dhealey6's review against another edition
5.0
Well-backed up with evidence, Cal Newport completely sold me on the value of focused, uninterrupted deep work, and then gave me enough practical suggestions to keep me very, very busy trying them all. This may now be the book that I have read the most number of times. Listened to, rather -- I keep it always queued up in my audible account to give me a punch of motivation on a regular basis.
nebula1600's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.5
Good tips, but far too many unnecessary anecdotes, stories, and chapters. The first half of the book is literally just Newport justifying why deep work is necessary.
drshakespeare's review against another edition
5.0
Would like physical copy like my rework book. Lots of focus on how to work deeply, not on what working deeply is.
wormonastring's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
sanitakacuba's review against another edition
4.0
Maybe it is the standarts of my professional life that won't let me fully agree with author's hard core devotion to deep work with such a contempt to "shallow work" but I have found fresh motivation to introduce more of the deep work into my everyday life. Recommended for everyone who seeks to boost productivity and is craving to get more meaningful work done as the book provides techniques and overall mindset that will help to shape one's routines to deeper level.
weiandherviola's review against another edition
4.0
Instead of reviewing on what Cal has written in this book, throwing back to a year ago I might have forgot most of the content, I'll instead write about how this book has changed my life.
After the reading, I decided to just remind myself a little bit to stay focused on a daily basis. And let the reference from the book come back from time to time.
I've started to become aware when my mind starts to drift, when I'm not really focusing on the task at hand, and I would solve that matter first.
I've made peace with myself regarding social networks -- I'm not a big addict, but I let myself rest on them so that I could actually focus on the work knowing I don't have to dread over it.
But most amazingly, I've started to enjoy focusing on simple life matters that allows me to live more fully. I read when I read, eat when I eat, and sleep when I sleep. That kind of attitude and the life it yields is so much purer than to read when I eat, (fall a-) sleep at a boring read, and eat when I should sleep -.-
I've known the secret of what an enduring, highly focused mind brings very early in my student life. To attain it is indeed a difficult matter I cannot say I've kept up. Especially as we age we accumulate much more matter in our back. They bother us. They just do. I'm glad I've read this book and its predecessor So Good They Can't Ignore You. They fed both motivation and method to bring those valuable traits back to my life. I am in no where a master at them but I will strive to keep the refinement going and the tools at hands.
After the reading, I decided to just remind myself a little bit to stay focused on a daily basis. And let the reference from the book come back from time to time.
I've started to become aware when my mind starts to drift, when I'm not really focusing on the task at hand, and I would solve that matter first.
I've made peace with myself regarding social networks -- I'm not a big addict, but I let myself rest on them so that I could actually focus on the work knowing I don't have to dread over it.
But most amazingly, I've started to enjoy focusing on simple life matters that allows me to live more fully. I read when I read, eat when I eat, and sleep when I sleep. That kind of attitude and the life it yields is so much purer than to read when I eat, (fall a-) sleep at a boring read, and eat when I should sleep -.-
I've known the secret of what an enduring, highly focused mind brings very early in my student life. To attain it is indeed a difficult matter I cannot say I've kept up. Especially as we age we accumulate much more matter in our back. They bother us. They just do. I'm glad I've read this book and its predecessor So Good They Can't Ignore You. They fed both motivation and method to bring those valuable traits back to my life. I am in no where a master at them but I will strive to keep the refinement going and the tools at hands.
pleoniesmith's review against another edition
4.0
You will find practical tips on doing deep work that if you invest some time in the exercise, you can build a practice that works for you. While the tips are solid, the one limitation that I encounter in this an other books that I've read by the author, is that his experience is limited to a single career. Examples and even an understanding of what is practical, could be broader to appeal to the variety of work that would fall under the label of "knowledge work".