Deep Work

• Doing a lot of things at once makes it impossible to strengthen the neutral pathway because so many things are firing at once
• When switching tasks, you get left with "attention residue", diluting your focus. Checking messages really quickly is a way of starting tasks that you can't finish, leaving that residue on your focus.
• Busyness as a proxy for productivity- in the absence of clear indicators of what it means to be productive, people reach for industrial tools, like being visibly busy
• The first step to changing the world is changing how you see it
• It's harder to enjoy free time than work because it's naturally unstructured and there are no clear goals. Deep work generates flow states
• Your engineering may become archaic, but your craftsmanship can still be honored eternally
• Great creative minds think like artists, but work like accountants
• Deep work styles: monastic (no external distractions), bimodal (seasonal focus, minimum one day), rhythmic (same time of day), journalistic (when schedule allows, minimum one hour)
  • Regardless, use the same place every time, make rules to reduce willpower drains, and know what supporting things you need
• "Grand gestures", like exotic locations, reduce your mind's desire to procrastinate
• In 4DX terms, your lead measure is hours spent in deep work toward your WIG
• Don't carry context between days- when you're done, be done
• You can only spend between one and four hours a day in deliberate practice
• Have a shutdown ritual for work
• Once you wire yourself for constant distraction, you start craving it
• Schedule blocks of time to use the internet, and avoid it otherwise
• While doing something physical like walking, focus on a singular problem (productive meditation)
• Be on guard for "looping"
• Concentration is more important than memory for remembering things
• It's not whether there's some benefit to be gained from social media, it's the opportunity cost of it
• Approach the networked tools you use as a time investment
• Most coffees, reviews, etc. are shallow work