We’re tired, burnt out, and searching for a reprieve from hustle culture. Something needs to change if we’re going to get to real productivity: doing that is meaningful and fulfilling rather than just checking boxes off an endless to-do list. On today’s episode, Cal Newport joins the podcast to explore slow productivity, deep work, and how we can achieve more by doing less.

About our Guest: Cal is a computer science professor at Georgetown University and the bestselling author of eight books including Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World and most recently, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout. He also has a YouTube channel and hosts the podcast Deep Questions with Cal Newport.

You can watch this episode on YouTube.

I am now writing on Substack, check out my work there.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

2:45: Slow productivity vs. pseudoproductivity

10:35: Anxiety, procrastination, and overwhelm

17:40: Meaningful work and anti-productivity

22:40: Technology, anti-capitalist philosophy, and knowledge work

28:55: The cognitive drain of multitasking

32:45: The distraction of phones social media

36:00: The ratio of deep work to lighter work

41:00: How timeblocking actually reduces stress

45:20: Office hours and shared documents

48:05: Common misconceptions about Cal’s work

55:45: Tailoring advice to your individual situation

1:00:40: Life transitions, and the deceptive advice to “follow your passion”

1:08:00: Obsessing over quality while avoiding perfectionism

1:17:30: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors

Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/beingwell.

Transform your health with the ZOE Science & Nutrition podcast. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts.

Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BEINGWELL at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod

Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!

Connect with the show:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should Ole Miss Let Lane Kiffin Coach? [Glue Guys, Ep. 61]

Glue Guys

Can Players Trust a Departing Coach?

The AI-powered Podcast Player