Let’s start by clarifying exactly what deep work is…
Deep Work is any professional activity or work that’s performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit.
When we immerse ourselves in deep work, we’re able to:
So, if you want to wring every last drop of value out of your current intellectual capacity, deep work is a necessity.
Doing deep work on a regular basis gives you the ability to stretch your cognitive capabilities to their limit.
It improves your skills.
And it results in something valuable that’s hard to replicate.
The opposite of Deep Work is Shallow Work…
Shallow Work is non-cognitively demanding work that’s often performed while distracted.
When we’re lost in shallow work, we don’t create much (if any) new value in the world, and what we do create is easy to replicate.
Shallow work is when we replace deep work with its shallow cousin—constantly sending and receiving e-mails punctuated with frequent breaks for quick hits of distraction… No bueno.
As a first step to bringing more focus and productivity into your life, start by diagnosing how much time you’re spending in Deep Work vs Shallow Work.
Here’s how:
Ultimately, your goal is to spend more time immersed in deep work and less time doing shallow work.