![]() ![]() By focusing intensely on a specific skill, you’re forcing the specific relevant circuit to fire, again and again, in isolation. This understanding is important because it provides a neurological foundation for why deliberate practice works. To be great at something is to be well myelinated. This new science of performance argues that you get better at a skill as you develop more myelin around the relevant neurons, allowing the corresponding circuit to fire more effortlessly and effectively. To understand the role of myelin in improvement, keep in mind that skills, be they intellectual or physical, eventually reduce down to brain circuits. As Ericsson emphasizes, “Diffused attention is almost antithetical to the focused attention required by deliberate practice”.Īs the journalist Daniel Coyle surveys in his 2009 book, The Talent Code, these scientists increasingly believe the answer includes myelin-a layer of fatty tissue that grows around neurons, acting like an insulator that allows the cells to fire faster and cleaner. The first component is of particular importance to our discussion, as it emphasizes that deliberate practice cannot exist alongside distraction, and that it instead requires uninterrupted concentration. Its core components are usually identified as follows: (1) your attention is focused tightly on a specific skill you’re trying to improve or an idea you’re trying to master (2) you receive feedback so you can correct your approach to keep your attention exactly where it’s most productive. This brings us to the question of what deliberate practice actually requires. Deep Work Helps You Quickly Learn Hard Things If you haven’t mastered this foundational skill, you’ll struggle to learn hard things or produce at an elite level. ![]() The two core abilities just described depend on your ability to perform deep work. To summarize these observations more succinctly: If you can’t learn, you can’t thrive. The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed. The ability to quickly master hard things. Two Core Abilities for Thriving in the New Economy 1. Part 1: The Idea Chapter One: Deep Work Is Valuable How to Become a Winner in the New Economy As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive. The Deep Work Hypothesis: The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. ![]() Spend enough time in a state of frenetic shallowness and you permanently reduce your capacity to perform deep work.ĭeep work is so important that we might consider it, to use the phrasing of business writer Eric Barker, “the superpower of the 21st century.” To make matters worse for depth, there’s increasing evidence that this shift toward the shallow is not a choice that can be easily reversed. These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate. Shallow Work: Noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates famously conducted “Think Weeks” twice a year, during which he would isolate himself (often in a lakeside cottage) to do nothing but read and think big thoughts.Ī 2012 McKinsey study found that the average knowledge worker now spends more than 60 percent of the workweek engaged in electronic communication and Internet searching, with close to 30 percent of a worker’s time dedicated to reading and answering e-mail alone. 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. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.ĭeep work is necessary to wring every last drop of value out of your current intellectual capacity. Introductionĭeep Work: Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. Note: The following are excerpts from Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport. If you enjoy this summary, please consider buying me a coffee to caffeinate my reading sessions. Buy Deep Work: Print | Kindle | Audiobook ![]()
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