Deep Work vs Shallow Work

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00:00:00 The term deep work was coined by Cal Newport, a computer science professor and best-selling author (clearly someone with high levels of focus), in his book Deep Work.

00:02:52 The Western world is so bombarded with high-dopamine distractions that it’s no wonder we are losing our ability to concentrate and put distractions aside for even relatively short periods of time.

00:06:47 Planning, Protecting, and Measuring Deep Work.

00:09:17 The Deep-Work-to-Shallow-Work Ratio.

00:10:41 Deep-Work Philosophies.

00:11:49 A famous example of this would be JK Rowling in her efforts to complete the final Harry Potter book.

The term deep work was coined by Cal Newport, a computer science professor and best-selling author (clearly someone with high levels of focus), in his book Deep Work.

In the book, he highlights two different working methods: deep work and shallow work.

Shallow work consists of tasks that take up the majority of our time and energy.

They are the tasks that keep us busy and, as Cal Newport puts it, “they keep the lights on."

Checking your emails, having meetings, invoicing clients, and making your PowerPoint presentation visually appealing are all examples of shallow work.

Are they important?

Of course, but they aren’t the difference makers, and they’re not the things that will lead to creation and innovation.

This work won’t produce results that will get you a promotion or solve a company-wide problem; it is quite simply just work we must do.

Because this type of work is not cognitively demanding, we can balance it quite easily with distractions.