On the Coffee Table: Cal Newport

Title: Deep Work: Rules for Success in a Distracted World

Author: Cal Newport

via Amazon

Cal Newport defines deep work as "professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit.  These efforts create new value, improve your skill and are hard to replicate."  If you can program a computer to do it, it's not deep work.  If you can do it with minimal focus, it's not deep work.  His broader point: if you need to set aside time in your life for demanding intellectual enterprises, deep work is an approach to making it happen efficiently, mainly by creating a distraction-free environment.  Obviously, this isn't easy in our hyper-connected, distraction-rich world.  Fear not.  Newport has some advice.

I liked the book.  In fact, I think I'll get a lot out of the advice in the long run.  I feel I need to say that before I dig into the bits that irk me.  I also feel it's important, for myself, to bear in mind who Cal Newport is and for whom he is writing.  His day job is computer science professor at Georgetown so the output he has in mind for himself is primarily the academic publishing required to get tenure.  Deep Work reads like an advance brochure for speaking gigs, a lucrative source of supplemental income.  So his audience is corporate "business" types, always out to get more value out of everyone's time, including their own.  With all that in mind...

I take issue with the implicit limits on meaningful work.  Surely, the daily efforts of teachers, nurses, social workers and many others add "value to the world" even if they're not creating new, profound ideas for the general public to digest.  Indeed, is not parenting a child adding value?  Aren't there other - typically identified as "soft" - skills that are valuable in the work place?  How many CEOs and other corporate big shots have gotten to the top on the strength of their interpersonal skills as much as their financial wizardry?  How many people thrive thanks to their improvisatory gifts?

And so on.  Fortunately, there's more to the book than that.  Moreover, even though I am not in the target audience, I believe I can gain a lot from Newport's ideas.

According to the author, the most important requirement for attaining the mental state enabling deep work is the elimination of distractions.  The global scope of the problem is obvious.  The Internet (still capitalized, you'll notice) is ubiquitous.  As I write this, I have seven other browser tabs open.  My smartphone is within arm's reach and I don't need to lean too far forward to grab the television remote.  Delayed gratification is a quaint, archaic concept, especially in our post-COVID society and overall, that reality has undoubtedly done as much harm as good.  I cannot deny that reducing such distractions could only add value and meaning to my life.  In light of the awareness Newport's book has brought, I have already discovered what a huge difference it makes to be in a separate room from my phone. 

Late June is an interesting time to be reading such a book.  With the school year just finished, work motivation is at a low ebb indeed so the idea of taking on a huge project like Newport has in mind is not remotely appealing.  On the other hand, there's plenty of brain space for new ideas even if I'm not quite ready to put them into action.  In particular, it's a fantastic time to experiment with disconnection.

Coincidentally, I made significant progress with this book while lounging at a hydro spa in Bromont, Quebec.  Phones are forbidden once you enter the spa area, a wonderfully liberating inconvenience.  Silence - not quiet, but silence - is encouraged and even occasionally gently enforced.  So for the most part, there's "nothing to do" except sit in hot water and stare off into the distance.  It took a while for me to adjust to this intentional idleness.  Small, self-conscious preoccupations like what to do with my arms crept in.  When I settled on simply letting them float, I made real progress on relaxing.

Of course, we can't afford such indulgences very often so I'll need to find other means of achieving this mental state on a regular basis.  Newport recommends walking in nature most highly - easily accomplished in my neighborhood, at least in non-winter months.  He also suggests casual conversation, listening to music, playing a game (off-screen) or going for a run.  He didn't mention it but I certainly believe in meditation, something I've experimented with in the past.

I also want to remember Newport's advice regarding email: ignore what you can, avoid the knee-jerk tendency to respond to everything and when you do write, take the time to craft meaningful messages that get to the point and avoid endless back and forth.  

Overall, Deep Work is a good book and I'm glad to have read it.  While I'm not prepared to put all of Newport's advice into action tomorrow, he's provided tools for pursuing a more meaningful life.  At my age, that's my most important goal anyway.