What’s the impact of our current e-mail habits on the bottom line?
We have now seen two strands of thought—one about the increasing scarcity of deep work and the other about its increasing value—which we can combine into the idea that provides the foundation for ever...
Two Core Abilities for Thrivingin the New Economy The ability to quickly master hard things. The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed.
To leave the distracted masses to join the focused few, I’m arguing, is a transformative experience.
To learn hard things quickly, you must focus intensely without distraction. To
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...
These e-mails take the sender only a handful of seconds to write but can command many minutes (if not hours, in some cases) of time and attention from their recipients to work toward a coherent respon...
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...
There is, however, an important corollary to this idea: Efforts to deepen your focus will struggle if you don’t simultaneously wean your mind from a dependence on distraction. Much in the same way tha...
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...
The reason knowledge workers are losing their familiarity with deep work is well established: network tools.
The most common response to these complications is to suggest modest hacks and tips. Perhaps if you observe a digital Sabbath,
The key to developing a deep work habit is to move beyond good intentions and add routines and rituals to your working life designed to minimize the amount of your limited willpower necessary to trans...
Summary of Rule #4 The core idea of this book is simple: To construct work you love, you must first build career capital by mastering rare and valuable skills, and then cash in this capital for the ty...
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...
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...
Personal Goal: To maintain close and rewarding friendships with a group of people who are important to me. Key Activities Supporting This Goal: 1. Regularly take the time for meaningful connection w...
People have the need to put their hands on tools and to make things. We need this in order to feel whole. As Rogowski explains: Long ago we learned to think by using our hands, not the other way aroun...
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.
Just because you cannot avoid this tool altogether doesn’t mean you have to cede all authority over its role in your mental landscape