2020-04-21 Deep Work Flashcards
What is deep work?
Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit.
What is shallow work?
Noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted.
What value does deep work provide?
New value
Skills improvement
Which is the hardest to replicate (deep vs shallow work) ?
Deep Work
What value does shallow work provide?
Not much new value
Why should we master the art of quickly learning complicated things?
To remain valuable in our economy
What is the deep work hypothesis?
The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.
What is the superstar effect, and why does it matter?
In a world that is increasingly connected, people that are the best at their job are really valuable, therefore, these are the people that will thrive the most in the future
What are the three groups of people that will thrive in the future?
Those who can work well and creatively with intelligent machines
Those who are the best at what they do
Those with access to capital
Why does deliberate practice work?
By focusing intensely on a specific skill, youβre forcing a specific relevant circuit to fire, again and again, in isolation
Why do distractions prevent you from efficient deliberate practice?
While distracted, youβre firing too many circuits simultaneously and haphazardly to isolate the group of neurons you actually want to strengthen
How can you learn hard things quickly
Focus intensely without distractions (deep work)
High-Quality Work Produced = __ + __
High-Quality Work Produced = Time Spent + Intensity of Focus
What does our brain construct are worldview based?
Based on what we pay attention to
What is the key to developing a deep work habit?
By adding routines and rituals to your working life that minimize the amount of will power needed to transition into and maintain a state of unbroken concentration
What is the chain method?
A good example of the rhytmic philosophy of deep work scheduling because it combines a simple heuristic (do the work every day), with an easy way to remind yourself to do the work: the big red Xs on the calendar
What are the three questions you need to ask yourself to create an efficient deep work ritual?
Where youβll work and for how long?
How youβll work once you start to work?
How youβll support your work?
What is the ART (Attention Restoration Theory) ?
The theory that claims that spending time in nature can improve your ability to concentrate
Why is it important to put more thought into your leisure time have an idea of what you are going to do before it starts?
If you give your mind something meaningful to do throughout all your waking hours, youβll end the day more fulfilled, and begin the next one more relaxed, than if you instead allow your mind to bathe for hours in semiconscious and unstructured Web surfing
What should you do when responding to an email?
Take a minute or two to think through a process that gets you from the current state to a desired outcome with a minimum of messages required
