Two kinds of work.
They don't mix.
Deep work needs a long, quiet runway.
Shallow work — email, replies, little tasks —
needs almost nothing
but keeps interrupting.
Mix them and the shallow wins.
It's easier, it's louder,
and every small task you answer mid-flow
costs you the whole climb back.
So separate them.
Batch the small stuff
into a couple of windows a day.
Answer it all at once, then close it.
Guard the deep work
in an unbroken block
where nothing shallow is allowed in.
You don't have an productivity problem.
You have a blender problem —
deep and shallow spinning together.
Stop blending.
Batch the small. Guard the deep.
– Serguey Asael Shinder
