What I took from Deep Work

October 2026 · 2 minute read

Cal Newport's book put words to habits I'd built over many years. These are the ideas I use, and how I use them.

I've read hundreds of books on leadership and productivity. Most of them I've forgotten. Deep Work by Cal Newport is one that stuck, because it explained why some of my habits worked when I'd only ever known that they did.

Newport's idea is simple. Deep work is focused, uninterrupted work on something hard. It's where the real value gets created, and it's becoming rare, because most of us spend the day answering emails, messages and calls. If you can do deep work regularly, you have a real advantage.

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Clarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not.

CAL NEWPORT, DEEP WORK

Five ideas I use

IDEA ONE

Protect your best hours

I'm a morning person. For years I've got up at 4.45am, and the first two hours at my desk are what I call thinking work: writing, planning and solving the hard problems. No emails and no calls.

It's how I wrote Game Plan Marketing. Two hours a day, every day, and the book was finished in six weeks. It's amazing what you can do with a consistent block of time set aside for one task.

IDEA TWO

Batch the shallow work

Newport calls email and admin shallow work. It has to be done, but it shouldn't run your day. Give it set times and a limit, and don't let it leak into everything else.

I do the same with meetings. I try to fit them into one or two days a week. Mondays are free of meetings and calls, so I can start the week on the work that needs total focus. As a result, I love Mondays.

IDEA THREE

Plan the day in blocks

Newport suggests giving every hour of the working day a job. The point isn't to stick to the plan perfectly. It's to make a deliberate choice about your time, and to see honestly how little of a busy day goes on work that matters.

This is the 80/20 principle in action. Most of what we do doesn't lead to anything meaningful, so choosing the right things to do is far more important than doing things right.

IDEA FOUR

Shut down properly

At the end of the day, write down every unfinished task and where it will be picked up, then look at tomorrow's calendar. Nothing is forgotten, so your mind can switch off.

Newport also makes the point that work squeezed into the evening is rarely the work that moves your career forward. For me, Friday night is the one night I never work.

IDEA FIVE

Make email do more work

When you write an email, answer the question you were asked and the next question too. A little more effort up front saves a long chain of replies.

And don't feel you have to reply to everything instantly. Most people don't need you at every moment, and your best work suffers when you try to be available all the time.

Find the conditions that suit you

None of this works the same way for everyone. I don't think everyone should get up at 4.45am. The secret is to understand when you do your best work and what you're good at, then protect that time like it matters, because it does.

I've also been fortunate to work with an outstanding executive assistant who looks after the detail. That frees me to spend my best hours on the work only I can do. If you can find a way to do the same, even in a small way, do it.

Ned Coten AM

Executive Chair of EngageRM, Chair of the Confederation of Australian Sport and Chair of Basketball Australia from 2017 to 2021. He still plays Masters basketball internationally.

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