While working my way through this first blog post on the dueling notions of deep work and distracted reading, I’ve already gotten up to fold clothing, checked Twitter for who knows what, and thought about putting on a podcast in the background to help me focus. Even if I hadn’t read any of this week’s materials, I would know these ideas in and out because I live them every day, like so many of us.
Twitter can be a bit of a formulaic website, with more than 350 million users according to an October 2020 Hootsuite analysis (Kemp), so it’s not surprising when you see the same thoughts repeated every couple weeks. One that always stands out to me is people asking how they used to read so many books when they were younger. It’s a sentiment echoed in Michael Harris’ article “I have forgotten how to read.” Harris discusses that we’re not reading any less, we’re just reading differently. With the overwhelming rapidity of information, a single swipe conjuring more content than we can possibly consume, we’ve become cynical and detached readers. Reading is now mainly goal-oriented, skimming for facts and plucking out the most important parts. We’ve become increasingly antagonistic towards any type of delay in reading, needing the point to be made in 280 characters or less. Our devices have been fully absorbed by our lives, leaving little room for patience, which is likely affecting our collective cognitive thinking.
While it seems impossible, disconnecting is really the only way to master complicated information and produce the highest-quality work. In his book “Deep Work”, Cal Newport gives examples of professional elites who practice disconnecting and focusing singularly on their craft. Carl Jung, Woody Allen, Bill Gates and JK Rowling all set boundaries that allow them to become completely isolated when they need to be to focus on something that Newport calls, appropriately, deep work.
Newport defines deep work as distraction-free concentration that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit. Frustration is welcome and patience is encouraged. Being alone with your work and your thoughts is the best way to learn. To learn and thrive in our changing economy, we need to transition away from shallow, distracted work and focus on creating more quality work – which is, of course, easier said than done, seeing as a popular 2014 University of Virginia study (Wilson) showed that more people would rather willingly electrocute themselves then be left alone with their thoughts. Frustration is hard, working through it even harder. American culture loves a prodigy storyline, but as Newport explains, even people with natural talents have to hone their skills and continue to grow. If you can’t learn you can’t thrive and nothing of quality comes easily.
Unfortunately, most people don’t have the luxury of going all in and secluding themselves in the woods but there are baby steps that can be taken in the right direction. The article “How To Remember What You Read” explains how to move in the direction of being a more active reader. An active reader, as opposed to a passive or cynical reader, retains most of what they read and puts the conclusions they draw from what they have read to good use. Active readers understand that quality over quantity is important (speed reading only looks cool in Good Will Hunting). Exercising strategies like marking up the margins and reading aloud allow the reader to better focus on what they’re reading and consciously get the most out of the time and effort they invest in what they have read.
The irony is not lost on me that I’m studying the habits of people who created some of the things that are distracting me as I write this, but I’m excited to challenge myself and the way I think. Hopefully I’ll come out on the other side not only a better reader but maybe also a better, and deeper, thinker.
Photo by Adomas Aleno on Unsplash
Harris, M. (2018, February 9). I have forgotten how to read. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/i-have-forgotten-how-toread/article37921379/
Kemp, S. (2020, October 27). Social Media Users Pass 4 Billion: Digital 2020 October Statshot Report. Hootsuite. https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-users-pass-4-billion/
How to Remember What You Read [Web log post]. (2017, October 23). Retrieved January 31, 2021, from https://www.fs.blog/2017/10/ how-to-remember-what-you-read/
Newport, C. (2016a). Introduction. In Deep Work (pp. 1–18). New York: Grand Central Publishing.
Newport, C. (2016b). Chapter 1: Deep Work is Valuable. In Deep Work (pp. 21–48). New York: Grand Central Publishing.
Wilson, T. D., Reinhard, D. A., Westgate, E. C., Gilbert, D. T., Ellerbeck, N., Hahn, C., Brown, C. L., & Shaked, A. (2014). Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind. Science, 345(6192), 75–77. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1250830
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