Deep Questions with Cal Newport
Ep. 32: Habit Tune-Up: Tracking Deliberate Practice, Getting Over the Fact Work is Hard, and Taming the Emotional Rigors of Depth
Oct 1, 2020
This mini-discussion tackles the art of tracking deliberate practice initiatives to enhance productivity. It offers help to overwhelmed educators navigating tough workloads. The conversation highlights strategies to deal with hard work head-on, ensuring that emotional challenges of deep focus are addressed. Listeners are encouraged to reflect on personal management tactics and consider structured productivity planning. Plus, innovative methods like 'Capture, Configure, Control' promise to revolutionize how tasks are approached.
47:21
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Quick takeaways
- The goal of time control is to maintain a mindset of intention and adjust the schedule as needed, with a focus on achieving a sustainable background rate of deep work.
- By focusing on fewer initiatives and investing more deeply in each one, individuals can find more satisfaction and success in their projects, utilizing quarterly or semester plans to set clear goals and selectively prune projects to create a sustainable background rate of depth.
Deep dives
The Frustration of Not Hitting the Schedule
One of the main challenges discussed in this episode is the frustration of not being able to stick to a deep work schedule. The speaker acknowledges that it can be disappointing when a deep work session does not go as planned, and there is a desire to achieve deep work every day. However, the speaker advises that the goal of time control is not to hit the schedule exactly, but rather to maintain a mindset of intention and adjust the schedule as needed. It is emphasized that the background rate of deep work, around two to three hours per day, should be the focus, and it is acceptable to build on that when circumstances allow.
