Interactive graph
Deep Work
Table of Contents
Hard thinking earns uninterrupted blocks; capture catches what tries to interrupt.
Key Concept
- Deep work protects uninterrupted blocks for hard thinking while capture handles interruptions.
- The block only works if it is actually protected - phone away, door closed, not just fewer tabs open.
- Hard thinking earns a protected block; capture handles what tries to interrupt it.
Level 1 - Recognize
Deep work is uninterrupted focus on hard thinking - protected blocks where phone is away and door is closed, not just fewer tabs.
Level 2 - Explain
Put toys away so you can finish homework - quiet time for hard thinking, quick stuff saved for later on a list.
Level 3 - Use
Block ninety minutes with phone in the gym bag before the drill breakdown rots another week.
Level 4 - Connect
Capture takes the interruption so the block survives - deep work fails when the spark gets sorted mid-thought instead of landing in The Trusted Inbox.
Level 5 - Create
Design a protected-work system with a hard boundary, a capture path for interruptions, and a shutdown rule that preserves the next block.
Examples
- Glad the phone in the drawer let one problem set actually finish instead of three distracted false starts while I helped with math.
- Phone in the gym bag for ninety minutes - one drill breakdown written that had been almost done for weeks.
Note Relationships
| Relationship | Wikilink | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| contradicts | Mobile Capture Workflows | when the opposite frame fits better |
| extends | Capture | Protected focus blocks; Capture handles the rest |
| extends | Slow Productivity | Uninterrupted blocks need a slower throughput target |
