This one was interesting. So many valuable lessons from a clearly very educated human.
I kicked off my brand new fortnightly reading habit on the 16th of February, after I asked Claude to create a reading list that aligned with my goals and the books I already had on my shelf. One book per fortnight. I finished this one on Sunday the 1st of March, and I walked away with a new perspective on how I approach my work day, from start to finish. Here are some of my key takeaways.
Cal Newport is a well-respected academic and Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University. He collates lessons from the great masters of focus throughout the past decades, including Teddy Roosevelt, Adam Grant, and Ric Furrer amongst the many names and case studies of wild and wonderful focussed dedication.
Mr. Newport challenges us to set aside larger blocks of "deep work" time, where knowledge workers focus on a singular, important task. The environment should be distraction free and exclusively for work.
He also contests the comfort and acceptance we have grown to embrace, including social media, interconnectedness, and a heavy focus on emails. He helped me, and a number of his readers, realise that a majority of our time is spent simply passing on information, rather than actually achieving something. This constant state of juggling multiple tasks actively decreases our ability to perform as knowledge workers.
Having already deleted a majority of my social media, including Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube off my phone with LinkedIn remaining as my only active platform, his arguments continue to inspire me to revise my approach to emails, coworking (I currently work from a WeWork desk in Brisbane City), and the embracing of rejecting meetings in pursuit of a quiet 1.5 hours of meaningful project progression.
The depth of research that went into this book is clear. Mr. Newport presents his evidence at a high level of academia; his arguments are built from the selective experience of people whose success in their respective fields simply cannot be ignored.
The biggest takeaway for me was the "shutdown ritual" that Mr. Newport emphasises. I am a stressed person. If I don't set boundaries between my work and my personal life, the line blurs and every aspect of my life becomes meshed together. This was an unhealthy element of my life when I was working from home.
The first step was getting a desk in the city, but that only works in part. I needed a way to properly end the day. Naturally, I took inspiration from the book I was reading. My shutdown ritual: open my diary at 4:30pm, write down everything I need to achieve the next business day, and shut it. A simple ritual that leaves every piece of workplace duty and potential stress inside a closed book, only to be reopened at 8am the following morning. This has worked wonders for me, and allows me to enjoy a peaceful, productive, work stress free home life.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to challenge their approach to social media, work structure, or simply needs to get better at leaving their work stress at work.
Next up, Replace Your Salary by Investing by Ben Nash. Who doesn't love a piece on financial literacy???