This Productivity Secret Will Generate Better Content Than 95% Of Creators

How Cal Newport’s Deep Work has changed my life

You are capable of producing far more content than you can imagine.

I realize you won’t believe this. You feel maxed out. But an associate professor at Georgetown University Cal Newport found a way to:

• double his output (9 professional papers — up from 4)
• write a book
• never work evenings and weekends
• all whilst his kids were small

His secret is Deep Work (which he explains in the book of the same name). I recently read it. And it blows all the other productivity books out of the water. Why try to squeeze out an extra 10% when you can go big and double your output?

Deep Work is a superpower for creators.

I’ve been applying his ideas for 6 weeks now. And it works. I write 6–10 articles on Medium. But last month I wrote 16!

Deep Work might change your life.

What is Deep Work?

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a demanding task.

It’s in sharp contrast to shallow work. Those practical tasks on your to-do list, are often done in a state of distraction.

To produce the absolute best stuff you’re capable of, you need to commit to deep work. Focus intensely without distraction.

Deep work is valuable

Digital technology is creating a massive restructuring of the economy.

You used to need labor and capital to make it big. Now you don’t need either. With very little money you can create products and sell them. You have instant access to the whole market. All the barriers have gone. A small amount of money gives you access to an email list, landing pages, and software to create products.

This gives creators access to all consumers. But it also gives consumers access to all creators. This has radical implications. It makes the rewards extraordinary for those producing at an elite level. The average is no longer adequate. It gets ruthlessly punished. Consumers can easily access the best.

So many people hear about the creator economy and get excited. The guy who quit his 9–5 to work 3 hours a day writing on the internet. Or the busy mum writing for 90 minutes in the afternoon and bringing in an extra $30k/year.

And all this is possible. But your content needs to be top quality. Better than the rest. Consumers have access to the best YouTubers, writers, and podcasters. So why would they choose mediocre content?

Creators are always looking for the latest tricks to go viral. But the real answer is to produce the best content. And this requires deep work. You can’t create high-level content whilst flicking between internet tabs and social media apps.

Deep work is rare

Given the rewards you’d think everyone would be at it.

They are not. Individual creators struggle to do it. Companies don’t promote it. Deep work is almost impossible to do regularly. Two powerful forces fight against it:

Human nature

To work in a deep state of concentration for extended periods of time is difficult.

There are modern online temptations. The brightest minds on the planet have booby-trapped with every sneaky trick in the book. But the ancients struggled with distraction too. There is something odd about human nature where we struggle to do what we decide to do.

Try it now. Pick a valuable book. Decide to read and squeeze loads of learning from it. Commit to 60 minutes. What you’ll find is your brain will have 100’s of alternative thoughts. All are designed to pull you away from this task you choose to do.

There are lots of ways to tackle procrastination and beat distractions. The key mindset is to see deep work as a muscle. It’s something you have to develop. The starting point is to admit to yourself you are weak.

Then get stronger by experimenting with what strengthens your focus.

The structure of the work

Workplaces celebrate busy work.

Endless meetings and mountains of emails are particular favorites. It’s doubtful how much value they contribute. In theory, employers want you to produce high-quality work. Try telling senior managers you’ll be skipping pointless meetings. And ignoring all those meaningless emails to focus on deep work. You’ll be seen as weird rather than a high performer.

The brutal truth is most workplaces are against valuable work.

Incredible opportunity

Newport’s argument is faultless.

Working deeply on important work offers huge value. The rewards are incredible. But most people are not doing this.

This offers a powerful opportunity for those who are willing to take the road less traveled. There is a market mismatch. Cultivate the skill of deep work and you’ll thrive professionally.

That’s enough to convince me. But Newport has one final trick up his sleeve. And it’s my favorite one of all.

Deep work is meaningful

Many creators desire the dream life. Being free to travel. Relax. Do whatever they want. It’s the common view of happiness. Less work means more fun.

The problem with this view is research shows it doesn’t work.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi contacted research participants at random moments. Asking them what they were doing and how they felt about it. He discovered an astonishing truth. People were happiest when immersed in challenging work. Rather than engaging in pleasurable activities:

“The best moments in our lives, are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times. The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.’

Deep work is hard but gives meaning to life. We are designed to live with meaning rather than ease.

Deep work brings huge economic rewards but there’s a better reason to go deep. Humans flourish in the depths and wallow when living in shallowness. In other words:

The deep life is the good life.

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