Written by Teresa Blumenthal, Associate Editor for Spanish and Portuguese Review.

Quick Facts

Book Synopsis and Layout

Do you ever wonder how some individuals get ahead in academia? Are you ever impressed by someone who has a strong publication record and also maintains a work-life balance at the same time? Do you often find yourself thinking about how to generate and publish strong ideas to be ready for the academic job market? Deep Work by Cal Newport is an excellent resource for graduate students seeking to be more productive and to actively contribute to their scholarly field. As graduate students we can easily pinpoint our passions and research interests, but transitioning to produce and share scholarly work can be difficult. This book discusses meaningful work and how we can achieve it! 

This book has two main sections, the first examining Newport’s identification and engagement with the conceptualization of ‘deep work’. The introduction and first three chapters explain what deep work is and why it’s valuable, rare, and meaningful (Newport, 2016). As a reader you’ll learn how working in an uninterrupted, high-focus, low-distraction environment affords what Newport names ‘knowledge-workers’ to thrive in today’s economy. According to Newport, deep work allows an individual “[t]he ability to quickly master hard things” and “to produce at an elite level, in terms of quality and speed” (Newport, 2016, p. 29). As burgeoning academics, all graduate students can benefit from considering what is deep work, and by asking ourselves- are we doing deep work?, and if not, what are we spending our time doing? 

The second section includes four rules to implement deep work and transform our daily work practices. Readers are encouraged to find a method to implement deep work in their life (spoiler: it will be different for each person!), take breaks from focus, quit (or appropriately manage) social media, and drain the shallows (accomplish more during your working time). The majority of graduate students are constantly seeking to comprehensively execute scholarly commitments (coursework, teaching, research, publishing, internships, applications, and grant writing –just to name a few!) and may experience burnout or frustration over their obligations. Deep Work provides a clear set of guidelines to aid any student in strategizing their knowledge production and work balance. 

Deep Work discusses the strategies important for knowledge-workers. Important to note is that Dr. Newport is a distinguished academic, clearly recognizing and incorporating the expectations within academia throughout the book, making this resource even more relatable to graduate students. Graduate students in Spanish and Portuguese seeking to publish their original work will find this book to be an accessible and relatable tool.

Spanish and Portuguese Review Relevance

Graduate students conducting research can be considered knowledge workers. Further, students seeking to be part of the SPR publication process or submit their own work for publication can benefit from finding the most effective methods of executing knowledge-work. Considering how we work as graduate students, as well as implementing strategies to manage our work (such as writing groups, learning from seasoned academics, and other writing and publication resources) only benefits our ability to sustainably thrive in the academic system. 

Personal Highlights

This book wasn’t recommended to me in what might be considered a conventional way, but rather I was persuaded to read it through hearing from others mentioning ‘deep work’ and reading about their work adjustments. One such example is this book about flourishing in academia. I decided to read Deep Work to find out what the buzz was all about! And, as I read this book, I was deeply engrossed in self reflection, as well as motivated to immediately change my working practices. This book is captivating and has functioned as an approachable guide to transforming my productivity. I hope it might do the same for you!

If you have read Deep Work, let us know in the comments below. We’d love to know which chapter has been most helpful to you and how your work and productivity have changed! 

Stay tuned for another resource for graduate students!