Deep Work. By Cal Newport

Deep Work, by Cal Newport is the yin to the Rest, by Pang's yang.  Deep Work is a well organized and compelling argument for why people in today's highly connected, highly distracted world, need to minimize the shallow and spend more time in deep, thoughtful work.  

Where Rest, by Pang was a similar theme, Rest focused on what to do between deep work sessions.  The two books together provide an inspirational and instructional guide to a focused, more fulfilling and healthier life. 

A few changes that I've made (or am in the process of making) in my life based on this book are:

1. Spend the last part of the day and/or the first part of the next morning planning my day; even down to blocking off hours on my calendar for deep time.  At the end of the day, I consolidate notes in to a master to-do list, review upcoming calendar then shut it down for the day.
2. Allocate time to look at email only a few times a day.  Email should not be the all day distraction that most people make it to be.  This single feature has radically changed my focus, productivity and quality of life.  Learn how to turn off your email, you really won't miss much.
3. My favorite tidbit on a philosophical level is to find the thing that arouses a "terrifying longing" and let it crowd out everything (that is shallow) out.  The case is that the more distracted you are with email, interruptions, etc., the more easily something else can distract you.  I’m looking for that thing; the one that I have a terrifying longing for and delegate the rest.

It's obvious that the deep work philosophy is critically important for writers, scientists, mathematicians, professors, etc., where complex solutions need to be mulled over, wrestled with and finally discovered.  But what about a CEO whose day, nearly by definition, is somewhat shallow? While Newport touches on this a bit, my take is that deep work is necessary for everyone, but the time dedicated to it and the end product will be different based on your role.  CEOs need deep time to think about company vision, structures, organization, markets, opportunities and threats.  While a monastic philosophy may not be necessary for that role, a couple hours of deep work every day with regular sabbaticals and limited distraction from email during the day will keep him/her ahead of the pack.

In his final appeal, Newport invites you to "leave the distracted masses to join the focused few."  In a short time, I’ve experienced the benefits of deep work, (semi) free from distraction and the results are profound and immediate and I’m sure they only get better over time.  

The Organized Mind. By Daniel J. Levitin

My book for October, The Organized Mind, by Daniel J. Levitin, was on a list of most influential books of a famous CEO.  With the recommendation from a respected CEO and the interesting title, I was eager to read this book.  However, this book very quickly became a "skimmer"; flip through to determine if continuing to read would be worth the time and effort.  Unfortunately it wasn't. 

Initially, there were a few good points, but in general the book failed to capture my interest.  Secondly, I would expect a book like this to be 250-270 pages; this one was 400 pages.  While certainly not a show-stopper, it is a tell-tale sign that the author probably wasn't able to make his point clearly and in a concise manner; aka too much bloviating.

I'm disappointed in this book failure, but fortunately my book list for this year is long.  Onward and upward...

Winning in Fast Time

Ok, I cheated.  I read this book in August, a month before my resolution.  But, I liked it so much that I wanted to share it with you. 

This book was recommended to me by a friend who was working through this program with a client.  Many management strategy books have the same basic ideas (goal, strategy, tactics, etc.,) but package them a little differently.  What I liked about the packaging of this one is that it was used in one of the most successful military operations of modern times.  It's success or failure was the difference between life and death for hundreds or thousands of people.  

I used the method described in this book to outline the EVS Future Picture, Measurements of Merit, precepts and targets. In general, I think the "finished" product was complete and easy to communicate.  It easily identified where we need to improve and laid the foundation for how we are going to achieve and measure success.

Recently, I invited all the staff of my firm to join the executive team in working through the management and planning of attacking targets for EVS 3.0 using this method.  There is one catch: to participate, staff have to read the book.  It's that good of a book, highly recommended.

Rest: Why you get more done when you work less.

This book actually wasn't recommended to me nor endorsed by a famous CEO.  I found, Rest; Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, while while browsing in Barnes & Noble on a business trip in Irvine, CA.  The title was provocative enough so I gave it a try....and wow!  I'm glad I did.  This book is easily on my list of top few most influential books ever.  

The premise of the book is that rest isn't the antithesis of work, it's complementary.  The current notion of a successful person is someone who works 20 hours a day, multi-tasks, is on call 24/7 and always over-worked.  The reality is that this person is perpetually pre-burnout and is not successful because of it.  A quote from Thomas Jefferson in the last chapter sums it up nicely "It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, which give happiness."  

I'm going to work on integrating a number of concepts from the book into my daily life:

• Focused work.  No phones, no email, no interruptions, set amount of time.  The max amount of time in a day possible for focused work seems to be four hours.  Based on my work, I'm thinking two, 30-40 minute bursts with a 15 min break between should be adequate. 
• Mid-day naps.  That's right, naps.  They're not just for babies anymore. As a matter of fact they have been used by the best thinkers and most creative people in history.  The idea is that by giving your body rest throughout the day (along with your normal circadian rhythm), your brain processes and organizes new information rather than trying to "muscle through" the times of the day when you are tired and unproductive.  People think that passive rest means that your brain shuts off.  However, studies show the contrary, the difference in brain activity between focused work and passive rest is only a decrease of 5% - 10% meaning your brain is still working hard, it's just processing and organizing versus taking on new information.  
• Afternoon walks.  Similar to naps, walks rest and refresh your mind.
• Organization.  The afternoon is for less focused work (email, phone calls, etc) but before leaving every day, organize the work that needs to be done during the focused work the next day.
• Sabbaticals - Regular week-long (or longer) sabbaticals.  
• Deep play - For me this is studying jazz.
• Music before bed.  This is the most shocking and immediate effect I've gotten from this book in the week that I've been implementing thoughtful rest.  The book mentions listening to classical music before bed (Yo-Yo Ma seems to work best for me).  It's been many, many years since I've had regular, vivid dreams when I sleep.  In the past week, there has only been one night that I didn't, that's the night I didn't listen to music before bed.  Vivid dreams means I'm getting to REM, deep, revitalizing sleep.  

This book has made me reconsider and restructure not only the way I work, but the way I view rest and I highly recommend it.  There is certainly more to be gleaned from it than these few points I made here, but I'll leave with my favorite two lines from the book: "Deliberate rest helps you recognize and avoid the trap of pointless busyness and concentrate instead on what's important."  "Taking rest seriously requires recognizing its importance, claiming our right to rest, and carving out and defending space for rest in our daily lives."

September New Year's Resolution

Some people wait until January 1 to make a resolution.  I say, If the spirit moves you in September, why wait?  I've recently been inspired to read books that famous CEOs and respected friends say have been influential to them.  To keep things interesting and to make this an actual long-term commitment, I now resolve to read one book per month for the next 12 months.  

I believe, this journey will could greatly impact the way I work, think and conduct business.  I can't wait to share ....so let's get started!