In short: Deep work is focused, distraction-free effort on cognitively demanding tasks, a term popularized by author Cal Newport. To get more of it, identify the work that needs it, schedule protected blocks at your best time of day, remove interruptions during those blocks, and agree on response times with your colleagues. Even two good hours a day can change your output.
Most office jobs now work against this. Microsoft’s June 2025 Work Trend Index analyzed anonymized signals from Microsoft 365 and reported that users are interrupted about every 2 minutes by a meeting, email or notification. The average worker received 117 emails and 153 Teams messages a day, and about half of all meetings took place between 9 and 11 a.m. and between 1 and 3 p.m., the hours when many people do their best thinking. Microsoft sells productivity software, and its data covers its own users, but few office workers would find the picture unfamiliar.
What counts as deep work
Newport contrasts two types of activity in his book Deep Work.
| Deep work | Shallow work | |
|---|---|---|
| What it demands | Full concentration at the edge of your ability | Little mental strain, can be done while distracted |
| Examples | Writing a strategy, designing a system, solving a hard analysis | Routine email, scheduling, status updates, form filling |
| Value | Creates something new and builds skill | Keeps things running |
| Replaceable? | Hard to copy | Easy to copy or automate |
Shallow work isn’t worthless. Replying to a client or attending a necessary meeting can be important, and some jobs are mostly responsive by nature. The point is that shallow work fills whatever time you give it. Hard thinking gets pushed into the evenings or never happens at all.
The first useful step is to name your two or three activities that most reward concentration. For a developer, that may be solving difficult design problems. For a salesperson, it may be preparing for a major pitch. For a manager, it may be planning and thinking through a staffing problem.
Choose a schedule that fits your job
Newport describes four approaches. The last two suit a typical job best.
- Monastic. Remove nearly all shallow obligations. It suits very few, such as some authors and researchers.
- Bimodal. Devote whole days or longer periods to deep work and leave the rest open. This can work if you can set aside, say, Fridays or a week per quarter.
- Rhythmic. Do it at the same time every day, such as 8 to 10 a.m. A routine reduces the decisions you have to make, which makes it the most practical choice for many employees.
- Journalistic. Fit it in whenever a slot appears. It’s flexible, but hard to sustain unless you already switch easily.
Be realistic about the amount. Newport draws on research into expert practice that suggests about four hours a day is near the limit, even for people who are trained to do it. If you’re starting from little, one uninterrupted hour is a solid start. Beginners who plan six hours tend to give up within days.
Set up the block
A block on your calendar is only an intention. Make it real by doing the following:
- Decide the task the day before. Write down the specific outcome: “Draft sections two and three of the proposal,” not “Work on the proposal.” Starting is the hardest part, and vague tasks invite you to check messages first.
- Close the doors. Close email and chat, silence notifications, and move your phone out of reach, preferably to another room. A phone lying face up on the desk is an open invitation.
- Gather what you need. Finding a file is how you end up in your inbox. Have materials ready before the timer starts.
- Mark the time as busy. Block it as a meeting with yourself and treat it with the same respect.
- Keep a scratch pad. When a stray thought or reminder comes up, write it down and return to the task. You can deal with the list at the end.
- Plan what happens after. Knowing you’ll check messages at 11 a.m. makes it easier to leave them alone until then.
Expect restlessness at first. Your brain has become used to constant small rewards, and in the first days a quiet hour can feel oddly hard. It gets easier with repetition.
Dealing with colleagues and managers
You work with other people, and vanishing without an explanation won’t win you friends.
- Talk about it in advance. “I’m going to be offline from 9 to 11 on most mornings so I can finish the model. Call me if something is truly urgent.” Most colleagues will accept a clear and predictable pattern.
- Give a fast route for emergencies. One channel, such as a phone call, can get through. That lets people relax, knowing that they can reach you.
- Show the results. If you get your manager’s biggest priority done sooner, your manager is likely to become your ally.
- Check messages in batches. Replying at set times, such as 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., is enough in many jobs. Ask your manager what response time they actually expect, because it’s often longer than you assume.
- Question meetings. Ask for an agenda, join only for the part that needs you, or send your input in writing. Move routine meetings into the afternoon where you can.
If your team is overloaded with meetings, propose a team-wide no-meeting period. It’s far easier to protect quiet time together than alone.
When your job won’t allow it
Some roles, including support, operations and frontline management, can’t go dark for two hours. You can still improve things:
- Trade cover with a colleague, so each of you gets a daily protected hour.
- Use the quieter ends of the day, but only if your hours and your energy allow it.
- Reduce the cost of interruptions by leaving a note of your next step before you switch.
- Protect one longer block a week, in place of a daily habit.
Avoid solving the problem by simply working longer. The early morning and late evening hours can help temporarily, yet permanently moving your hardest thinking into your personal time isn’t a sustainable plan. It’s also worth noting that many of the benefits of deep work rely on rest. Our guide on how to improve focus covers sleep, breaks and the wider environment.
Make it stick
Link the habit to something that already happens: after you pour your first coffee, you begin your block. Our guide to habit stacking explains the method, and self-discipline looks at how to arrange your surroundings so that the choice is easy.
Keep a simple tally of deep hours each week. It’s a much more honest measure than how busy you felt. After a month, look at what you produced in those hours compared with the rest of the time. Concentrated effort on hard problems is how you build skills others will pay for, a theme at the center of our guide to career development. It also supports your career plan, since the projects that make you more valuable rarely get done in leftover minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Does AI make deep work less important?
If anything, the reverse. AI tools can take over parts of shallow work, such as summaries and first drafts, freeing up time. Judging whether an answer is right, thinking through a difficult problem and deciding what to do still require concentration. Using AI well is often deep work in its own right.
Can I do deep work in an open-plan office?
It’s harder, but possible. Noise-canceling headphones, a booked meeting room or a quiet corner can help, as can agreeing on a visible do-not-disturb signal with your team. If your employer allows it, do your most demanding work at home or come in early. Moving the block beats fighting the environment.
How long should a deep work session be?
Sixty to ninety minutes is a practical starting point, because it’s long enough to get into a task and short enough to sustain. Some people extend to two or three hours with a break. Start with what you can protect consistently, and increase it when you find you can keep your attention to the end.
