1. Introduction
   1. Deep Work Definition
      1. Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.
   2. Shallow Work Definition
      1. Noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend not to create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.
   3. The Deep Work Hypothesis
      1. The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.
2. Part 1: The Idea
   1. Deep Work is Valuable
      1. Three groups having a particular advantage
         1. those who can work well and creatively with intelligent machines
         2. those who are the best at what they do
         3. those with access to capital
      2. How to Become a Winner in the New Economy
         1. The ability to quickly master hard things.
         2. The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed.
         3. Two Core Abilities for Thriving in the New Economy that depend on your ability to perform deep work
      3. Deep Work helps you quickly learn hard things
      4. Deep Work helps you produce at an Elite level
      5. Counterexample of success without deep work
   2. Deep Work is Rare
      1. The Metric Black Hole
      2. The Principle of Least Resistance
      3. Busyness as Proxy for Productivity
      4. Internet-centrism and technopoly
   3. Deep Work is Meaningful
      1. A Neurological Argument for Depth
      2. A Psycological Argument for Depth
      3. A Philosophical Argument for Depth
3. Obstacles to Deep Work
   1. Distracting office setting
   2. Finite amount of willpower / boredom
   3. Cognitive capacity
   4. Job's requirement to be online
4. Part 2: Rules
   1. Rule #1: Work Deeply
      1. Depth Approaches
         1. Monastic philosophy
         2. Bimodal philosophy
         3. Rhythmic philosophy
         4. Journalistic philosophy
      2. Ritualize
         1. Where you'll work and for how long
         2. How you'll work once you start to work
         3. How you'll support your work
      3. Make Grand Gestures
         1. Put yourself in an exotic location
         2. Take a week off from work
         3. Lock yourself in a hotel room
      4. Don't Work Alone
      5. Execute Like a Business
         1. #1: Focus on the Wildly Important
         2. #2: Act on the Lead Measures
         3. #3: Keep a Compelling Scoreboard
         4. #4: Create a Cadence of Accountability
      6. Be Lazy
         1. Downtime Aids Insights
         2. Downtime Helps Recharge the Energy Needed to Work Deeply
         3. The Work That Evening Downtime Replaces Is Usually Not That Important
   2. Rule #2: Embrace Boredom
      1. Don’t Take Breaks from Distraction. Instead Take Breaks from Focus.
         1. This strategy works even if your job requires lots of Internet use and/or prompt email replies
         2. Keep the time outside Internet blocks absolutely free from Internet use
         3. Scheduling Internet use at home as well as at work can further improve your concentration training.
      2. Working with Great Intensity (like Teddy Roosevelt)
      3. Meditate Productively
         1. Suggestion #1: Be Wary of Distractions and Looping
         2. Suggestion #2: Structure Your Deep Thinking
      4. Memorize a Deck of Cards
   3. Rule #3: Quit Social Media
      1. The Craftsman Approach to Tool Selection
      2. The Law of the Vital Few, or 80/20
      3. Quit Social Media
      4. Don't Use the Internet to Entertain Yourself
   4. Rule #4: Drain the Shallows
      1. Schedule Every Minute of Your Day
      2. Quantify the Depth of Every Activity
      3. Ask Your Boss for a Shallow Work Budget
      4. Finish Your Work by Five Thirty, or Fixed-schedule productivity
      5. Become Hard to Reach
         1. Make People Who Send You E-mail Do More Work
         2. Do More Work When You Send or Reply to E-mails
         3. Don't Respond