8 Productivity Books To Change Your Life. Here's What Actually Works. | Cal Newport
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- Опубликовано: 14 июн 2024
- In Episode 265 of the Deep Questions podcast, Cal Newport visits eight of the most influential books in personal productivity, identifying for each a single idea that ended up most resonating both with his own work and the culture more generally.
Cal then answers a block of questions all related to productivity and work.
Cal concludes the show with a review of the five books he read in August, 2023.
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0:00 What productivity ideas from other authors are most worth paying attention to?
34:19 How do I time-block for the unanticipated “a-ha!” moment of insight?
39:14 Is my life as a surgeon dooming me to a reactive life?
46:10 Is it possible to read too many productivity books?
52:51 Is the Deep Life influenced by The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People?
55:07 Am I a disciplined worker if I only respond to deadlines?
1:03:26 The 5 Books Cal Read in August 2023
Connect with Cal Newport:
🔴Visit Cal's BLOG and website: calnewport.com/blog/
🔴Check out Cal's books: calnewport.com/writing/
🔴Check out The Deep Life: thedeeplife.com
About Cal Newport:
Cal Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown University. In addition to his academic research, he writes about the intersection of digital technology and culture. Cal's particularly interested in our struggle to deploy these tools in ways that support instead of subvert the things we care about in both our personal and professional lives.
Cal is a New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including, most recently, A World Without Email, Digital Minimalism, and Deep Work. He's also the creator of The Time-Block Planner.
The videos are considered to be used under the "Fair Use Doctrine" of United States Copyright Law, Title 17 U.S. Code Sections 107-118. Videos are used for editorial and educational purposes only and I do not claim ownership of any original video content. I don't use said video clips in advertisements, marketing or for direct financial gain. All video content in each clip is considered owned by the individual broadcast companies.
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🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:25 📚 Stephen Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" emphasizes starting with the end in mind. Productivity should align with your life goals.
01:16 🎯 Covey's idea is that productivity should serve philosophically or spiritually important goals, not just be an end in itself.
03:10 🤔 David Allen's "Getting Things Done" is misunderstood. It's not about doing more but about psychological sustainability.
05:26 🧠 Allen introduces the concept of "open loops" as a source of stress. A trusted system for capturing tasks frees the mind.
08:36 🌍 Tim Ferriss' "The Four Hour Work Week" advocates for work as a tool to implement an ideal lifestyle, challenging the "live to work" mentality.
10:29 🛠️ Ferriss emphasizes lifestyle design, separating your ideal lifestyle from work and using work to fund it.
13:17 🚫 Greg McEwen's "Essentialism" argues that saying no can make you more valuable. Focusing on fewer tasks can lead to better results.
16:49 ⏳ Oliver Berkman's "4,000 Weeks" emphasizes the limited time we have. Accepting this can make you more relaxed and focused on what truly matters.
19:37 🐢 Berkman's book aligns with the slow productivity philosophy, advocating for doing fewer things but doing them well.
20:04 🎯 Jenny Odell's "How to Do Nothing" critiques the attention economy's monetization of our time and attention.
21:30 📱 Social media platforms commodify your attention for profit, influencing how we perceive and value time.
22:39 🕊️ The act of doing nothing and being present is a form of resistance against this commodification of time.
24:15 ⏳ The book "Make Time" suggests focusing on what matters most each day, arguing that the rest will work itself out.
25:38 🎯 Prioritizing important tasks is the engine of your success, and other things will fall into place.
26:33 ⏰ Laura Vanderkam's book suggests that people often overestimate how busy they are, and being more intentional can reduce the feeling of being overworked.
27:44 🔄 Fragmented work approaches exaggerate our sense of busyness.
34:27 📝 For jobs that require reactive scheduling like surgery, focus on simplifying everything else around the core task.
36:20 📋 Time block planning is about being intentional with your time, not sticking rigidly to a plan.
38:53 📚 Capture systems and shutdown routines help in being intentional and not forgetting important tasks.
41:13 🎯 In reactive jobs, aim for flexibility and focus on doing the core tasks well.
41:53 🎯 Focus on fewer obligations to excel in your main role, especially if you have a demanding job like a surgeon.
43:16 📚 Overloaded schedules are the main source of stress for college students; doing less is a powerful tool.
44:52 ⏳ An example of a student who simplified his life showed that doing less but focusing more can lead to better outcomes.
46:17 📖 The productivity book industry is not as crowded or poor in quality as some might think.
48:55 🔄 Contrarian views on productivity might actually do well because they differ from the norm.
51:54 📺 RUclips subcultures push topics to extremes, but this doesn't reflect the broader publishing industry.
53:28 🌱 Covey's influence is evident in the humanistic productivity space, emphasizing the importance of starting with the end in mind.
56:07 🛠 Discipline is an identity; you need to introduce self-driven pursuits to fully transition into a disciplined person.
57:58 🎯 Keystone habits are the first step towards a disciplined life, covering different areas of your life.
01:02:08 📱 Cal Newport discusses using a flip phone for emergencies, emphasizing its affordability and simplicity.
01:03:29 📚 Newport shifts the conversation to books, mentioning that he will discuss five books he read in the previous month.
01:04:09 🧬 The first book discussed is "At Home in the Universe" by Stuart Kaufman, which focuses on self-organization and complex systems.
01:05:46 🐙 The second book, "Soul of an Octopus," is highlighted for its unique focus on human characters who find healing through interactions with octopuses.
01:07:54 👎 Newport mentions "Abduction" by Robin Cook as one of the worst books he's read recently, criticizing its implausible and uninteresting plot.
01:10:51 💰 The next book is "The Affluent Society" by John Kenneth Galbraith, which Newport appreciates for its economic insights and writing style.
01:13:34 🎃 The final book, "Ninth House" by Leigh Bardugo, is noted for its dark themes and setting in an Ivy League school with secret societies.
01:15:09 ✍️ Newport ends by suggesting a similar dark university genre book could be written about Dartmouth, inspired by its history and setting.
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Thanks so much 🎉
@55:49 Cal Newport: "Discipline is an identity."
👍Good point.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
Getting Things Done by David Allen
The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
How To Do Nothing by Jenny Odell
Make Time by Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky
168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam
Thanks 😊
Thank you.
At 18:20, the best suggestions from "Four Thousand Weeks" were shared. It is indeed true that we have limited time in this world, and it's essential to find happiness in what we have accomplished and are currently doing rather than lamenting what we may have missed. Excellent book recommendations. Thank you, Sir Cal Newport.
"We have been trained by economic forces to think of moments as something that can be transformed into something that someone is going to value. It becomes hard then to just exist and be present in the moment. We could be monetizing this, I could be documenting this and putting his on instagram where it could get likes. So even though we don't directly participate in the monetization of our attention, insta is not sending us a check for the amount of eyeball minutes that are video-captured, we still adopt this mindset of time is something that could be commodified. Time is something to be productively transformed into attention into something that is valued by someone else. In that mindset shift, we lost a lot of our humanity."
-Cal explaining the book "How to do nothing". It's just gold.
This is incredibly valuable and you are an incredibly articulate speaker, Cal. You are a modern day philosopher, thank you for your work and energy sharing all your findings and thoughts with us!
Excellent lesson here. Thank you for your time because this was an encouraging and satisfactory listening experience.
In this episode, Cal discusses seven books in the so-called productivity genre. Throughout this discussion, a key theme emerges: the focus on this productivity topic is a quest to relieve stress and sustainably manage work and obligations. In some cases, people may criticize the genre for being excessively capitalist and anti-humanist, but with these books as evidence, Cal professes that these books are a response to concerns about the increasing demands and are not meant to insincerely appease workers, but rather, to equip them with techniques and perspectives to fairly and sustainably frame and manage modern work demands. Cal highlights a key point from each book in a helpful synthesis which effectively supports his perspective on the genre.
Here are the books - The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People; Getting Things Done; The Four Hour Workweek; Essentialism; Four Thousand Weeks; How to do Nothing; Make Time; and 168 Hours. Worth a listen!
Hey Cal, have you considered adding a page of good books to read on your website? I could just go through your videos, such as this one, finding about books I may want to read. However I am sure you have a list of 25 (or more) must-reads.
Thanks for what you do,
Flavio
Great book list. Word you were looking for is "milled."
machined is better
I think Jason Bateman should play Cal in the bio film of his life.
Their voices even sound alike. It’s uncanny. 🤣🤣🤣👍
I'm glad I'm not alone here.
In the creative writing world, I tried an experiment by starting at the end of the book and working backwards. Interesting experiment. Interesting in that I knew the end and had to figure out what would get me there. Great for a Draft-Zero to develop into a real story. The cognitive drain/strain was an eye opener.
One key takeaway is the importance of starting with a clear vision of what you want to achieve in various aspects of your life before diving into productivity techniques. How do you recommend people go about defining their "big picture goals" in different areas of life, especially when they might be uncertain or overwhelmed by possibilities?
I think the most interesting idea from the transcript is the concept of "open loops." This is the idea that any obligation or commitment that is not captured somewhere that you can trust can lead to stress and anxiety.
Thank you for sharing this insightful list, Cal Newport because your recommendations have always been spot on, and I'm excited to dive into these productivity books to make positive changes in my life.
It's clear that you've delved into the nuances of these concepts and their practical applications in daily life and I appreciate how you highlight the complexity and depth of the book, dispelling misconceptions about it. Kudos!
I got more curious & interested about the second book: Getting things done, The art of stress-free productivity. I believe in the importance of psychological sustainability in our daily lives. By reading this book, living healthy & wealthy can be achievable! Thanks a lot!
Absolutely! I completely agree with the importance of setting clear, big-picture goals in various aspects of life. It's like having a roadmap that guides your decisions and actions.
4000 weeks threw an interesting perspective into it all
The word Cal is after is "machining". (Precisely carving things out of metal.) Or milling? Maybe?
55:51 Discipline
I’m curious, when do you block time to read in your daily/weekly schedule, Cal?
I don't think you need to read 8 productivity books to be more productive. You just need one that resonates with you and applies to your life.
Lately, he's been playing the click-bait game with his titles!
Cal never said that, did you even listen to the video for five mins?
Are you trying to dismiss people from watching? Because that message is nowhere in the video. I think his discussion of the most influential ideas (for him) from those 8 books was fascinating.
I do agree with the other comment about the clickbait-y titles though, but I'm pretty sure it's one of Cal's assistants (if not Jesse).
This may be true but it doesn’t negate that various people have great ideas about being productive.
Reading books about productivity is another procrastination
Hey Cal! How to get a signed copy of your Book? Thanks!
Cal, if i'm an adult upskilling through online courses, do you think Deep Work or How to be an A student would help me quickly get through the courses & get maximum benefit/learning?
I'm a proactive person. I see other employees wasting materials at work so I ask the question how to stop it .
It is better to work than to be lonely.
GTD... 2nd edition in 2015, is a little more 'super computer in your pocket' orientated, not much though. Certainly in need to a major overhaul with respect to thinking/work/presentation/critique via computers in life and work. And that is before AI beds down.
Machined
Machined. The word you're looking for is Precision Machined
Upvoting. Glad someone else knew the word.
hey I'm like super early 😂
Good on you Superman
“Ep. 265” gang
I need some books to change my wife 😊
😂😂😂
you just need a couple of sheets a.k.a divorce papers to initiate the process.
Watch the likes pile in for your comment 😊
I think you spelled “life” wrong.
😂😂😂😂😂😅
I need more info on those razor blades, you seem to make good money from talking about them and the ISS using your credibility.
What is the purpose of the other guy?
You actually mentioned obama as a positive reference.... 🤦
when I start READING
those "books"
I Stop Working
when I Work
I never read "books"
and do not watch this stuff ever
Four Thousand Weeks is THE most important “productivity” book for me. It’s too good. 🕒🩵
Machined