The One You Feed Slow Productivity: How to Do Less, Focus More, and Not Burn Out with Cal Newport
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Sep 9, 2025 
Cal Newport, a computer science professor and author known for his insights on deep work and digital minimalism, dives into the concept of slow productivity. He critiques our obsession with busyness and advocates for doing less while increasing focus and output quality. The conversation touches on the technological distractions affecting our work, the importance of meaningful engagement over shallow activities, and practical strategies for balancing ambition with practicality to achieve sustainable success without burnout.
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Hours Don't Equal Output
- Measuring productivity by hours is a holdover from industrial-era work that fails for knowledge tasks.
- Knowledge work outputs are nonlinear so busyness becomes a misleading proxy for value.
Limit Concurrent Commitments
- Do fewer concurrent projects to reduce overhead and increase actual progress.
- Couple doing less with obsessing over quality so reduced load funds higher-value work.
Work At A Natural Pace
- Work at a natural pace and accept longer realistic timelines rather than rushing.
- Vary intensity across seasons so you recharge and sustain output without burning out.
