After my last notes on <a href="https://onye.io/post/notes-on-deep-work-1">Deep Work</a>, I was completely sold and decided to work on increasing my capacity for deep work. Here is a quick summary of my activities and noticed progress.
<h4>Activities</h4>
<ul>
<li>I quit all social media except LinkedIn (but my LinkedIn usage is very reduced).</li>
<li>I now measure my screen time and activities — I spend more time on Notes, Kindle, Bible, Apple Books, Spotify (Podcasts), and YouTube.</li>
<li>I’ve been meditating a lot (reading the Bible 3 or 4 times a day).</li>
<li>I time-blocked my calendar (not so easy to adhere to, though).</li>
<li>I schedule my shallow work activities mostly when I am tired and feel less productive.</li>
<li>My wife helped organize the environment to facilitate deep work.</li>
<li>Tiny micro-improvements: I now group my tabs and try to work within one context.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Improvements</h4>
<ul>
<li>I feel more in control of my life and mind, quite unperturbed by the activities of the world; turns out the world is so beautiful and can be quite serene.</li>
<li>Spending quality time with my wife and loved ones. ♥️</li>
<li>I have been reading and studying a lot recently. I am about to finish a 700-page book! 😁</li>
<li>I feel like I have more time on my plate.</li>
</ul>

45 Days After Reading Deep Work

This is the continuation of my notes on Deep Work by Cal Newport. to read part 1, <a href="https://onye.io/post/notes-on-deep-work-1">click here</a>.
<hr>
Knowing that relying on willpower alone is unsustainable, because of it's finiteness, the question becomes: how then do we train our ability for depth? The quick answer is that we must develop systems to manage our willpower. Cal Newport offers plenty of advice in Deep Work—some of which, in my Opinion, are a bit too strict or impractical. Still, here's what i intend to adopt.
First, pay serious attention to your attention. What you give consistent attention to determines your level of output. Deep work, shallow work, and junky work are all constantly competing for your scare focus ,time and attention. Be ruthless with how you spend your time and attention—it's your most valuable currency. The ancient script says "Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life"
Second, set clear goals and identify the few activities essential for achieving them. According to the Pareto Principle (the 80/20 rule), 20% of your activities generate 80% of your results. Find those 20% activities that truly matter and pour 80% of your attention and resources into them. For blogging, it's deliberate writing—not social media engagement. For training to dunk, it's doing more explosive squats, not more benchpresses.
Third, develop a deep work philosophy — a clear method for how you want to approach your work. Newport identifies four:
<ul>
<li>Monastic,, which involves living like a monk, fully secluded from distractions.</li>
<li>Bimodal, which alternates between deep, isolated work sessions and regular life(think retreats).</li>
<li>Rhythmic, which builds deep work into your daily routine</li>
<li>Journalistic, the hardest, where you can drop into depth at any moment, even amid chaos.
Personally, i lean toward the Rhythmic philosophy- it's feels more of lifestyle and reasonably balanced.</li>
</ul>
Next, design your environment so that deep work becomes the default. Environments are very important. Set up your office, apartment, calendar, and devices in ways that promote focus and intentional collaboration. Newton lived a minimalist lifestyle, Steve jobs wore the same outfit everyday, and Maya Angelou rented hotel rooms for solitude. Your environment should make it easier to focus than to get distracted.
Fifth, set up daily lead measures to track progress towards your goals. These are not backward-looking metrics but forward-moving habits. For example, if my goal is to improve my writing, a lead measure could be write 100 words per day. If i want to read 30 books a year, i can aim to read 20 pages a day.
Then, carefully manage your internet and social media usage. Newport suggests quitting social media altogether, which i find a bit extreme—but understandable, given the cruciality of the topic. My approach is to be purposeful: schedule social media use, reflect on its value, and quit if it doesn't contribute to your goals or wellbeing.
Also, schedule your shallow work. Have a designated time for emails, messages, or admin tasks—and timebox them if needed. Don't let them bleed into your deep work sessions.
Lastly, accept boredom and schedule your relaxation. Deep work is mentally demanding. Rest is not laziness—it's fuel for the soul and body. Recharge your brain intentionally. Deep work burns energy.
And above all, never underestimate your brain's capacity for work and adventure. Keep learning, reading, creating, and producing. Don't just consume, Contribute! Your brain is far more capable than you think—it just needs the right systems to unleash its depth.

My Notes on Deep Work by Cal Newport(part 2)

I have always wondered the reason behind the distributions of results, performance and excellence across people, Organisations and Nations. Why do people like Bach, Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, Newton, Einstein, David Oyedepo, Wole Soyinka, Julius Caesar, Alexander Hamilton, Apostle Paul and the rest, produce value at a crazy rate? Why are they more Productive? Were they different humans or species? Do they have more than 24 hours per day?
This curiosity of mine made me read this book, and Cal Newport struck a nerve concerning intense Productivity, i'll summarise most of my thoughts while reading the book.
Newport defines deep work as the ability to learn and concentrate on hard things that change rapidly, and to produce quality work at an elite level with speed. I like to call deep work, "the major work of the work". If i wanted to be the greatest basketball shooter, surpassing Steph Curry, I'd need to practice at least 1,000 shots every day— that's learning — and make 500 threes per season — that's quality production. Making 2,000 layups every day might be good, but it wouldn't make me the greatest shooter. This naturally leads to the other type of work — shallow work.
Shallow work, while not necessarily bad, is any kind of work that consumes time and energy but doesn't contribute as much to our overall productivity. it can support our visibility or maintain our workflow, but it's not the core of our craft. Using the same basketball example, handling press conferences is part of the job — it offers visibility — but if i spent more time with the press than i did on court, the chances of achieving greatness would be very slim.
While the difference between deep and shallow work is obvious in that example, it's far trickier to distinguish in everyday knowledge work. Shallow work often disguises itself as deep work. As office workers, It's easy to think activities — such as attending every meetings, responding to every message and mails instantly, coffee talks — are signs of productivity. But while these activities may have some value, they might not be the essence of what moves a business forward. The purpose of a business is to provide value to customers, and the purpose of an employee is to provide value to the business — not to look busy within it.
We also underestimate how much time and energy shallow work consumes. What seems like a quick distraction can easily derail an entire day. We've all checked social media "Just for a minute" and stumbled on something that completely shifted our mood, making it hard to return to focused work. Newport warns about the dangers of context switching — when we move from one task uncompleted to another, our brain doesn't immediately clear out the previous task. we carry attention residue into the next one, making our effort shallower and less effective. This fragmented attention not only weakens our concentration but also drains our mental energy.
Shallow work creates the illusion of busyness, but not real productivity. The more fragmented our attention becomes, the more our brain gets rewires itself to prefer distraction, gradually losing its capacity for focus and depth. Deep work is like a muscle that must be trained. The more we indulge in easy, shallow tasks, the weaker the muscle gets— and the harder it is for us to sustain focus on things that truly matter. Another interesting fact, i discovered while reading — Our Brain naturally wants to do the easy and shallow things. There's always an inertia to do consistently, the meaningful things that will impact our lives. It's hard to go to the gym everyday, it's hard to practice that craft, it's hard to write regularly. It's uncomfortable, and so we procrastinate. Yet, meaningful achievements requires us to do the hard things, to be disciplined and to push beyond that inertia.
But discipline alone is not enough. One of Newport's most fascinating insights is that willpower is finite. That discovery(I stopped here) helped me understand why so many New Year's resolutions fades after a few months — we eventually run out of willpower. if we rely on our willpower alone, we'll likely to give in to shallow and less impactful work. The key, therefore, is to design systems and environments that make deep work easier and automatic, so that discipline becomes a by product of structure rather than constant struggle.

My Notes on Deep Work by Cal Newport(part 1)

<blockquote>
“I have ever had pleasure in obtaining any little
anecdotes of my ancestors. You may remember the inquiries I made
among the remains of my relations when you were with me in England,
and the journey I undertook for that purpose. Imagining it may be
equally agreeable to you to know the circumstances of my life,
many of which you are yet unacquainted with, and expecting the enjoyment
of a week's uninterrupted leisure in my present country retirement,
I sit down to write them for you. To which I have besides some
other inducements. Having emerged from the poverty and obscurity
in which I was born and bred, to a state of affluence and some
degree of reputation in the world, and having gone so far through
life with a considerable share of felicity, the conducing means
I made use of, which with the blessing of God so well succeeded,
my posterity may like to know, as they may find some of them
suitable to their own situations, and therefore fit to be imitated” — Benjamin Franklin
</blockquote>
Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography was one of the humorous Biographies i've ever read. Originally written for his grandson, Benjamin Franklin recounts his life and upbringing in an engaging, humorous way, filled with life principles and lessons. He also gives a glimpse into Life in America in the 1700s. Sadly, he didn't complete the book.
However, with the little part he did write, it is nothing short of fascinating. He stands among my top heroes and models for life and accomplishments. One could even argue he was the first living proof of the American Dream. How did a poor boy with no academic background become one of the Founding Fathers of the great Nation of America - a profound Scientist accredited by the Royal Society in London, an incredible Diplomat, a wealthy Business man, a prolific writer amongst many other things?
Here are my notes from reading this book—key values and traits that shaped into the man he became.
<ul>
<li>Seeking Virtue: His 13 lists of virtues and daily self-examination were nothing short of impressive, constantly trying to work on his weaknesses and striving to walk the path he believed right.</li>
<li>Personal Development: Though he never attended a school, he was a devoted and committed reader. As a child, he saved his small stipends to buy books to read. He honed his writing and communication skills, followed his curiosity about Electricity, and even took the initiative to learn different languages - such as French, Spanish, Italian and Greek.</li>
<li>Service: Always contributing to and solving problems for the people and the town at large—whether as an employee, councillor, or adviser. He made numerous efforts to improve the city, from strengthening it's defensive, introducing better and innovated street lights to paved roads, founding of the University of Philadephia, improving healthcare and much more.</li>
<li>Purposeful Branding: Intentionality with societal perception— cultivating the image industrious, diplomatic, curious and empathetic man.</li>
<li>Getting his ideas out there: Franklin published many of his ideas — from Philosophy to Electricity, Governance, Education — out there which expanded his "luck surface". This earned him reputation with both influential people and ordinary people, opened doors — election into the Royal Society — and made him wealthy through ventures like poor Richard's Almanac, among countless other benefits.</li>
<li>Diligence: "Franklin's work ethic is unmatched; i see him working late when i leave the club, and he's back at it before anyone else is awake" - a direct quote from the book</li>
<li>Frugality: "Only spend money, if it benefits others or yourself, in other words, don't waste money on yourself " - he saved diligently and wasn't extravagant, living a simple life with his family well within his means. It's interesting to note that many wealthy men in history — John Rockefeller, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffets and Sam Walton - were similarly shrewd and frugal.</li>
<li>Friends: Junto—a community of committed learners—provided a highly positive and nurturing environment for Franklin and also served as a valuable network.Many members of this community would later become captains of industry or occupy government positions. it helped him shape and refine his ideas, embodying the "Iron sharpens Iron" kind of environment.</li>
<li>Community Mindedness: He found a unique way of involving people without worrying about who received credits. By presenting projects and ideas as community initiatives rather than his personal ideas, he made people feel they were joining a common cause—a powerful incentive— rather than simply advancing Franklin's own ideas.</li>
</ul>

Hi, i am Emmanuel Onyebueke

All Writings

2025