At times this feels like the latest Silicon Valley productivity guide: ‘Microdose on MD to increase creativity!’, ‘Here’s how to be productive in EVERY WAKING MINUTE’. At other times I considered whether this would be better as a lecture, or a motivational speech, perhaps a little egged on by the enormous margins and large type face in my paperback copy.
However Deep Work really does have salient, mostly concise advice. It presents a good argument to pursue deep work - to lead a meaningful life - and only veers every now and then into the adulation of the successful. This book has many flaws, and after sixty pages I hated it. But as I read on and on I was slowly convinced by the genuinely applicable, and often novel advice.
Newport appreciates there are other ways to live life, and many ways to implement Deep Work depending on the kind of life you live. After persevering through sometimes spurious statements and constant reminders from the author of his success, I ended up thoroughly enjoying this book. I think it’s the first self-help book I’ll turn back to, and re-read in the future.