Derek Love

“Do not reply to an e-mail message if any of the following applies: • It’s ambiguous or otherwise makes it hard for you to generate a reasonable response. • It’s not a question or proposal that interests you. • Nothing really good would happen if you did respond and nothing really bad would happen if you didn’t.”
― Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

“For example, it might be the case that 80 percent of a business’s profits come from just 20 percent of its clients, 80 percent of a nation’s wealth is held by its richest 20 percent of citizens, or 80 percent of computer software crashes come from just 20 percent of the identified bugs.”
― Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

“you believe that a task is being forced upon you, then you will see the work as a burden, and it will arouse negative feelings.”
― Shunmyō Masuno, The Art of Simple Living: 100 Daily Practices from a Zen Buddhist Monk for a Lifetime of Calm and Joy

“You “like” my status update and I’ll “like” yours. This agreement gives everyone a simulacrum of importance without requiring much effort in return.”
― Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World