I read Deep Work in June. Digital Minimalism in July. So Good They Can't Ignore You right after.

By August, I was living differently.

Not in small ways. In structural, foundational ways. The way I spent my time, the way I used my phone, the way I thought about attention and focus and what it means to build a life worth living.

Cal Newport's books didn't just change how I work. They changed how I think about everything.

The Attention Economy Is Designed to Win

Digital Minimalism lays out the problem with brutal clarity: your attention is valuable, and every app on your phone is engineered to capture as much of it as possible.

Not because the engineers are evil. Because the business model requires it. Advertising revenue scales with engagement. Engagement scales with time spent. Time spent scales with how effectively the app hijacks your dopamine system.

You are not the customer. You are the product. Your attention is what's being sold.

This isn't a conspiracy theory. It's just economics. And once you see it, you can't unsee it.

Focus Is a Superpower

Deep Work makes the case that the ability to focus without distraction is becoming both rarer and more valuable. Most people can't do it anymore. They check their phone every six minutes. They toggle between tabs. They respond to Slack messages in real time.

This isn't just annoying. It's cognitively destructive.

Every time you switch tasks, your brain has to reorient. That reorientation takes time. Even a three-second glance at your phone costs you 10-15 minutes of focus. Do that ten times in an hour, and you've spent the entire hour in a state of fragmented attention.

You're not doing deep work. You're doing shallow work that feels like deep work.

The people who can still focus, who can spend four uninterrupted hours on a hard problem, have a massive competitive advantage. Not because they're smarter. Because they can think.

What I Changed

I deleted Instagram. I deleted Twitter. I turned off all notifications except texts and calls. I put my phone in another room when I work.

I started time-blocking my calendar. Every hour of my day is assigned to a task. If it's not on the calendar, it doesn't happen.

I stopped checking email first thing in the morning. I check it twice a day: once at 11am, once at 4pm. That's it.

I started taking long walks without my phone. Not 15-minute walks. 60-minute walks. 90-minute walks. Deep walks where I just think.

I stopped consuming content passively. No more scrolling. No more autoplay. If I'm going to read something, I read it intentionally. If I'm going to watch something, I choose it deliberately.

I built systems. Morning routine. Evening routine. Weekly review. Monthly review. I don't rely on motivation. I rely on structure.

What Changed

Everything.

I'm more focused. I get more done in four hours of deep work than I used to get done in eight hours of fragmented work.

I'm calmer. I'm not constantly checking my phone. I'm not constantly reacting. I'm not constantly stimulated.

I'm more present. When I'm with people, I'm actually with them. When I'm working, I'm actually working. When I'm resting, I'm actually resting.

I read more. I think more. I notice more.

I'm building the life I want instead of reacting to the life that's happening to me.

Three Years Later

It's been over three years since I read those books. I still live this way.

I still don't have social media on my phone. I still time-block my calendar. I still take long walks without my phone. I still check email twice a day.

This isn't a phase. This is how I live now.

People ask me how I stay disciplined. I don't. I have systems. Discipline is what you need when you don't have systems. Systems make the right choice the default choice.

People ask me if I miss social media. I don't. I miss the idea of social media, the fantasy version where you stay connected with friends and discover interesting ideas. I don't miss the actual experience of social media, which is scrolling through performative updates and getting angry about things that don't matter.

People ask me if I'm productive. I am. But that's not the point. The point is that I'm focused. The point is that I'm present. The point is that I'm building a life I actually want to live.

The Core Insight

Newport's core insight, the one that runs through all his work, is this: you are what you pay attention to.

If you pay attention to your phone, you become fragmented and reactive. If you pay attention to deep work, you become focused and capable. If you pay attention to what matters, you build a life that matters.

Attention is the currency of life. Spend it wisely.

What You Should Do

Read Deep Work. Read Digital Minimalism. Read So Good They Can't Ignore You.

Then do something about it.

Delete the apps that are stealing your attention. Turn off your notifications. Put your phone in another room. Time-block your calendar. Take long walks without your phone.

Build systems. Build routines. Build a life where focus is the default, not the exception.

It won't be easy. The first week will feel like withdrawal. The second week will feel uncomfortable. The third week will feel normal.

By the fourth week, you'll wonder how you ever lived any other way.

Three years from now, you'll look back and realize these books changed your life.

They changed mine.