Reviews

It's an interesting book and makes a good companion to Deep Work by Cal Newport. A lot of the anecdotes about famous people using walks and down time for deep-thinking are repeated here, and, honestly, I felt that Pang relies too heavily on them (feels like a third of the book). I found the more science-based first two-thirds more interesting and relevant since I don't find it useful to compare myself and my life to the old white male scholars and creatives Pang lists as examples, one after another.

And that last third is especially alienating if you're non-white or non-male or non-middle class (or non-upper middle class [or non-Bill Gates-class--sure it's interesting to hear about his week-long thinking retreat in a cabin with his staff that only includes a personal chef, but those last two words, "personal chef," are enough to keep me from truly relating to anything Bill Gates does]).

I found this book most useful in the section Pang talks about the value of waking up early and starting your day, in spite of your circadian rhythm. It was compelling enough for me to come up with my own schedule and try it, and I got a lot of writing done!

Luckily, this book is short enough that you can read it and just zone out during the sections about white men training for marathons or playing golf or taking month-long sabbaticals to sit in the woods and think. You'll still get something useful out of it, though I won't say that the privilege won't drive you a bit crazy.