About this ebook
Discover more
About the author
SARAH J SCOTT is a cognitive performance researcher and productivity consultant with over fifteen years of experience helping professionals reclaim their focus in high-distraction environments. She holds a master's degree in cognitive science from the University of Cambridge, where her research focused on attentional control, habit formation, and the neuropsychology of distraction.
Scott began her career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where she observed firsthand how smart, motivated professionals struggled to produce their best work amid constant interruption. This experience led her to leave consulting and dedicate herself to understanding the mechanisms of attention—why it breaks, how it recovers, and what conditions allow it to flourish. She spent three years as a research associate at the MIT Media Lab's Human Dynamics Group before founding her own practice.
Through her consultancy, Scott has worked with Fortune 500 companies, startups, universities, and government agencies to design focus-friendly workflows and train teams in deep work methodology. Her clients include engineering teams at Google and Microsoft, creative departments at Pixar and IDEO, and executive leadership programs at Harvard Business School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Scott is the creator of the Focus Cycles Protocol, which forms the core of the Deep Work Method taught in this book. She has also developed the Energy-First Scheduling System, the Environment Design Audit, and the Distraction Log, all of which are used by thousands of professionals worldwide.
Her writing on attention, productivity, and cognitive performance has appeared in *Harvard Business Review*, *The Atlantic*, *Wired*, and *Medium's Forge*. She is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences on productivity, workplace design, and leadership. Her TEDx talk, "The Attention Crisis Is a Design Problem," has been viewed over two million times.
When not working, Scott lives in Portland, Oregon, with her partner and two children. She is an avid distance runner, a mediocre but enthusiastic gardener, and a firm believer that the most important technology ever invented is a quiet room and an uninterrupted hour. She can be reached through her website at sarahjscott.com.
