My guest today is Cal Newport. Cal is a computer science professor at Georgetown University. Cal is the author of six books, including, most recently, the New York Times bestseller, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. Cal’s work has been published in over 20 languages and has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New Yorker, Washington Post, and the Economist.

It’s probably an understatement to say I was excited for this chat because I am a complete and utter fan girl of Cal’s and it’s fair to say that his work has had an enormous impact on how I work. We cover a bunch of different aspects of the way Cal approaches his work including:

Cal’s different Deep Work rituals and why he recommends having different rituals for different types of Deep Work
How to know if you are actually doing Deep Work
Strategies to break your Shallow Work habit
The critical conversation to have with your manager to get them supporting you doing more Deep Work
Cal’s ritual for "shutting down” his work day
Why Cal rejects the idea that we need to have a phone on us at all times
How Cal deliberately builds solitude into his day
Why changing workflows is more effective than changing habits when trying to increase productivity
The workflow Cal designed while on his book tour to minimise back and forth communication
Why giving your time a job is better than using a to-do list
How Cal uses weekly and daily time blocking to use his time effectively
How to take a “Deep Break"
The two key elements of Cal’s email system to minimise communication
The topic Cal is exploring for his next book

You can find Cal at http://calnewport.com/ and grab his books Deep Work and Digital Minimalism.

Visit amanthaimber.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a short monthly newsletter that contains three cool things that I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.co

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