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Deep Work Summary

Sat, 10 May 2025 12:28:00 +0000

Introduction

I’ve just returned from my honeymoon with my wife, where we chose to stay at an all-inclusive resort in Rhodes, Greece. Between going on cruises and exploring the local towns, I found myself with plenty of time by the pool - which allowed me time to catch up on some reading.

Recently, I finished “Deep Work” by Cal Newport. I wanted to summarise the points that resonated with me most, and outline how I plan to incorporate them into my workflow moving forward.

Rhythmic and Bimodal Philosophy

Since getting married back in Feburary - I’ve found myself more focused than usual. My typical weekday routine involves waking up at 6:30 and dedicating an hour to studying before getting ready for work around 7:30.

I try to maintain this streak by making sure I sit down at my computer each morning. Once I’m there, I find it much easier to get started. I then additionally do more work in the evenings and/or during the weekends, however this can also be more streamlined.

This aligns with the Rhythmic philosophy Cal describes, which emphasizes the importance of showing up and engaging with your work consistently every day.

While I plan to continue this approach, I’m also interested in adopting more of a bimodal strategy. I hadn’t fully appreciated how crucial sustained focus is for deep work. Multitasking can lead to what Cal calls “attention residue”, can leave your problem-solving abilities divided between tasks.

To address this, I want to ensure that my study sessions are dedicated to a single task, minimizing context switches as much as possible. I want to also work on my ability to switch on and off from being able to deep work and be more leisurely.

Tallying and Top-End Deep Work

Another practice I’d like to implement is keeping a tally - not just to track my streak, but also to record the number of focused hours I achieve each day. I’ll also highlight any hour in which I learn something particularly significant.

This approach is intended to ‘gamify’ the process of learning and productivity, making it both more engaging and effective. I’m eager to see how well this works for me.

Cal suggests that the upper limit for deep work is about four hours per day. At the moment, I’m averaging around an hour, but I’d like to increase this-either by waking up earlier or finding additional time elsewhere in my day.

One hour of deep work feels too comfortable for me right now, so I’ll like to at least extend this to 2 hours.

Embracing Boredom and Productive Meditation

The idea is to become more comfortable with being bored. With technology so easily accessible, it’s very easy to end up on Instagram and doom-scroll. I can be quite bad for this when I have downtime or am in a queue.

This cuts into your willpower to stay in deep focus when you’re doing harder tasks. I intend to work on this and become more comfortable with stillness.

Similarly, Cal introduces the concept of productive meditation: using activities like working out or running as opportunities to think through problems or plan tasks. I already do this to some extent during my commute, but I’d like to create more opportunities for productive reflection.

By allowing myself to sit with boredom more and incorporating ‘productive meditation’, I should significantly increase my concentration.

Shutdown Ritual and Fixed Schedule

Cal recommends having a strict cutoff for work or study-related thinking - he suggests 5:30 p.m., though since I finish work at 6:00, I’ll need to adjust this to fit my schedule.

The rationale is that once you’ve exhausted your deep work capacity, any additional effort is likely to be subpar. It’s better to rest and recharge so you’re ready for the next day.

I do enjoy coding or working on projects in the evenings from time to time, so my plan is to ensure that the bulk of my focused work happens in the morning. If I choose to study later at night, it will be more casual and pressure-free.

To help shift from ‘work mode’ to ‘leisure mode,’ Cal suggests having a phrase or ritual. I’ll come up with something I can say to myself to mark the transition and ensure I take intentional breaks.

The Grand Gesture and Lag/Lead Measures

The Grand Gesture is the idea of going on some sort of retreat to focus on your work without distractions. The novelty of going somewhere specifically to work can freshen up your day-to-day experience and allow you to focus more.

Interestingly, I was able to experience a bit of this on my honeymoon. Of course, I wasn’t just thinking about work, but having time by the pool allowed me to read and think in a different environment, which was refreshing.

I’m hoping to plan small retreats every six months or so as a way to reset. I’d like to enjoy being somewhere new, but also dedicate a few hours per day to studying or working on something that excites me.

When it comes to goal-setting, Cal discusses ‘lag and lead measures’-the idea is to set goals that are achievable and not overly specific to a single task.

I’ll think of a nicer sounding goal, however it’ll be along the lines of improving my general IT/coding knowledge whilst being more physically fit.

As the book quotes:

“I’ll live the focused life, because it’s the best kind there is.” – Winifred Gallagher

Life Classes and Sub Classes

Sat, 19 Apr 2025 03:18:00 +0000

Intro

Warriors. Mages. Bards. Priests.

These are the classes I believe people typically fit into. Warriors are physically adept. Mages are intellectuals, with high technical ability. Bards are theatrical, bringing joy and energy to those around them. Priests are guided by strong spiritual or religious values.

Most people are a mix of these archetypes but tend to favor one. While you could argue there are more classes, I see these as the fundamentals. I want to focus on the classes I most align with and how this shapes my decision-making.

Class:Warrior

I’ve always admired physicality. I’m not necessarily someone that looks strong (being around 5’6 and smaller framed) - however growing up watching Naruto, Bleach and other shonen shows. Being able to push and exert yourself always appealed to me.

I used to go to the gym 5 times a week; I tracked my macros and protein intake. I knew (and still know) my all-time PRs — my max bench, squat, deadlift and my best 5km run time.

This later translated to my love of boxing: the art of hitting without getting hit, the head movement, the different types of guards, space control, cadence, and rhythm. The thrill that I felt to have full autonomy in what felt like every inch of fibre and muscle I had within my body, to make people miss by a fraction of a hair, or to place shots with pinpoint speed and precision.

What I love about physicality is that performance/ability isn’t just determined by how much you can lift or the size of your frame. I suit being someone who is slim, quick, nimble, with good dexterity and hand-eye coordination.

Class:Mage

As I’ve put more focus into coding and since my day job is within the MSP space. I have encountered my fair share of ‘wizards’. People that are able to fix and spot almost any problem, they’re able to plan and lead projects, able to code and scale their own apps, proficient in different coding languages, manage infrastructure for hundreds or thousands of end users.

I’ve only started appreciating the effort and grind required to be intellectually competent. I wouldn’t consider myself dumb, however I felt that I haven’t done myself justice - hence my recent efforts in studying and reading more.

Subclass:Battle Mage

I feel most people are predisposed to be a certain way. Usually, you can tell what type of person someone will become. However, I’ve always felt that I slotted awkwardly, bouncing and wedging between potentials - I’m well rounded and good at everything, however I’ve never excelled at anything.

Even though I’m not bad in any of these categories. I’m not exactly a super athlete, I’m not exactly a genius or really studious, and I’m not really outspoken and charismatic.

One of the cooler classes that I would come across playing RPGs back when I was younger, would be battle mages. They weren’t as strong or physically imposing as warriors, and they weren’t as intellectual or magically gifted as mages. However they’ve mashed their circumstances into some sort of hybrid.

What I sometimes consider a weakness also gives me the opportunity to be great in my own right. I can cover a larger area of competency. Wizards are known to be socially reclusive and physically weak. Warriors are known to be intellectually stunted and simple. I can ideally cover both these weaknesses.

The problem is that I have to work twice as hard to get the same results in a certain area as someone naturally gifted, I have to study more, I have to build more, I have to run more, I have to fight more.

I’ll likely never reach the level of being an ‘Arch Mage’ intellectually, or be a ‘Grand Warrior’ physically. If there was a ranking or level to being a ‘Battle Mage’ - I’m very much aware that I’m currently a novice or amateur.

However this is my ticket to greatness, it’s not about being the best globally, it’s about imposing my will through hardship and it leading to the best manifestation of my spirit.

For me, I believe that - To move forward is to be everything.