There's a real anti productivity movement going on right now, but it's a little bit confusing. This idea of everyone is saying work harder, do more things and I'm the bold social critic who says, you know, maybe not. So there's another thing going on, which to me is more interesting, which is I think knowledge work in general is pretty broken. We're terrible at organizing groups of people using their brains to add value to information. People are exhausted because we run offices dumbley and the pandemic made it much worse.
If you were to imagine the lifestyle you want and reverse engineer your career from that start point, what would your life look like? How much control do you have over your schedule? What’s your work life balance? What are you known for? This week I sat down for a conversation with one of the most highly requested guests yet, Cal Newport. Cal is a computer science professor at Georgetown University and New York Times bestselling author of seven books including Digital Minimalism and Deep Work where he writes about the intersection of digital technology and culture. In the episode we discuss how to design a career that’s fulfilling to you, the creator business model and how to take control of your productivity in a world where you’re confronted by forces trying to throw you off track. Enjoy!
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(00:00) Intro
(02:01) How do you approach the word productivity?
(05:24) What does a week in your life look like?
(13:43) Creator businesses vs academia
(27:17) The social status and complexities of careers
(33:43) The creatorpreneur lifestyle
(43:05) How to design your lifestyle and career
(47:18) Book writing
(55:59) Contrarian writing
(01:07:27) Do you get criticism about Deep Work?
(01:11:59) What's your take on toxic productivity?
(01:17:09) Personal productivity in corporate jobs doesn't work
(01:21:58) What is slow productivity?
(01:37:12) What's your note taking method?
Creators & Guests
- Amber Baxter-Clarke - Producer
- Ali Abdaal - Host
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🔗 CONNECT WITH ALI
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Find the show notes and the transcript on the website: https://aliabdaal.com/podcast/
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