Focus Book Summary

book summary
Focus by Cal
Newport
FOCUS
TIPS TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS IN A WORLD
SCATTERED
Lectuland
Alex Omar Monroy Campos Jorge Arondhy Raya Villa Study skills
Morelia Technological Institute
Introduction
In this book Cal Newport talks to us about how there are many advantages to doing
one task at a time, so as not to get distracted and how to overcome these
distractors that prevent us from finishing our tasks.
There are more and more distractors that lead us to superficial work. This
superficial work is the tasks that we do when we are distracted, since these do not
need much attention.
The more we do this superficial work the less we will be involved in activities that
require more attention than these are called by the author as focused work.
Thus, Cal Newport presents us with the argument of learning focused work, since it
is something valuable, which will help us achieve success in our lives, just as it
helped Bill Gates start a billion-dollar industry in less than a year. semester
The author divided the work into 2 parts:
First, he argues that, in almost all professions, maintaining a focused work provides
enormous benefits, even in one's personal life.
Then present the 4 rules to achieve this work and turn these rules into habits.
Thus the book is an important guide for those seeking success in a world full of
distractions.
About the author Cal Newport

Cal Newport has a PhD in Computer Science from MIT and is a professor of
computer science at Georgetown University.
This book is recommended for those who want to focus on more demanding
cognitive tasks.
Also for people who are very easily distracted on social networks, such as several
young people.
And finally for people who want methods to obtain greater productivity.
Next, I will talk about the main ideas of the book:
o Multitasking is not good for productivity: This means that if we are doing one
task and we move on to another, our attention is tied to the first task we
were doing.
o Focused work is not the only skill that will be “valuable” in new economic
thinking. There are people who succeed by being extremely distracted, since
their work does not require them to be very focused, but this is increasingly
rare.
o Focused work is necessary as it takes your creative abilities to the maximum.
o What you choose to focus on exerts a force on your future attitude.
o When you lose focus, your mind tends to focus on what could be wrong in
your life, instead of focusing on what is working.
What is focused work?
The author shares with us the idea that in current economic thinking there are 2
skills that if you learn them you will stand out from others
1- The ability to quickly make a request that has a high degree of difficulty
2- The ability to produce at a high level, with quality and speed
To develop these capabilities according to Cal Newport will depend on your ability
to do focused work where you give your complete focus and your total attention.
Unlike focused work, superficial work allows you to work while you are distracted,
since it does not require much of your mind.
To produce at your highest level of quality and quantity you must be focused only
on one task since, as it says, multitasking is not good for productivity. If you do a
task and without finishing it, you start another one, you will not be able to
completely disconnect from the first one. , and with that your attention level drops,
affecting your productivity.
However, there is a contradiction, at the same time that the economy requires
focused work, the main business trends create a barrier for this and lead it to be
superficial work, since they decrease people's ability to concentrate on a job, this It
is due to new technologies since we are part of the culture of connectivity that
forces us to always be connected.
According to surveys carried out, it affects the well-being and productivity of
employees, however it will not be eliminated because they are easier and because
our culture has developed a belief that if it is linked to the internet it is good.
The 4 rules to adopt focused work
1-Work deeply
Cal Newport gives us some strategies to maximize our focused work, you should
choose one that you identify with and make it a habit.
o Monastic philosophy: It consists of detaching yourself from the world and
eliminating all the distractions that can affect you.
o Bimodal philosophy: It consists of having long periods of time where you
isolate yourself to work with periods of free time and be able to concentrate
elsewhere.
o Rhythmic philosophy: It consists of having a schedule for focused work,
ensuring that it is at the same time and every day
o Journalistic philosophy: It consists of using your free time and turning it into
focused work.
2-Accept boredom
We are exposed to distractions all the time, however to be successful in focused
work you must resist distractions, this means that you must be comfortable with
boredom. In the book the author gives us a meditation technique, which is the
technique of productive meditation that consists of thinking about your unproductive
time
3-Abandon social networks
Here we must analyze social networks and identify which ones create success and
happiness in your professional and personal life.
The author advises us to eliminate social networks for 30 days and after those 30
days we ask ourselves the following questions:
o Would those days of isolation have been better if you were using social
media?
o Did anyone care that I wasn't using them?
The author also says that it is important that we do not spend our free time
browsing social networks
4-Eliminate superficiality
You cannot spend more than 4 hours in a total state of depth.
List the advantages of scheduling your day, one of the advantages would be that
you can see how much time you spend on superficial work, most people spend
30% to 50% of their time on this type of work.
To determine the time spent, you can schedule everything you do. At the beginning
of each work day, create a 30-minute block schedule where you must define work
and personal tasks.
How can I apply it in my life?
You can start by eliminating all the distractors that prevent you from achieving
focused work and allowing your brain to concentrate on a single task at a time.
Responding to emails more selectively, keeping in mind that you should not do it
quickly.
If after doing the 30-day no social media trial, you find that they haven't made any
difference for you or anyone else, delete them.
Finally, apply the rules to achieve good focused work and turn them into habits.

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