The Cal Newport Show

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 134: LISTENER CALLS: Returning to Deep Work After the Pandemic Sep 30, 2021

Show notes

Below are the topics covered in today's listener calls mini-episode (with timestamps). For instructions on submitting your own questions, go to calnewport.com/podcast.
RANT FOLLOW-UP: A doctor's perspective on kids and smartphones. [0:35]
GUEST CHAT: Scott Young stops by to talk about our new online course. [5:00]
LISTENER CALLS:
- Returning to regular deep work after the pandemic. [22:06]
- Deciding what tasks to execute. [29:34]
- Integrating your values into your daily activities. [34:08]
- Lessons from Virginia Woolf. [39:44]
- Phone use degrading reading ability. [44:28]
Thanks to Jay Kerstens for the intro music and Mark Miles for mastering.

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Ep. 133: How Do I Defeat Distraction? Sep 27, 2021

Show notes

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). For instructions on submitting your own questions, go to calnewport.com/podcast.
DEEP DIVE: Is the Desire to Produce Negative? [5:14]
DEEP WORK QUESTIONS
- What are the most popular workflows used to escape excessive email? [17:07]
- How do I read academic papers effectively? [27:40]
- How much studying is enough for a college student? [31:38]
- How do I defeat the allure of distraction? (Plus: Why Soto should get more MVP votes than Harper) [35:17]
- Is it too inefficient to copy a time block schedule into Outlook? [36:51]
- Are the processes from A World Without Email productivity pr0n? [38:59]
DEEP LIFE QUESTIONS
- Why do you (Cal) not pursue FIRE? [42:52]
- How do you avoid confirmation bias? [49:50]
- Should I use TikTok because that's where people are? [54:07]
- Is deep work a philosophy? [55:26]
Thanks to Jay Kerstens for the intro music and Mark Miles for mastering.

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Ep. 132: LISTENER CALLS: Managing Non-Work Tasks Sep 23, 2021

Show notes

OPENING RANT: Facebook Knows It's Hurting Teenagers [3:22]
LISTENER CALLS:
- Interfacing with the hive mind. [17:45]
- The relationship between tasks and daily plans. [24:58]
- My weekly planning ritual. [31:04]
- Discovering books. [39:42]
- How I manage my non-work tasks. [46:25]

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Ep. 131: The Elements of the Deep Life Sep 20, 2021

Show notes

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). For instructions on submitting your own questions, go to calnewport.com/podcast.
ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm hiring! [0:20]
DEEP DIVE: The Elements of the Deep Life [3:51]
DEEP WORK QUESTIONS
- How should I get started in a new remote work job? [16:56]
- How I time block a purely reactive job? [21:56]
- Should I bother capturing tasks that are fast to complete? [25:26]
- How do I tame multiple concurrent projects? [29:00]
- How do I schedule optional deep work in an exhausting job? [31:58]
DEEP LIFE QUESTIONS
- How much time is left for family after goals and deep work? [38:32]
- Is there such a thing as deep fun? [41:20]
- I am addicted to my phone. What do I do? [43:24]
- How do I make a big life decision when I have lots of options? [49:11]
Thanks to Jay Kerstens for the intro music and Mark Miles for mastering.

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Ep. 130: LISTENER CALLS: Leadership vs. Availability Sep 16, 2021

Show notes

Below are the topics covered in today's listener calls mini-episode (with timestamps). For instructions on submitting your own questions, go to calnewport.com/podcast.
- Balancing availability and depth as a leader. [5:12]
- Being available to students without being overwhelmed. [12:08]
- Rapid fire questions (each answer under 1 minute). [18:18]
-- Working eight hours in a row.
-- Quarterly plan format.
-- Reading metrics.
- Sticking to a schedule once made. [26:36]
- Keeping up with an academic literature. [30:24]
- Taking breaks between big projects. [35:20]
Thanks to Jay Kerstens for the intro music and Mark Miles for mastering.

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Ep. 129: How Do I Get My Kid Off His Smartphone? Sep 13, 2021

Show notes

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). For instructions on submitting your own questions, go to calnewport.com/podcast.
DEEP DIVE: Is Organization the Opiate of the Knowledge Work Masses? [1:02]
DEEP WORK QUESTIONS
- How do I choose skills to work deeply on? [15:18]
- What if I don't know what I want to do with my career or life? [20:11]
- How do I stop my students from overwhelming me right before deadlines? [23:38]
- When should you say "no" to interesting projects? [27:13]
- How do I preserve deep work now that I'm back in a real offie? [30:08]
DEEP LIFE QUESTIONS
- What are my (Cal) plans regarding my next book? [40:50]
- Would I (Cal) consider interviewing my wife? [41:32]
- What are the origins of my (Cal) ideas on leisure? [44:12]
- How do we get our 13-year-old off his iPhone? [50:31]
Thanks to Jay Kerstens for the intro music and Mark Miles for mastering.

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Ep. 128: LISTENER CALLS: The Art of "No" Sep 09, 2021

Show notes

Below are the topics covered in today's listener calls mini-episode (with timestamps). For instructions on submitting your own questions, go to calnewport.com/podcast.
OPENING: My new reading habit [6:53]
LISTENER CALLS:
- Retaining information from books. [11:16]
- The value of an agile personal productivity system. [18:33]
- An impractical vision for a highly productive building. [26:16]
- Marketing a course without social media. [37:45]
- The art of "no". [43:14]
Thanks to Jay Kerstens for the intro music and Mark Miles for mastering.

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Ep. 127: Does Productivity Diminish Leisure? (with Brad Stulberg) Sep 06, 2021

Show notes

In today's episode, I am joined by longtime friend of the show Brad Stulberg, who has a new book out called THE PRACTICE OF GROUNDEDNESS (https://thegrowtheq.com/books/groundedness/).
Brad helps me answer your questions on topics including the decision to start a company, recovering from a pandemic-induced demotion, preventing productivity from diminishing leisure, and dealing with inertia.
Thanks to Jay Kerstens for the intro music and Mark Miles for mastering.

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Ep. 126: LISTENER CALLS: A Tour of My Home Offices Sep 02, 2021

Show notes

Below are the topics covered in today's listener calls mini-episode (with timestamps). For instructions on submitting your own questions, go to calnewport.com/podcast.
- My home office setup. [3:59]
- Working while tired. [12:29]
- Writing three hours a day. [17:19]
- Details of my strategic plans. [26:09]
- Ignoring strategic plans. [31:08]
Thanks to Jay Kerstens for the intro music and Mark Miles for mastering.

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Ep. 125: What is Discipline (and How Do I Get It?) Aug 30, 2021

Show notes

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). For instructions on submitting your own questions, go to calnewport.com/podcast.
DEEP DIVE: How Reachable Should We Be? [1:48]
DEEP WORK QUESTIONS
- What should I do if I finish a time block early? [8:31]
- How do I work deeply at home with a crying newborn? [12:57]
- How I work deeply while taking care of a child full time? [17:54]
- How do I manage a shared mailbox with my team? [23:14]
DEEP LIFE QUESTIONS
- What is discipline (and how do I get it)? [31:49]
- Should I take a harder job to get better faster? [39:35]
- What about people who don't want to do deep work? [43:21]
Thanks to Jay Kerstens for the intro music and Mark Miles for mastering.

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