Book Review “DEEP WORK” By Cal Newport

Rating: 3.5 sticks of butter (out of 5)

The good: In the Realm of self-help and business books, this one is a gem. Cal Newport illustrates the importance and rareness of “deep work” in a clear way and gives plenty of examples (maybe too much). Basically, his definition of deep work is to be able to focus without distractions on a challenging task. Judging a book by its cover, it looks like a book that talks about how to limit distractions and be more productive, which it does talk about those things, but it is soo much “Deeper” ( no pun intended). It talks about the Economy, Job market, business, organizations and so much more. It’s not too long of a read with 263 pages, and it is relatively easy to follow. 

The bad: The only real criticism that I have for this book is that in the beginning, the author spends way too much time trying to persuade you that “deep work” is Beneficial instead of telling people ways to do “deep work” and how to incorporate it into your life. He gives example after example of people who use “deep work” and are successful, in a tone as if he was writing a persuasive essay.  

The Butter: All in all this book was very knowledgeable and definitely worth the read. It has many nuggets of information that are very useful.  In my opinion, the greatest takeaway from this book is when it talks about how to become a winner in this new economy. Cal states that one of the core abilities to thrive in the new economy will be “ the ability to quickly master hard things”. Which is very true because, with this new age of technology, there are always new programs, software, and machines. So if you have the ability to learn how to use these things, and not only learn but to master them in a short amount of time, you will be successful monetary wise. The way to get that ability according to the book is to use “deep work” and lock in and limit your distractions. The other big takeaway from this book is the fact that if you are someone who uses “deep work” then you separate yourself from the mass because we now have a culture of people who work while being constantly distracted. 

Buy or Sell: Definitely Buy!! May not be entertaining read but it contains tons of wisdom. It is a good book for college students to help them be more productive in their studies and in life in general.

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