Deep work is becoming rarer and more valuable simultaneously

Cal Newport's Deep Work (2016) argues that the ability to focus without distraction on cognitively demanding tasks is both rare — because modern knowledge work environments are saturated with interruptions — and economically valuable, because complex problems require sustained concentration that shallow work cannot produce. Newport cites research showing that it takes an average of 23 minutes to fully regain focus after an interruption (Gloria Mark, University of California). The implication is that any system that protects long blocks of uninterrupted time delivers a disproportionate productivity advantage.

Source: Newport, Deep Work (2016); Mark et al., CHI Conference on Human Factors (2005)