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GRAND CENTRAL PUBLISHINGNEW YORKDeep WorkCAL NEWPORT2016
Named:
2012, Cal Newport, Georgetown University
Source:
Deep Work, 2016
Daily ceiling:
About four hours

Deep work is professional activity performed in distraction-free concentration at the limit of a person’s ability. Newport’s argument is economic. The ability is becoming rare at the same time as it becomes valuable, because the work that software and outsourcing cannot absorb is the work that requires it.

The practice is a schedule with a fixed block, a closed door, no inbox and one problem. Studies of expert performers put the daily ceiling for this level of effort near four hours. People with a large body of work protect those hours and treat the rest of the day as overhead.

FIG. 1 THE TOWER, FROM THE LAKESTONE. NO ELECTRICITY. NO RUNNING WATER.

The Tower at Bollingen (1923)

Carl Jung built a stone tower on the shore of Lake Zurich, with no electricity and no running water. He went there to write. He kept one room for himself and carried the key.

Four Hours (1993)

Anders Ericsson tracked violinists at a music academy in West Berlin. A session of practice alone ran about 80 minutes for everyone. The best students fit in more sessions, around four hours a day, and napped more than the others.

FIG. 2 A PRACTICE DAY, SCHEMATIC06081012141618202224SESSION 1SESSION 2NAPSESSION 3PRACTICE ALONE, 80 MINNAPTOTAL EFFORT: ABOUT FOUR HOURS
FIG. 3 TWO CALENDARS, ONE WEEKMANAGERMTWTFMAKERMTWTFONE MEETING SPLITS THE AFTERNOON IN TWO

Maker’s Schedule (2009)

Paul Graham described two calendars. Managers work in one-hour slots. Makers work in half days. One meeting in the middle of an afternoon splits it into two pieces, each too small to build anything in.

Boredom

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