Context switching used to be expensive.

You'd lose 20 minutes getting back into a project. Rebuilding the mental model. Remembering where you left off. Whether it's a complex document, a research rabbit hole, or a codebase - the ramp-up time was real.

That friction made multitasking feel painful. Deep work was the only way to get anything done. So you'd block hours, avoid interruptions, guard your focus.

LLMs changed the math.

Now you can operate at a higher level. You don't need to hold the entire state in your head anymore. The AI can hold the context for you. Pick up where you left off. Dive deep on your behalf.

Switching between projects feels lighter. Because you're not paying the cognitive tax every time anymore.

The bottleneck moved.

Deep work isn't dead. But it's optional.

You can finally be a generalist again.