In the
novel Deep Work by Cal Newport, the author tells about the benefits and
ways to accomplish deep work. The main point made is that deep work is way more
meaningful and productive than “shallow” work and how one is able to get better
results from it.
In the
first part of the novel, Newport addresses the problem with us, and why we
struggle so much to concentrate on the work we do. He names the distractions,
and later on, in part two of the novel, tries to apply some rules and principles
we, the people, should try to live by. He provides some insights on the issue
by giving us ways to prove our work consistency and substance.
Cal Newport
used two phrases numerous times in the novel: deep work and shallow work. The
phrase “deep work” is described as an ability to focus, without being
distracted, on a task that is mentally tough. It can also be defined as a professional activity that should or can
be performed in a state of distraction-free concentration to aid in growing and
pushing your cognitive capabilities to their own limit. The phrase “shallow
work” can mean a couple of things. One meaning of the phrase is a “Non-cognitively
demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted.”
The phrase is expressing one basically doing homework while on your cell phone.
Another meaning of the phrase is an effort that does not meet the standards of
a fully focused person.
Shallow work
is the main problem with the society, according to Newport. He believes people
in this day in age have such a difficult time actually doing “deep” focused work
because of all the distractions around them at once. Cal Newport, in his past,
studied theoretical platforms of the technological age and decided to write
about it in this novel. The thesis of the novel applied by Cal Newport is the ability to perform deep work is
becoming increasingly rare because of all the advances.
In conclusion in the society, we need to be
focusing more on the work that is in front of us that we are doing in order to
put forward and produce the best results.
~Joy Umeh
~Joy Umeh
I agree with Newport that it is ideal to be able to focus deeply on tasks in order to extract the most benefits from them. Distractions have many negative effects on people and their work. Work quality decreases as the ability to focus also decreases. The new technologies are damaging the mental capacities of humans. I think that the people need to realize that you need to take time each day to focus on one thing for at least a few hours so that they can keep their ability to focus for substantial amounts of time.
ReplyDeleteI think that this book has the ability to benefit many people, especially young students. It is no surprise that many students procrastinate due to all of the distractions that they have around them. Therefore, they are unable to focus and the finish the tasks that they have at hand, which will create a negative impact on them because it will decrease the quality of work that they are producing. After reading this book, I think that it will people realize that in order to get their work done quickly and efficiently is to eliminate distractions so that they are able to focus on their tasks for long periods of time.
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