing out dulls rapidly, but the meaningful glow that comes from taking charge of what claims your time and attention is something that per… Cal Newport
“ The second reason that a culture of connectivity makes life easier is that it creates an environment where it becomes acceptable to run your day out of your inbox—responding to the latest missive with… Cal Newport
