One of my favorite books this year was Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport.

Like most people, I struggle a lot with staying focused on my work. Even as I write my notes for these tips, the TV is playing in the background, my dog just farted, I’m stressed because I don’t know where my phone is at the moment, and I just heard the ping of a new email arrive in my inbox moments ago. Is it important? Maybe I should check my email real quick to see. It’s probably not anything urgent. Must. Check. Email! And 20 minutes later after going down a rabbit hole, I’m back focusing on my work.

That’s what Cal Newport would define as shallow work. If you are working on an important project or if you’re what he calls a “knowledge worker” like so many of us are today, shallow work causes a massive loss of productivity.

Only by returning to the discipline of deep work, can we write the book, finish the painting, polish the presentation, and unleash the creative potential that we need to crank out serious and satisfying results.

The problem is that we’re so distracted these days and we spend so much time in shallow work, that very few of us have the ability to really go deep with our work anymore. Only by training ourselves to spend more time in a state of undistracted focus, will we be able to accomplish our most important goals.

Newport outlines some practical strategies to develop a habit of deep work, and you’ll need to read the book to find out those strategies.

My one big takeaway from the book was adopting time each morning to perform deep work. This is a time of undistracted, coffee-fueled time early in the morning where I write and work on the projects that require the most focused work. These daily tips wouldn’t be possible without that undistracted deep work time early in the morning.

This book is perfect for person in your life who keeps talking about writing the book, restoring the car, or launching the business, but can never seem to find the time to get started.

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. Tomorrow, I’m going to share with you the book that I love so much I re-read it in 2018.

My name is Ashley Micciche...and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

Buy the book: https://amzn.to/2fxQCoy

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