Overload: A Critical Topic in Knowledge Work

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Sally Kohn: overload is a critical topic when thinking about knowledge work, especially in our increasingly distracted world. She says the source of overload for a lot of knowledge workers actually comes from the overhead component. Overhead often requires coordination or collaborations with other people and can muck up your schedule if you don't have enough time to do it all. The overhead also creates just landmines on your schedule as well as conversations that need to be had before things get done.

Few professional experiences feel worse than overload. But what really causes this unfortunate state? In this episode, Cal takes a closer look at overload, identifying its main culprits, identifying solutions, and helping listeners with their specific overload-related questions.

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

Today’s Deep Question: How does overload actually operate? [3:54]

- Does Cal use an executive assistant? [26:15]

- How do I write an effective communication policy for my team? [36:35]

- Does overhead compound exponentially? [42:50]

- How rare are high expectation/low overhead jobs? [48:05]

- My job has few shallow obligations. What should I do with my free time? [51:41]

Something Interesting: The future of social media is less social [59:39]

Links:

wsj.com/articles/workers-say-its-harder-to-get-things-done-now-heres-why-2a5f1389

nytimes.com/2023/04/19/technology/personaltech/tiktok-twitter-facebook-social.html