── ── Mental model
Deep Work
Cal Newport's framework (2016): deep work = undistracted, cognitively demanding activity that creates hard-to-replicate value; shallow work = logistical, responsive, easy-to-replicate work that fills modern calendars. The most valuable knowledge work is disproportionately the product of deep work; shallow work is increasingly automatable. Three foundations: attention research shows 15-25 min recovery cost per interruption; expert performance requires deliberate practice (structurally…
Run Deep Work on a real problem
Bring something you're actually deciding — free, in the browser.
How it works
Step 1 — Instrument: Track one week. Most workers estimate 4-5 hrs/day deep; measurement shows 0.5-2 hrs in fragments. - Deep work hours/day (tracked): · Shallow hours/day: · Ratio: · Surprise factor: Step 2 — Identify: What specific deep work, if done well, produces the most valuable output? Why isn't it happening? What barriers?
Step 3 — Choose a philosophy: Monastic (eliminate shallow entirely); Bimodal (alternating deep/shallow periods); Rhythmic (fixed daily block — best default for most); Journalistic (switch in whenever a gap appears — requires strong attention discipline, worst for beginners).
Step 4 — Build the practice: Same time + location + setup (ritual). Calendar the block, mark "Do not interrupt." End with a shutdown phrase to prevent cognitive leakage. Boundary is binary: Slack/email closed or you are not in deep work.
When to use it
- user says 'I can never find time for focused work', 'I feel busy but produce nothing', 'I keep getting interrupted', 'I want to protect my focus time', 'flow state', 'deliberate practice', 'Cal Newport', or asks how to make progress on hard cognitive work (research, writing, engineering, strategy)
When not to use it
the role is genuinely high-coordination with no discrete focus windows (ER medicine, real-time trading desk), or user is in a short-term emergency where availability must dominate.
Worked example
Carl Jung's Bollingen Tower Retreats (1923–1961)
Carl Jung's Bollingen tower is the case Cal Newport chose to open Deep Work (2016), and it remains the cleanest historical demonstration of the Bimodal philosophy: a working psychiatrist who could not abandon his shallow obligations, and instead built a physical architecture for alternating between them and depth.
Install this skill (free, MIT)
npx skills add deciqAI/knowledge-skillsUseful? Star the repo — stars help other builders find it.
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