Baca buku ini karena frustrasi: hari kerja 8 jam tapi kode yang dihasilkan cuma 2 jam worth of work.
Sisanya? Meeting, Slack, email, "quick question", context switching.
Ternyata ada term untuk ini: shallow work. Dan ada lawannya: deep work.
Deep Work vs Shallow Work
Deep Work: Aktivitas profesional dalam state fokus tanpa distraksi yang mendorong kemampuan kognitif ke limit. Aktivitas ini menciptakan value baru, meningkatkan skill, dan sulit di-replicate.
Shallow Work: Tugas logistik yang ga demanding kognitif, sering dilakukan sambil terdistraksi. Aktivitas ini ga menciptakan banyak value baru dan mudah di-replicate.
Contoh deep work untuk developer:
- Merancang arsitektur sistem yang kompleks
- Debugging masalah yang subtle dan sulit
- Belajar framework/language baru secara mendalam
- Refactoring major untuk improve codebase
Contoh shallow work:
- Respond Slack messages
- Attend status update meetings
- Fill out timesheets
- Reply email administrative
Realisasi
Sebagian besar hari kerja dihabiskan untuk shallow work.
Kalau dihitung honest: mungkin cuma 2-3 jam actual deep work per hari. Sisanya administrative overhead dan reactive activities.
Problem: deep work adalah yang actually menciptakan value. Shallow work necessary tapi bukan yang bikin kamu valuable.
Deep Work Hypothesis
Newport argue: kemampuan deep work jadi increasingly valuable DAN increasingly rare.
Valuable karena:
- Ekonomi knowledge work rewarding complex problem solving
- AI/automation replacing shallow work, belum bisa replace deep thinking
- Quality output datang dari focused, uninterrupted work
Rare karena:
- Budaya "always on" dan instant response
- Open office environments penuh distraksi
- Meetings dan collaboration tools fragmenting attention
- Social media dan notifikasi constant
Kombinasi ini menciptakan opportunity: kalau kamu bisa deep work dengan baik, kamu punya competitive advantage significant.
Parallel di industri tech Indonesia
Culture startup di Indonesia heavy emphasis on "move fast", "agile", "collaboration".
Sounds bagus, tapi implementasi sering jadi: constant meetings, Slack always active, expectation respond cepat.
Engineer expected available sepanjang waktu. "Quick sync" berkali-kali sehari. Deep work jadi luxury, bukan norm.
Result: banyak aktivitas, sedikit progress significant. Velocity tinggi tapi output quality mediocre.
Four Disciplines of Deep Work
Newport memberikan framework konkret.
1. Work Deeply
Willpower terbatas. Ga bisa rely on willpower untuk fokus. Butuh ritual dan routine.
Philosophies of deep work scheduling:
Monastic: Eliminate atau drastically minimize shallow obligations. Full isolation.
- Contoh: Knuth (computer scientist) ga punya email. Donald Knuth literally unreachable except via physical mail.
- Untuk developer regular: probably not realistic. Tapi aspirational.
Bimodal: Dedicate clearly defined stretches untuk deep work, sisanya normal.
- Contoh: 3 hari seminggu full deep work (no meetings, no Slack), 2 hari normal.
- More realistic untuk banyak situations.
Rhythmic: Daily habit. Same time setiap hari untuk deep work.
- Contoh: setiap pagi 6-9 AM adalah deep work time. No exceptions.
- Paling sustainable untuk long term.
Journalistic: Fit deep work whenever ada waktu.
- Hardest. Butuh skill switch to deep mode quickly.
- Newport ga recommend untuk beginners.
Observation
Paling realistic untuk developer: rhythmic.
Block 2-3 jam setiap pagi untuk deep work. Before meetings. Before Slack chaos. Before email flood.
Ini when mental energy highest. Reserve untuk highest value activities.
2. Embrace Boredom
Brain perlu training untuk fokus. Constantly seeking distraction merusak kemampuan fokus.
Point penting: jangan ambil hp setiap kali bosan atau waiting.
Waiting di lift? Jangan scroll social media.
Compiling code? Jangan check Twitter.
Stuck di problem? Resist urge untuk distract.
Boredom is okay. Brain needs downtime untuk process.
Struggle dengan ini
Muscle memory ambil hp sangat kuat. Barely 10 detik idle dan tangan sudah reach for phone.
Training ulang otak untuk comfortable dengan boredom adalah proses. Ga instant.
3. Quit Social Media
Newport controversial di sini: full quit social media.
Argument: social media adalah entertainment yang cosplay sebagai professional networking.
Actual benefit minimal. Cost (attention fragmentation) massive.
Tool selection approach:
Untuk setiap tool (social media, app, service), tanya:
- Does this substantially support something I deeply value?
- Is this the best way to support this value?
Kalau jawaban bukan strong yes untuk both, quit.
Personal take
Full quit probably extreme untuk banyak orang.
Tapi principle valuable: be intentional about tools. Jangan use by default.
Twitter might valuable untuk tech updates. Tapi Instagram? LinkedIn? Probably mostly waste.
Minimize, don't maximize.
4. Drain the Shallows
Shallow work necessary. Tapi minimize dan batch.
Strategies:
Schedule every minute of day. Not rigid, tapi intentional. Decide in advance apa yang dikerjakan.
Quantify depth of activities. Setiap task, estimate: berapa lama fresh college grad butuh untuk belajar dan do this?
- Kalau jawaban "not long", probably shallow. Minimize.
- Kalau jawaban "significant time", probably deep. Prioritize.
Finish work by 5:30 PM. Fixed-schedule productivity. Constraint forces prioritization.
Become hard to reach. Make it difficult untuk orang interrupt kamu. Email filters. Slow response time. Set expectations.
Attention Residue
Konsep penting dari buku: attention residue.
Saat switch dari Task A ke Task B, attention masih partially stuck di Task A. Residue ini reduce performa di Task B.
Switching cost bukan cuma waktu untuk switch. Tapi reduced cognitive capacity karena residue.
Implikasi untuk developer
"Quick question" di Slack seems harmless. Cuma 2 menit respond.
Tapi cost sebenarnya:
- 2 menit respond
- 10-15 menit untuk fully get back to deep state
- Reduced capacity sementara karena attention residue
One "quick question" could cost 20-30 menit effective work time.
Multiply dengan 10-20 interruptions per hari. Suddenly ga ada actual deep work yang terjadi.
Defense mechanism
Batch shallow work. Check Slack/email 2-3x per hari pada scheduled times. Not constantly.
Communicate boundaries. "Saya check Slack jam 10, 2, 4. Kalau urgent, call."
Use "Do Not Disturb" aggressively. During deep work blocks, fully unreachable.
Awalnya feels uncomfortable. Worry tentang "what if something urgent?"
Reality: true urgencies rare. Most "urgent" things bisa wait 2-3 jam.
Memorable Life
Salah satu argument interesting di buku: deep work bukan cuma tentang productivity.
Tentang meaningful life.
Shallow work mostly tidak memorable. Di end of day, "apa yang gue accomplish?" Often unclear.
Deep work creates tangible outcomes. Solve hard problem. Learn new skill. Build something significant.
That's what makes work satisfying.
Personal observation
Hari-hari paling satisfying: saat berhasil solve complex problem atau build feature challenging.
Hari-hari paling draining: saat penuh meetings dan administrative tasks tanpa actual progress.
Paradox: busy days often feel less accomplished than focused days.
Aplikasi Konkret untuk Developer
Morning deep work blocks
6-9 AM atau 8-11 AM: no meetings, no Slack, no distractions. Highest priority technical work.
Batch komunikasi
Check Slack/email: 11 AM, 2 PM, 4 PM. Not continuously.
Meeting-free days
Kalau possible, negotiate 2-3 hari per minggu tanpa meetings untuk deep work.
Physical separation
Work from different location (coffee shop, library, home) saat butuh deep focus. Change of environment signals brain: "this is focus time."
End-of-day shutdown ritual
Review apa yang accomplished. Plan next day. Capture open loops. Then fully disconnect.
Ritual ini important untuk mental closure. Prevent work thoughts bleeding into personal time.
Kritik terhadap buku
Privilege assumption
Buku assume significant control over schedule.
Reality: banyak developer ga bisa just decline meetings atau ignore messages.
Corporate culture, team dependencies, timezone differences - banyak constraints real yang buku ga fully address.
Binary thinking
Buku treat deep vs shallow sebagai binary.
Reality: spectrum. Some activities partially deep, partially shallow.
Oversimplification bisa misleading.
Underestimate collaboration value
Buku heavy emphasis individual deep work.
Tapi software development often inherently collaborative. Pair programming, code reviews, design discussions - ini valuable tapi ga fit "isolated deep work" model.
Balance perlu, buku kurang address this.
Social media absolutism
"Quit all social media" too extreme dan unrealistic untuk banyak orang.
Principle (be intentional) bagus. Implementation (full quit) questionable.
Yang berubah
Intentional scheduling
Pre-book: reactive. Respond to apa yang datang.
Post-book: proactive. Schedule deep work blocks. Protect fiercely.
Productivity improvement noticeable.
Respect untuk boredom
Pre-book: fill every idle moment dengan phone.
Post-book: embrace downtime. Brain needs rest dan processing time.
Creativity actually improve saat allow boredom.
Awareness of attention cost
Pre-book: "quick question" seems harmless.
Post-book: aware of true cost dari context switching.
More protective of focus time. More intentional tentang interruptions.
Bottom line
"Deep Work" is valuable book dengan caveat.
Core thesis solid: focused, uninterrupted work increasingly valuable dan rare.
Strategies mostly practical dan applicable.
Tapi implementation butuh adaptation ke context personal. Ga bisa just copy-paste advice.
Especially di culture yang heavy collaboration dan always-on expectations.
Key takeaway: be intentional about attention.
Default mode modern work adalah distracted dan reactive.
Deep work requires active resistance terhadap default ini.
Worth the effort? Absolutely.
Quality of work improve. Satisfaction improve. Progress actual instead of illusion of busyness.
Tapi butuh discipline dan boundaries yang firm.
Ongoing struggle, probably forever. Tapi struggle yang worth it.