What It Means
Deep work is a stretch of time spent on one demanding task with every distraction shut out. The term comes from author Cal Newport, who describes it as focus without distraction on work that takes real mental effort. Writing a report, planning a budgetBudgetA plan for a set period, usually a month, that lists the money you expect to receive and how you'll spend or save it. See more or learning a hard skill all count when they're done in one sitting with the phone and inbox out of reach.
Try It: Plan Your Deep Work Hours for the Week
Slide to the session length you can protect, then set how many sessions fit in your week. The starting numbers are an example.
Put each session on your calendar before the week fills up.
How People Say It at Work
- "I'm blocking the morning for deep work, so I'll answer after lunch."
- "Phone's in the other room, I need an hour of deep work."
- "Meetings ate all my deep work time this week."
The Breakdown
How to set up a deep work session
- Pick one task that needs your full attention, and write down what finished looks like for this session.
- Put a fixed block on your calendar. The planner above starts with three 90-minute sessions a week as an example; choose a length you can protect.
- Shut out distractions before you begin: silence notifications, close email and chat, and put the phone somewhere you can't reach it.
- Stay on that one task until the block ends. If another job pops into your head, jot it down and go back.
- Stop on time and note where you left off, so the next session starts quickly.
Try it today. Book one 60-minute block for tomorrow morning, name the single task, and leave your phone in another room while it runs.
Deep work next to everyday busywork
| Deep work | Everyday busywork | |
|---|---|---|
| Kind of task | Hard, needs sustained thought | Routine and logistical |
| Distractions | Shut out on purpose | Usually switched on |
| Examples | Writing, analysis, learning a skill | Email, scheduling, quick replies |
Where It Comes From
Cal Newport set out the idea in his book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, published in 2016.
FAQ
Who came up with the idea of deep work?
Author Cal Newport, in his 2016 book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. He defines it as distraction-free focus on a cognitively demanding task.
How is deep work different from time blocking?
Time blocking is a way to plan a whole day in reserved chunks of time. Deep work is what happens inside a block set aside for one demanding task, so time blocking is one way to protect it.
How is deep work different from multitasking?
Deep work stays on one task for the whole session. MultitaskingMultitasking mythThe mistaken belief that you can do several thinking tasks at once without cost; research finds switching between tasks slows people down and adds errors. See more moves attention between several tasks, which breaks up the focus deep work depends on.
Do It in Buhata
Calendar and Focus
Book a deep work block on your Calendar with the single task in its title, and run it with a countdown in Focus.
Open BuhataRelated Terms and Categories
- Context switching
Moving your attention from one task to another and back, which costs time and focus each time your mind has to reset for the new task.
- Pomodoro technique
A focus method that splits work into 25-minute rounds separated by short breaks, with a longer break after every four rounds.
- Multitasking myth
The mistaken belief that you can do several thinking tasks at once without cost; research finds switching between tasks slows people down and adds errors.
Sources
Cal Newport, "Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World" (calnewport.com); Cal Newport, "Writing" (calnewport.com)
Last updated .