Cal Newport's book A World Without Email explores the problems that email has brought upon the world of knowledge and how to counteract them. While the book puts "email" in the title, the bigger problem is what Newports calls the "hyperactive hive-mind": having your mind bound back and forth between various messages and therefore constantly…
What are you doing with your life? Just about everyone wants a meaningful life, even though it can feel meaningless, pointless, and absurd at times. Humanity's desire for meaning reveals the power of purpose. Once you know why you're on this speck of dust hurtling through the universe, your life will take off in a…
Cal Newport has a solid older blog post on the concept of "Monk Mode Mornings." Essentially, going monk mode in the morning means spending the morning doing deep work and scheduling any other meetings/people time in the afternoons. Applying the monk mode to pastors would mean focusing on your sermon prep and writing during the…
How much time do you spend on your phone? The answer may surprise you. From supposed "quick glances" to long hours scrolling through social media, mobile devices continue to grab people's attention. In his new book, Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport seeks to address the problems associated with having a life dominated by digital devices. The Problem:…
I love the book Deep Work by Cal Newport. It's probably been the most influential book on me in the last four years. You can find the series I did on the book here: one, two, three, four, five. But the book does raise a number of remaining questions that have to be worked through to develop…
If actually doing deep work is meaningful, then we the flipside is true: doing shallow work is not meaningful. So what it to be done? Rule #4 Drain the Shallows If you want to work deeply, then you must drain the shallows. You must attempt to rid your schedule of as much shallow work as possible.…
Author Cal Newport gives several "rules" for rebuilding your focus and strengthening your ability to produce high-quality work. First, we must make space for deep work. Second, we can embrace boredom. Next, Newport advocates for people to quite social media. Rule #3: Quit Social Media Internet sabbaticals are overrated. Why? Because such sabbaticals aren’t training your…
In the last post, I summarized Cal Newport's first rule of deep work and his suggestions on how to foster it. Now, I want lay out his next rule. Rule #2: Embrace Boredom You need to wean your mind from dependence on distraction (157). To strengthen your focus you must cut out the "fluff." It’s…
In order to succeed in today's economy, Cal Newport believes people must do "deep work": important, focused work. In his book, Newport lays out a few big rules for deep work and then draws out their implications. Rule #1: Work Deeply People have a finite amount of willpower that becomes depleted as you use it…
An epidemic has broken out: people living distracted and unproductive lives. According to author, Cal Newport, the advent of “the Internet,” and other social media platforms, exacerbated this problem. Newport advocates for deep work: “Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value,…
Raising Lazarus 