How to Be Awesome at Your Job

2024 GREATS: 950: Slowing Down to Boost Productivity and Ease Stress with Cal Newport

Dec 26, 2024

Cal Newport, a computer science professor at Georgetown and author of "Deep Work," discusses how slowing down can actually boost productivity. He reveals why conventional measures of productivity are flawed and introduces the idea of 'slow productivity'—achieving more by focusing on fewer tasks. Newport highlights the importance of prioritizing meaningful work over busywork and explores techniques to eliminate non-essential tasks, advocating for a more sustainable and fulfilling approach to excellent outcomes.

49:40

Episode guests

Cal Newport

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Rethinking productivity by focusing on quality outcomes over sheer activity can significantly enhance job satisfaction and effectiveness.

Limiting concurrent commitments to three key projects allows for deeper focus, faster completion, and ultimately higher quality work.

Understanding the difference between pseudo productivity and sustainable productivity aids in fostering meaningful discussions and clearer work expectations.

Deep dives

Rethinking Productivity

Productivity is often mismeasured and misunderstood, focusing on immediate visible tasks rather than long-term accomplishments. Shifting the paradigm to prioritize quality outcomes over sheer activity can lead to greater job satisfaction and productivity. By recognizing that doing fewer tasks can actually lead to more substantial results, individuals can ease stress while simultaneously boosting their effectiveness. This approach counters the traditional view that busyness equates to productivity, suggesting that a redefined concept of productivity allows for more focused and impactful work.

Intro

2min

Reevaluating Productivity: The Power of Doing Less

2min

Redefining Productivity in Knowledge Work

22min

Prioritizing Projects with Purpose

8min

Redefining Productivity in Knowledge Work

8min

Redefining Productivity: Moving Beyond Pseudo Productivity

3min

The Power of Quality Over Quantity

7min

Cal Newport shows how to achieve more by doing less.

— YOU’LL LEARN —

1) Why we’re measuring productivity all wrong

2) The surprising math showing how doing less means achieving more

3) The trick to eliminating tasks that don’t serve you

Subscribe or visit AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep950 for clickable versions of the links below.

— ABOUT CAL —

Cal Newport is a professor of computer science at Georgetown University and a founding member of the Center for Digital Ethics. In addition to his academic work, Newport is a New York Times bestselling author who writes for a general audience about the intersection of technology, productivity, and culture. He is also a contributor to The New Yorker and hosts the popular Deep Questions podcast.

• Book: Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

• Book: Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

• Book: So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW —

• Book: Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin

• Book: Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy

• Book: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown

• Book: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen

• Book: Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein

• Book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen Covey

• Book: The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan

• Book: The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel