51 pages • 1 hour read
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 2, Chapters 6-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “The Rules”
Part 2, Chapter 6 Summary: “Rule #3: Quit Social Media”
Newport begins this chapter discussing the experiment conducted by author Baratunde Thurston to totally abstain from social media and online activity for 25 days. Thurston reflected on his experience and generally found it positive. Newport uses this anecdote to launch into a discussion on the usefulness of social media and other forms of infotainment common on the internet. He is quick to point out that while he himself abstains from Facebook and other social media platforms, he does not believe that choosing whether to be active on social media or not is an all-or-nothing proposition. He insists that he is arguing for a smarter, more nuanced approach to using social media and the Internet in general.
Ultimately, Newport argues that social media is neither good or evil; instead, one should recognize both the pros and cons of using it and make decisions about their own use accordingly. He encourages people to find a “middle ground” (184).
Newport questions what he calls the “Any-Benefit Approach to Network Tool Selection” (186). He argues that this outlook justifies social media usage simply because there is some value. Newport says that one must also accept that using social media is not risk-free: Social media platforms are made to be addictive, which can create problems for people trying to focus in their work. Newport recommends that people take a more measured approach to their social media usage.
He introduces a man named Forrest Pritchard, an independent, small-scale farmer. Pritchard talks about the utility of a hay baler, and whether or not using this tool on his farm makes financial sense. He concludes that it doesn’t after weighing the pros and cons. Instead, he buys his hay. Newport uses Pritchard’s story to demonstrate that just because a tool has value does not mean that one should use it, as in the case of the hay baler. He names this approach to tool evaluation as the “craftsman approach to tool selection” (190). Pritchard does not deny that the hay baler has value; instead, he determines that for his purposes, it is more valuable to the long-term health of his farm’s soil to buy hay. Newport suggests that people take a similar approach to their social media usage.
Newport then discusses three strategies that will help readers develop a more craftsman approach to social media and infotainment. The first strategy is to “apply the law of the vital few to your own internet habits” (192). This idea is borrowed from business. Newport defines its use in this chapter as a way of evaluating the necessity of time spent online and social media. He explains that the way to follow this strategy is to have clearly defined goals, and then compare the relative utility of a behavior against these goals. If the behavior does not contribute a definitive positive impact, then it should be abandoned in favor of only that which provides benefit.
Newport then describes a hypothetical scenario where a knowledge worker might apply the law while considering their professional use of Twitter. He mentions writers, such as Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Lewis, who do not use Twitter because the net effect on their careers is negative. Newport moves onto a similar discussion of Facebook. For many people, the draw of Facebook is that it keeps people in the loop within their social circles. Newport argues that most of the conversations on Facebook are lightweight. Again, he does not dismiss the potentially positive effects of Facebook; instead, he asks readers to weigh the use of it against their goals and determine what kind of impact it has. Newport is skeptical of social media; he argues that platforms are built to be addictive. Therefore, one should exercise care when deciding whether or not to invest any time using them.
Newport advises readers to quit social media for an extended interval. He leads into discussing this strategy with an anecdote about a man named Ryan Nicodemus, who conducted an experiment in which he packed all of his material belongings in boxes. If he needed something, he could remove it from the box. After a week, he noticed that most of what he packed was still in the boxes, so he got rid of all of it. Nicodemus did this because he felt his life was cluttered by material possessions—what he learned was that what he needed was not the same as what he thought he needed.
Newport suggests that the reader try a similar experiment with social media. People are driven to use social media because they develop a sense that it is necessary to their lives when in fact, Newport argues, it is not. If, after a month, a person feels no need to spend time on social media, Newport recommends that they abandon it altogether. Newport also discusses the mechanisms built into social media that make it attractive, including the sense of self-importance it gives people. He believes that building a following on social media is not the same as building a following previous to the advent of social media; much of social media is artificial and involves shallow work. If one is truly interested in cultivating their ability to perform deep work, they should strongly consider quitting social media.
One should not use the Internet to entertain themselves. Newport discusses English writer Arthur Bennet’s self-help book, How to Live on 24 Hours a Day (1908) in which Bennet urges his readers to make the most of their free time while away from the office. Much of the general ideas proposed by Bennet are relevant today, Newport says. Newport sees total immersion in mindless infotainment on the Internet as antithetical to a full and meaningful life. He reminds readers that succumbing to distraction makes subsequent temptations to give in more difficult to resist—the more a person gives in to distractions, the harder it is to resist distractions, which makes deep work more difficult.
Newport recommends readers engage in activities during their free time that have real value instead of perceived value. These activities include reading, exercising, or enjoying the company of friends in person. Newport urges readers to put thought into how they spend their free time and not to waste that time falling into rabbit holes online.
Part 2, Chapter 7 Summary: “Rule #4: Drain the Shallows”
Newport introduces this section with the story of a software company once called 37signals, which is now called basecamp. The company co-founder, Jason Fried, decided to implement a four-day workweek for employees. Rather than have 10-hour days to make 40 hours in a week, the company retained the typical eight-hour day. The results were positive when it came to the company’s productivity. Newport uses this case study to support the position that when the superficial, shallow work that takes place at most offices is reduced, productivity is increased because people are better able to perform deep work.
Newport urges the reader to conduct a review of their own work habits and strive to keep shallow work under control. He recommends strategies to achieve this, beginning with a discussion of time management. Newport suggests that every minute of the work day should be planned as accurately as possible, and as part of this scheduling, one should allot time for shallow work, which is inevitably going to happen. Newport’s idea is to schedule the day in blocks, with predetermined time set aside for shallow work.
Newport recognizes that generally, the unforeseen happens, and when it does, staying on schedule becomes difficult. He also points out that many times, people tend to underestimate how much time a given task will take. This makes maintaining a schedule challenging.
Newport says that becoming a master of one’s own time while at work takes time and adjustments. Scheduling the day in blocks allows space for shallow work while also allowing people to track it better.
Newport provides a strategy for sorting through what is shallow and what is not. He suggests considering how long it would take for a recent college graduate to perform a skill and then provides three different examples of tasks that one could measure in this way. The idea is that by quantifying the task according to how long it would take a recent college graduate to perform it, one will be able to better prioritize their own work and allot time accordingly.
In addition to learning how to quantify the depth of every activity, Newport suggests that readers ask their bosses directly for a shallow work budget. This allows a person to have a real sense of what is expected, and Newport urges the reader to stick to the budget no matter what. This provides cover: When shallow work begins to pile up, such as sending and receiving emails, one can point to the conversation with the boss as rationale. If the boss does not respect the original conversation, and instead insists that shallow work is more important, then one should consider finding a different employer. Newport also mentions that this shallow work budget applies to self-employed people as well. The trick to making it work effectively is to have the discipline to stick to the budget.
Another strategy Newport provides is to end work at 5:30. He uses the term “fixed-schedule productivity” to describe the rationale for implementing hard limits to the workday. Newport examines two professors, one tenured and the other a junior professor who feels totally overworked in his profession. The junior professor laments the 12-hour days and heavy load of work. The tenured professor has a contrasting opinion because, when she was a junior professor, she was very insistent on adhering to limitations she imposed on her own schedule. Newport discusses the tendency people have to say yes to performing shallow work. He argues that when there is a definite end to the work day, a person is far more likely to work efficiently, maximize productivity, and resist saying yes and taking on shallow work.
Lastly, Newport suggests that to “drain the shallows” (215), one should become difficult to reach. While conceding that email is a necessary aspect of modern work life, Newport also suggests that it does not have to overrun a person’s workday and intrude on productivity. He provides three tips for making oneself hard to reach. First, he directs readers to make the email senders do more work. Newport advocates for the use of what he calls “sender filters,” which are created to establish expectations. He discusses the sender filter he uses for his own email, which helps him to manage his inbox and respond only to emails that will add value to his life in some way. Sender filters offload time and energy away from the recipient of the email onto the sender.
Next, Newport recommends putting more thought and effort into emails when one is the sender. In Newport’s view, putting in more time upfront when composing emails actually saves time in the long run as it acts to close the loops. He uses the term “process-oriented messages” which, when performed correctly, mitigate open-ended emails that create a need for more exchanges. He presents three different generic emails and shows how each one could become more process-oriented. Even though it seems counterintuitive, Newport insists that putting in more work upfront has a long-term positive benefit in reducing clutter and stress, which helps keep the mind clear to focus on deep work.
Lastly, Newport suggests that one could simply not respond to some emails. Newport presents a three-point rubric for considering whether to reply to emails or not, in this case from the point of view of a professor: Is the email ambiguous? Is the email concerning something not interesting? Will not responding to the email have consequences?
Newport acknowledges that choosing not to respond may feel uncomfortable for some because people today live in an age where email responses are assumed. However, he also insists that following his three tips will help readers become more comfortable accepting that not every single email needs a response, which ultimately reduces inbox stress overload.
Part 2, Chapters 6-7 Analysis
One of the primary themes in the book is The Importance of Attention and Concentration and the tactics one should employ to achieve these. Newport states, “you must take back control of your time and attention from the many diversions that attempt to steal them” (182). He implies that people today exist in an era where their attention is up for grabs and everywhere they look, attempts are made to steal it. Newport sees resistance as an absolute imperative if one truly wants to engage in deep work.
Newport identifies some of the sources of these diversions. In Chapter 6, he shows skepticism toward social media in particular. He recognizes that he has a stance on social media that may not be popular, and he attempts to ease the reader into his line of thinking before making his argument. He says, “these tools are not inherently evil, […] but at the same time also accepting that the threshold for allowing a site regular access to your time and attention (not to mention personal data) should be […] stringent” (184). Newport mentions early in the book that he does not use sites like Twitter and Facebook, and with a touch of self-derision, calls himself a “curmudgeon.”
Newport urges readers to take a deeper look at their own social media and online habits. He points out that the debate—to use or not use social media—is often posed in an either/or binary: “[Y]ou’re either fully committed to ‘the revolution’ or a Luddite curmudgeon” (187). He insists that there is a middle way. Additionally, his purpose is not to scare people away from online entertainment. He merely suggests that people should be more reflective.
Newport’s primary critique is that social media can become a major distraction from things that really matter in life. As he mentions many times in the book, the more people allow themselves to be distracted, the less likely they are to live and work deeply. He says: “These services aren’t necessarily, as advertised, the lifeblood of our modern connected world. They’re just products, developed by private companies, funded lavishly, marketed carefully, and designed ultimately to capture then sell your personal information and attention to advertisers” (209). In other words, even though these services are often presented as necessities for modern living, Newport argues they are not.
When suggesting that readers abstain from all social media for 30 days, he advises readers to ask themselves two questions after the experiment: first, “Would the last thirty days have been notably better if I had been able to use this service?” and secondly, “Did people care that I wasn’t using this service? If your answer is ‘no’ to both questions, quit the service permanently. If your answer was a clear ‘yes,’ then return to using the service” (205). He then suggests that if one answers “no” to both questions, then one should quit social media altogether. His point is not necessarily to convince the reader to quit social media, although that is part of it. He also wants people to see for themselves that social media, while it offers some benefits, ultimately is not necessary for a deeply lived life that people are led to believe it is. Ultimately, to access depth, one must keep social media in a proportional place in one’s life, if one retains it at all.
Newport also aims to provide pragmatic, how-to advice for time management. He advocates for Work-Life Balance and Stimulating Free Time. He suggests that in the quest to limit distraction, one should schedule one’s time thoroughly and carefully, even one’s free time. This seems as though it would stifle spontaneity, but Newport insists that it does not. Instead, there is a hidden benefit in structure. He says:
I would go so far as to argue that someone following this combination of comprehensive scheduling and a willingness to adapt or modify the plan as needed will likely experience more creative insights than someone who adopts a more traditionally ‘spontaneous’ approach where the day is left open and unstructured (226-27).
At the heart of this advice is the looming presence of distraction. When a person’s time is carefully scheduled, and their minds are engaged, they are not as likely to find themselves jumping from one distraction to the next.
Unlock all 51 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
