In 1922, the psychiatrist Carl Jung bought a small plot of land on the shores of a lake near Zurich and began building a two story stone tower he simply called the Tower. Inside was a private room he wouldn’t let anyone enter without his permission. “In my retiring room I am by myself,” Jung said of the space. “I keep the key with me all the time.”
He wasn’t retreating from work. According to journalist Mason Currey’s research into Jung’s routines, he’d rise at seven, eat a large breakfast, then spend two full hours writing without interruption in that private office, before an afternoon of meditation or long walks. It was there, largely in isolation, that Jung developed ideas that would eventually reshape psychiatry.
Author Cal Newport opens his book Deep Work with this exact story, and for good reason. Jung didn’t happen to produce revolutionary work despite building an elaborate, isolated retreat. He built the retreat because he understood something most people still underestimate, that real depth of thought requires real protection from everything competing for your attention. Newport calls this deep work, and the tips that actually hold up are the ones built around that same core idea, not a longer to do list, but real, protected isolation from distraction.
What Deep Work Actually Means
Before the tips, it’s worth being precise about what separates deep work from simply being busy.
Deep work is focused, undistracted effort on a task that’s genuinely cognitively demanding, pushing your abilities rather than just occupying time
Shallow work, by contrast, is the logistical, low focus tasks that fill most days, email, quick messages, minor admin
Newport argues shallow work has quietly expanded to fill entire careers, crowding out the deep work that actually produces meaningful results
Jung’s tower wasn’t an escape from productivity, it was a deliberate structure built specifically to protect his capacity for it
Choose a Deep Work Philosophy That Fits Your Life
Jung had an entire separate building. Most people need a more modest version of the same principle.
Not everyone can isolate themselves for months, so pick an approach that actually fits your schedule and obligations
A rhythmic approach means a set block of deep work at the same time daily, so it becomes a habit rather than a decision each day
A bimodal approach means dividing stretches of time, a day, a few days, entirely into deep work with the rest left open for everything else
The specific structure matters less than actually committing to one rather than hoping deep focus happens whenever there’s a spare moment
Build Your Own Small Version of the Tower
You don’t need a lakeside stone building, but the underlying principle, a dedicated space and time protected from interruption, still applies.
Pick a specific location you associate only with focused work, even a particular desk or room, so your mind learns to shift into focus there
Remove your phone from the room entirely during deep work blocks, not just silenced, physically elsewhere
Close every browser tab and application not directly needed for the task in front of you
Tell the people around you when you’re in a focus block, the way Jung kept his tower key to himself, so the boundary is respected rather than assumed
Protect Long, Uninterrupted Stretches
Depth takes time to reach, and constant interruption resets that process before it really begins.
Aim for blocks of at least sixty to ninety minutes where possible, since real depth of focus tends to build gradually, not instantly
Batch shallow tasks, email, quick replies, small admin, into separate windows entirely outside your deep work blocks
Resist the urge to check messages between tasks inside a deep work session, since even a quick glance resets your focus more than it feels like it does
If ninety minutes feels unrealistic at first, start with something smaller and build the duration over time rather than abandoning the practice entirely
Train Your Focus Like a Skill, Not a Fixed Trait
Newport treats the capacity for deep work as trainable, not something you either have or don’t.
Expect early attempts at longer focus blocks to feel uncomfortable, the same way any new physical or mental skill does at first
Notice specific moments your attention drifts during a session, and treat that as information rather than proof the method isn’t working for you
Gradually extend your focus blocks as the practice becomes more familiar, rather than starting with the longest version possible
Rest and recovery outside of deep work blocks matter too, since focus depletes and needs real breaks to recover, not just willpower to push through
Make Depth the Default, Not the Exception
The broader shift Newport argues for is treating deep work as the priority around which everything else gets scheduled.
Schedule your deep work block before anything else claims that time, rather than fitting it into whatever’s left over
Protect it the way you’d protect an important meeting, since to everyone else, unprotected time reads as available time
Evaluate your week by how much genuine deep work happened, not just how busy or reactive the week felt
Remember Jung didn’t build his tower as a luxury, he built it because he understood shallow distraction would otherwise consume the very thing his best work required
What Is Stealing Your Deep Work?
Most people don’t lose focus because they’re lazy. They lose it because their environment keeps interrupting them. e.g Constant phone notifications ,email left open all day ,multitasking between projects etc.Carl Jung didn’t protect his schedule. He protected his attention.
FAQ: Focus Tips for Deep Work
Cal Newport suggests aiming for sessions of at least sixty to ninety minutes where possible, since real depth of focus tends to build gradually. If that feels unrealistic at first, start shorter and build the duration over time.
Not literally, but the underlying principle matters, a specific space and time genuinely protected from interruption. Even a single desk or room you associate only with focused work can serve the same function.
Deep work specifically refers to focused, cognitively demanding effort that pushes your abilities, as opposed to shallow, logistical tasks like email or quick admin that fill time without producing the same value.
Yes, though it usually means picking a realistic structure, a consistent daily block or a dedicated stretch of days, rather than trying to replicate an isolated retreat like Jung’s tower exactly.
Carl Jung didn’t stumble into his most important work by accident. He built a tower, kept its key, and protected his ability to think without interruption for as long as it took. Deep work asks the same thing on a smaller scale, real, protected time, genuinely free of distraction, treated as a priority rather than whatever’s left over after everything else is done.
