#722: Cal Newport — How to Embrace Slow Productivity, Build a Deep Life, Achieve Mastery, and Defend Your Time

The Tim Ferriss Show

Cal Newport is a professor of computer science at Georgetown University, where he is also a founding member of the Center for Digital Ethics. His books have sold millions of copies and been translated into over forty languages. He is also a contributor to The New Yorker and hosts the popular Deep Questions podcast. His new book is Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout.

Please enjoy!

Timestamps for this episode are available below. Resources from this episode: https://tim.blog/2024/02/21/cal-newport-slow-productivity/

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Timestamps:

[06:14] Unforced Errors: The Internet Story.

[09:41] Techno-selectionism.

[18:06] Why YouTube and podcasts aren’t ideal bedfellows.

[23:03] Amish technology and Steve Martin.

[28:07] What prompted Cal to write Slow Productivity?

[31:35] Becoming a better writer through blogging.

[36:54] The benefits of obsessing over quality.

[40:54] How did Cal decide to identify himself as a writer?

[52:02] People who exemplify slow productivity.

[58:45] Trade-offs on the path to 21st-century slow productivity.

[1:03:16] Push systems vs. pull systems.

[1:04:34] Quota systems.

[1:06:08] Why slow productivity isn’t a zero-sum game.

[1:09:33] Language that clarifies.

[1:13:17] Sender filters.

[1:16:20] What people might miss about Slow Productivity‘s message.

[1:21:24] How Cal defines productivity.

[1:25:36] Derek Sivers and money as a neutral indicator of value.

[1:28:34] Contemporary slow productivity champions.

[1:33:18] Asynchronous vs. real-time conversations.

[1:35:51] Making group scheduling less hellish.

[1:40:13] Cal’s problem with Frederick Winslow Taylor.

[1:42:01] How The New Yorker maintains its old-timey charm where other publications fail.

[1:49:05] Cal’s dream publications.

[1:51:07] Mental models for cultivating a slow productivity mindset.

[1:56:27] The consequences of playing the algorithm game.

[2:03:14] The renewed viability of newsletters.

[2:08:03] Parting thoughts.

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