Ep. 299: Our Love/Hate Relationship with Personal Productivity

Cal has been writing professionally about issues related to personal productivity for two decades. In today’s episode, he provides a short history of what he’s observed during this period about out constantly shifting relationship with this topic, from the quiet optimism of the 1990s, to the techno-mania of the early 2000s, to the whiplash shift from anti-distraction to anti-work sentiments in the 2010s. He ends with a summary of where we are today and what he currently thinks matters in thinking about getting things done. During the Q&A session, Cal is joined by special guest host Scott Young (whose new book is GET BETTER AT ANYTHING) to help answer your questions. We conclude with a list of the books Cal read in April.

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: The 20-year history with personal productivity [4:20]

- How does Cal organize his files as a technical researcher? [1:04:55]
- How slow is too slow? [1:18:48]
- Does “Monk Mode” actually work? [1:27:25]
- How do I adapt my organizational systems to do more complicated work? [1:36:07]
- What are the most underrated habits for living a great life? [1:49:46]

CASE STUDY: Unconventional slow productivity [1:55:56]

FINAL SEGMENT: The 5 Books Cal Read in April 2024 [2:04:51]

Links:
Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at calnewport.com/slow
Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ 
Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?v=448bf8afad0740d18f6b109b4bd40d51
moehrbetter.com/gtd-advanced-workflow-diagram.html

Books Discussed in Deep Dive:

7 Habits of Highly Effective People
How To Become CEO
Getting Things Done
The Four Hour Work Week
Essentialism
How To Do Nothing

April Books:

An Empire of Their Own by Neal Gabler
Co-intelligence by Ethan Mollick
Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan
The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb
To Heal a Fractured World by Jonathan Sacks

Thanks to our Sponsors:

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notion.com/cal
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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.