Using the concepts and strategies of deep work, I committed to my book and finished the first draft in a matter of months. The more I engaged in these undistracted sessions, the less I felt the need to check the smartphone or e-mail. I created strict rules around both, including no checking of e-mail until 10:00 a.m. and writing a minimum of 1,000 words a day. I’d spend most of my day in airplane mode. I was unavailable for long lunches and random meetings without an agenda.
