Ep. 299: Our Love/Hate Relationship with Personal Productivity

Deep Questions with Cal Newport

Cal has been writing professionally about issues related to personal productivity for two decades. In today’s episode, he provides a short history of what he’s observed during this period about out constantly shifting relationship with this topic, from the quiet optimism of the 1990s, to the techno-mania of the early 2000s, to the whiplash shift from anti-distraction to anti-work sentiments in the 2010s. He ends with a summary of where we are today and what he currently thinks matters in thinking about getting things done. During the Q&A session, Cal is joined by special guest host Scott Young (whose new book is GET BETTER AT ANYTHING) to help answer your questions. We conclude with a list of the books Cal read in April.
Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo
Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia
Deep Dive: The 20-year history with personal productivity [4:20]
- How does Cal organize his files as a technical researcher? [1:04:55]
- How slow is too slow? [1:18:48]
- Does “Monk Mode” actually work? [1:27:25]
- How do I adapt my organizational systems to do more complicated work? [1:36:07]
- What are the most underrated habits for living a great life? [1:49:46]
CASE STUDY: Unconventional slow productivity [1:55:56]
FINAL SEGMENT: The 5 Books Cal Read in April 2024 [2:04:51]
Links:
Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at calnewport.com/slow
Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/
Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?v=448bf8afad0740d18f6b109b4bd40d51
moehrbetter.com/gtd-advanced-workflow-diagram.html
Books Discussed in Deep Dive:
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
How To Become CEO
Getting Things Done
The Four Hour Work Week
Essentialism
How To Do Nothing
April Books:
An Empire of Their Own by Neal Gabler
Co-intelligence by Ethan Mollick
Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan
The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb
To Heal a Fractured World by Jonathan Sacks
Thanks to our Sponsors:
This show is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/deepquestions
notion.com/cal
zocdoc.com/deep
shopify.com/deep
Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, Kieron Rees for slow productivity music, and Mark Miles for mastering.

Luvut

1. Deep Dive: The 20 year history with personal productivity (00:04:20)

2. How does Cal organize his files as a technical researcher? (01:04:55)

3. How slow is too slow? (01:18:48)

4. Does “Monk Mode” actually work? (01:27:25)

5. How do I adapt my organizational systems to do more complicated work? (01:36:07)

6. What are the most underrated habits for living a great life? (01:49:46)

7. CASE STUDY: Unconventional slow productivity (01:55:56)

8. FINAL SEGMENT: The 5 Books Cal Read in April 2024 (02:04:51)