Deep Work

Deep work by cal newport.

I recently read Deep Work by Cal Newport and while it isn't specifically about startups it does offer a crucial insights into doing work that is valuable (potentially also monetary valuable). Startups can be run in 1000s different ways, in particular solo-startups, but common for them is that they solve a difficult problem, and that requires deep work.

Recommend this book, but honestly you don't need to read it: Deep Work: Cal Newport What you need to know from this book is that to write good software (both quality and quantity) you need to go deep. You need to fully absorb and understand the problem in your mind, BEFORE you begin writing code. And then, you need quiet undistracted time to map the thoughts in your mind, to code on paper. This process of turning a mental model in your mind, into a well designed code model, takes more focus than you think (if you want to do it well). Give yourself a quiet room with no visual distractions. Just you, and your code. Set aside a few hours. Most importantly of all - Remove the possibility in your mind, that a distraction could happen. I cannot emphasize this enough. Your mind will not go deep if, even on a subconscious level, you think a distraction could come. A text message, a spouse walking in, a co-worker asking a question, etc. These all need to be (as reasonably as possible) NOT possible so that your mind can go quiet, and you can take on the work.

A few things come to mind along with what's already been mentioned: Assorted Non-Book Readings: - https://randsinrepose.com/dont-skip-this/ - http://www.stilldrinking.org/programming-sucks - https://sysadvent.blogspot.com/2019/12/day-21-being-kind-to-... (https://sysadvent.blogspot.com/2019/12/day-21-being-kind-to-3am-you.html) - https://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-t... (https://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/) - https://grugbrain.dev/ - https://changelog.com/posts/rich-hickeys-greatest-hits - https://github.com/papers-we-love/papers-we-love/blob/master... (https://github.com/papers-we-love/papers-we-love/blob/master/design/out-of-the-tar-pit.pdf) - http://www.cs.unc.edu/techreports/86-020.pdf Books: - The Phoenix Project: Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford - Deep Work: Cal Newport - The Art of Leadership: Michael Lopp (Rands) - Extreme Ownership: Jocko Willink and Leif Babin (once you get through the ho-rah stuff it's a fantastic read) - Time Management for System Administrators: O'Reilly (fantastic for interrupt driven work) - Elements of Clojure: Zachary Tellman (not just for Clojure devs)

Deep work by Cal Newport. It helped me learn how to be vastly more productive in the same amount of effort and time.

Deep Work by Cal Newport was great. If only I could actually apply its principles at my job in an open office with an IM chat system.

I have a post at my blog here: http://westby.io/5-books-ive-read-2018-1/ Some other books I read that I'd recommend: - Anathem - Deep Work - A Canticle for Leibowitz - Into Thin Air - Shoe Dog - Happiness Hypothesis

Deep Work is excellent and likely a very useful read for most of the programmers / engineers / (data) scientists ... pretty much any "information worker"!

1. Born a Crime (audiobook) by Trevor Noah is an entertaining yet thought-provoking listen 2. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (just gives a different perception to success all together, at least did for me) 3. Mastery (Robert Greene) - can be dismissed as Anecdotes but really powerful ones 4. Deep Work (Cal Newport) - a guy who doesn't like to be on social media and I found reading about him and stumbled upon this and it's absolutely an insightful read 5. The subtle art of not giving a fk - This is a short, beautiful and an amazing read even if you aren't looking for self improvement

There are a lot of really great suggestions here. I would recommend putting all of them aside and read Deep Work by Cal Newport and then re assess.

For a non-cs book, checkout Deep Work by Cal Newport. It's been a little while since I read, but what struck me most is the mindset to avoid distractions.

"Letters from a Stoic" by Seneca "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins "Deep Work" by Cal Newport "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" by Jared Diamond

I agree with your assessment about "Deep Work" but I still recommend folks to read it, just to reiterate what you probably already know. I think it helps us remind ourselves to focus on our life, when there are so many distractions.

On my first run through this book and I already want to re-read it again. It has had an amazing effect on helping me re-focus on my work and re-familiarize myself with the value of deep focus / work. Great book - highly recommend it.

Deep Work by Cal Newport. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25744928-deep-work Eye opening reading for everyone who works in IT, science or any industry that requires long chunks of deep attention.

+1 (+2?) for Deep Work and Ready Player One. Read both this year, and both are excellent. Also really liked The Martian.

- Tetris: The Games People Play by Box Brown - Tibet, Tibet by Patrick French - Maya: A Novel by CW Huntington, Jr - The Science of Enlightenment by Shinzen Young - Flask Web Development by Miguel Grinberg - Buddha's Diet by Tara Cottrell - A Feast of Vultures by Josy Joseph - Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection by John Man - Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari - Cuckold by Kiran Nagarkar - Goliath by Tom Gauld - This Will Never Happen Again by David Cain - Cure by Jo Marchant - If It’s Monday It Must Be Madurai: A Conducted Tour of India by Srinath Perur - Deep Work by Cal Newport - Enduring Love by Ian McEwan - The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion and a few others that aren't worth recommending; all the above are.

Deep Work has been one of the most influential books about productivity. https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/... (https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692)

reading this one now, very good book!

"Deep Work" by Cal Newport. He emphasizes the need for deep intellectual work to prosper in the knowledge economy and suggests ways to practice getting to that level of work. It is part rumination and part self help. I highly recommend it.