not all work needs the same kind of attention.
that's something I find useful to remember.
some tasks ask us to think deeply.
others simply need to get done.
that's the easiest way I understand the difference between deep work and shallow work.
deep work is work that needs your full attention.
you're solving a difficult problem.
writing something from scratch.
studying a complicated subject.
designing an architecture.
thinking through a decision.
creating something that doesn't already have a clear answer.
if someone keeps interrupting you, the quality of the work can suffer.
shallow work is different.
it's usually more routine.
answering emails.
updating a spreadsheet.
scheduling a meeting.
moving information from one place to another.
checking simple requests.
these tasks aren't necessarily bad or unimportant.
they are just different.
and that's where things can get confusing.
we sometimes spend an entire day being busy with shallow work and then wonder why the important thing still hasn't moved forward.
imagine a writer.
they spend the morning answering messages, checking comments, organizing files, and attending meetings.
by 5 PM, they've worked all day.
but the article they actually needed to write is still waiting.
nothing was necessarily wasted.
but the most demanding work never received enough uninterrupted attention.
this is why I think knowing the difference matters.
it isn't about eliminating shallow work.
we need it.
it's about noticing which tasks deserve our best attention.
maybe email can wait.
maybe the difficult chapter needs the morning.
maybe the complicated problem deserves a quiet 90-min block instead of being squeezed between meetings.
and maybe some days, shallow work is exactly what we have energy for.
that's fine too.
deep work isn't about proving how disciplined we are.
it's simply about matching our attention to the work.
some things need ten mins.
some need fifty.
some need much longer.
the useful question might be:
what kind of attention does this task actually need?
and perhaps a little kinder, too. 🤎
once you know the difference, the next question is often: how long should you actually focus? a 25 mins session, a 50 mins session, and a 90 mins session can each serve a different kind of work.
