To balance the quantity and quality of extracurricular activities, it's essential to objectively assess and schedule time for each activity. By time blocking hobbies into a calendar and assessing if they fit without overwhelming, individuals can determine sustainability. If the schedule feels too crowded, adjustments can be made by either pulling back on activities or adopting seasonal pursuits to focus on different hobbies at different times of the year. Prioritizing quality time spent on meaningful activities outside of work is crucial, regardless of the quantity of activities pursued.
One of the more important abilities to cultivate for the year ahead is comfort learning complicated (and therefore valuable) new things. In this episode, Cal tackles the myths surrounding mastery and presents a new mental model for internalizing non-trivial information. As he elaborates, there is both good news and bad news when it comes to this topic: you can learn almost anything, but you can’t learn everything.
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
Deep Dive: Learning Hard Things [2:50]
- When it comes to taking notes, what really matters? [29:49]
- Can I fit all of my hobbies into my week? [36:02]
- Can YouTube teach me to be a better student? [39:40]
- How do I figure out what to learn next? [46:09]
- How do I learn something fast when I already have a busy schedule? [48:23]
- CALL: How does “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” relate to “Slow Productivity”? [55:11]
CASE STUDY: Slow Productivity affinity group [1:03:46]
The 5 books Cal read in December 2023 [1:13:28]
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Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, Kieron Rees for slow productivity music, and Mark Miles for mastering.