Core Idea: Slow Productivity
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 พ.ค. 2024
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Cal Newport describes a #CoreIdea about #SlowProductivity.
Slow Productivity is Cal's recent idea to deal with #ChronicOverload. Doing less doesn't cut it in today's world. Cal describes his more detailed solution to this overload and the piling up of work.
The achieve Slow Productivity there are three things to tackle:
Do Fewer Things
Work at a Natural Pace
Obsess Over Quality
Listen to Episode Here (Scroll down to #171DeepQuestionsPodcast) : bit.ly/3eEefHK
0:00 Cal's intro
0:23 Cal defines #SlowProductivity
1:50 Cal talks about books and productivity
2:55 The Question Left Unanswered
4:50 Cal's recent thinking about Slow Productivity
5:06 What was productivity for our ancient ancestors
8:00 Chronic Overload
8:19 The Three Problems of Chronic Overload
14:10 The Three Ideas to Achieve Slow Productivity
21:00 Cal's summary
22:00 Cal and Jesse talk about Slow Productivity
Connect with Cal Newport:
🔴Visit Cal's BLOG and website: bit.ly/3luGhca
🔴Check out Cal's books: bit.ly/3ppaafc
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.
#CalNewport #DeepWork #DeepLife #DeepQuestions #TimeblockPlanner
#WorldWithoutEmail #DeepQuestionsPodcast
"Do fewer things. Do this work at a natural pace. Obsess over quality." That's it right there. Put it on the mirror. Thanks, Cal.
Great!
Yeah. Especially when your company laid off 2 people and now you’re working for 3. Good luck with that.
How to overcome chronic overload? Notes:
- Do fewer things daily. You are not a computer processer, you are human.
- Work at a natural pace. Seasonality at various level. Instead of worrying about how much you can do in a day, worry how much you can do in months & years? This will shift your perspective
- Be obsessed with quality. Do less, do better. Skilled important activities gives you motivation & make you feel more fulfilling.
- Be minimalist in your schedule. Say no often on taking more work.
I've essentially reached the same conclusions in my own life. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the TL; DR
Yes, don't overstrecth yourself. I'm still burn out in days now......
Listening to Slow Productivity at 2x the speed...
Interesting comments finally comes here lol. Thanks man😁
Hilarious
100%
Ahah 😄 I always watch TH-cam on 1.75x, but I listen to Cal at 1.5x, because English isn’t my native language 😄
2x speed would make it fast productivity
he looks at the camera like a concerned father that wants a serious talk
as a developer at a big tech company, I'd say Cal's books and contents are absolutely essential and underrated. can't be happier to find such a great professional who helps people achieve dramatically higher performance.
Thank you Cal
Lkewise, amen!
Cal Newport is simply brilliant !! Thank you so much Cal! All your books - Deep Work, Digital Minimalism and now Slow Productivity - are the much needed answers that our generation needs to tackle with the anxious world we live in!
Do fewer things at natural space and obsess over quality.. best line..
Can't believe I only now found out that you started a podcast and youtube channel years ago even though ive read digital minimalism, deep work, and so good they cant ignore you years ago. Everything your saying here is such a breath of fresh air compared to the hustle and grind culture of today.
"you are not a computer processor where you want your pipeline of instructions to execute and never miss a particular tick; you're a human, you're not wired to do that, you need to do many fewer things" -- my god, this is the analogy I needed. I work with assembly and my whole profession is about reverse engineering and instructions, and sometimes it feels like I expect my brain to work like a processor and forget that I'm only human. Thanks for that, Cal!
This articulates the knowledge worker problem at many organizations so well.
In 2022, I humbly believe that we should limit ourselves to consuming TWO high-quality podcasts consistently. And one of those two should be Cal's for those who are "obsessed with quality." Get 'em, Cal!
What about be the other one?
@@ShelterDogs I'd like to amend my answer. I'll go with rotating 5 (a big step up). This, of course, is subjective. And we're spoiled rotten with good podcast content. My favorites lately are The Ezra Klein Show (worldly issues), Nutrition Facts with Dr. Greger, The Content Strategy Podcast, and since I"m an animal-law guy, others related to that. Like our diets, our knowledge consumption appears better with variety. But Cal will always have a special place in my temporal lobe.
Thank you. I'll take a look at those. I struggle finding the right nutrition advice to follow, so I basically just listen to Harvard nowadays. For example, I began eating salmon again because of their articles.
@@ShelterDogs go with anything by Dr. Greger. How Not to Diet was incredible (book). He's an advocate of plant-based nutrition. The elimination of saturated fat, cholesterol and added salt score very high on. the list. Along with getting adequate food. That squeezes out or limits animal products.
I checked out Dr. Greger and his information on fish is outdated. It was because of experts like him I stopped eating fish years ago. This is why I'm staying with Harvard only advice on nutrition. So hard to find just the right trusted experts. Cal is one, but I don't see this Dr. Greger being another.
probably the best thing I've seen you unpack.
Making Work Visible is a fantastic book that gives you very actionable and practical ways to make your work transparent. I highly recommend it for anyone working with a team.
These videos should get millions of views!! So good! Thanks so much Cal
You are great Cal. Totally resonates with me.
You just described the goal of Agile Project Management.
fantastic analysis. Would love a book on this topic!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this. Thank you Cal
Thank you Cal! Answered prayer!
10:27 "Now you're spending almost all your time talking about the work you need to do with no time left to actually execute the work"
This is amazing. Thank you
This is wonderful. Thank you for it
Extraordinarily good. Indeed, just checking out is not an option - any solution has to be more sophisticated and nuanced. So very relevant to me, over here in my home office in Austria. Will re-watch, taking notes and then hitting my Google Calendar to calm things down.
Can I just say this, I totally get how this overload, especially during the pandemic could have affected alot of people. But I realised I didn’t affect me because I got to work with a woman I loved, and I loved working with her and cracking jokes relentlessly in between tasks and meetings. That constant dopamine hit was amazing stress reliever! Lol
I love you Cal. You’re amazing.
Excellent content & ideas Cal delivered
So glad to have discovered Cal and his works. I just got the new book, Slow productivity
I really want to see this topic expanded.
I couldn't agree more, Cal. Thanks
Great, Cal! You've nailed it. I know that you published this video a year ago, but I listened it again and I have to write this comment. It is so hard for people to acknowledge this widespread problem. This results in distortions of any kind.
awesome work and cool person!! Sir keep up you great work!! God bless you
Love the idea. Love your humor at the end
Me encantó y espero ansioso el libro sobre Slow productivity. Amo a este autor, conocí su obra Deep work recién en 2022 y ha significado una gran transformación para mí. A los hablantes hispanos que anden por aquí, totalmente recomendado.
You are on to something… free from the extremes of excessive conspicuous consumption on one hand and “laying flat” on the other… a middle way that acknowledges and respects our biological heritage rather than trying to suppress it.
You give voice to many of the things I have learned over the years that have allowed me to function in what is to me a highly unnatural corporate environment.
Other things I’ve learned are that there is no life to a company other than the people in it. Some believe the illusion of a company being real more than others, but it a construct, not an ontological reality. Seeing this deeply, I realized that my inner state mattered more than the fictions and false urgencies that abound. And my inner state was better served by paying attention to it, my breathing, my stress level than by getting swept away by emotions arising from the drama unfolding around me. This allowed me to see that I can only do a good job if I do one thing at a time. Doing things one thing at a time shows you that there is a natural order, an organic flow. When you are not caught up in the drama, you are unconcerned with what comes next, your focus is on doing what you are doing with exquisite care and attention.
The same can be applied to planning: do it with focus and careful attention. Then move on, capture it somehow and then let it pass by.
Refer back to a plan as needed to coordinate with others, but only work on one thing at a time. This lets your subconscious chew some of the bigger problems. Deep focus creates space… and from this space ideas arise from your subconscious. I find these ideas arrive in a natural rhythm, as the need arises.
It’s what David Lynch calls “catching the big fish.”
It’s very meditative and satisfying to work this way.
I am a new freelancer and I definitely have to many things going on, leading me to just not doing anything. Gonna cut some projects, for sure.
Love your podcast and "Deep Work", thank you.
As a long-time office worker, it’s no wonder I’m sick with anxiety and symptoms of ADHD. My work is completely unnatural and against my nature. I’ve thought this for many years. I’ve just wanted a job working in a skilled trade.
This is great information! thank you for these Core Idea series
th-cam.com/users/shortsI6Fk8rEVSRs?feature=share
Incredible piece
Wowwww, TH-cam channel from Cal Newport, Awesome!
Core Idea: Learning ?
Thank you for the work you do. Providing ideas for a meaningful life.
Great video, I totally agree with all of the points you raised, it is very thought provoking.
The issue then becomes how to sell the concept to business decision makers.
I can imagine that companies offering stream lined work loads, would certainly become employers of choice with less: stress related absence , lower attrition, less vacancies (lower advertising costs) & no dip in productivity whilst training new staff up to baseline standard...plus happy workers are reported to be12% higher in productivity.
If someone creates this environment, top talent will be knocking down their door to get in !!
Thanks for your great videos & book which I loved. It is great to have influential thought leaders challenging the status quo. Thanks !
There is a book titled Slow Productivity that he wrote that will be released in March 2024. I'm so excited to read this book.
Thanks Cal. Would be great to hear your perspective on accepting the state of having to make the few things those you don’t particularly like temporarily. I have to prioritize legal and tax related tasks right now at thr expense of things I’m more passionate about, but surrendering to that can be hard. I’ll be doing the deep work I want to do soon though. Loved your interview with Sam Harris by the way.
New subscriber coming from Mark Manson's podcast. I want to learn about being better and excellent in the games of productivity :)
We can either do a few things well OR many things averagely. While both approaches require the same effort, it’s always our choice. 🙂
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:17 Slow *Productivity is an emerging concept as a response to the burnout caused by the general drive for increased productivity, predating the COVID-19 pandemic.*
01:59 Since *2019, there has been a rise in anti-productivity literature, with books like "How to Do Nothing," "Do Nothing," "Laziness Does Not Exist," and "Four Thousand Weeks" all addressing the exhaustion and burnout from overactivity.*
02:52 The *challenge posed by the anti-productivity movement is not just acknowledging burnout but finding effective solutions. Simply advocating for doing less is seen as insufficient.*
04:45 Slow *Productivity is introduced as a concept to address the question of what to do in the face of burnout. Newport explores the idea by examining the natural rhythms of activity for our ancient ancestors.*
07:22 Chronic *overload in the modern work environment is characterized by an overwhelming list of obligations and commitments, leading to three main problems: short-circuiting long-term planning, an overhead spiral, and relentless pacing without time for relaxation.*
09:27 Chronic *overload creates a knowledge worker equivalent of Chinese water torture, with the overhead spiral becoming a major source of frustration and inefficiency.*
11:47 The *relentless pace of chronic overload prevents individuals from experiencing the natural ups and downs in work intensity, leading to a continuous pressure for execution and contributing to overall dissatisfaction.*
13:00 To *address chronic overload, Newport introduces the concept of slow productivity, emphasizing three key elements: doing fewer things, doing those things at a natural pace, and obsessing over the quality of the work.*
15:23 Doing *fewer things involves keeping workloads below the chronic overload threshold and rethinking how work is assigned in the workplace. External systems may be needed to manage work assignments transparently.*
17:01 Working *at a natural pace requires introducing seasonality at different levels, allowing for harder and easier periods. Adjusting the time scale to care about accomplishment on the scale of months and years is also crucial.*
19:02 Obsessing *over quality is emphasized as a key aspect of slow productivity, making work more fulfilling and providing the autonomy to say no to tasks that do not contribute to continuous improvement in one's craft.*
20:55 Chronic *overload causes issues that alienate us from our human wiring. The solution is not to discard productivity but to redefine it as "slow productivity," emphasizing doing fewer things, working at a natural pace, and obsessing over quality.*
21:39 Slow *productivity is introduced as a response to chronic overload, aligning work lives with ancient wiring. The focus is on making activity fulfilling, meaningful, and addressing issues faced in the world of chronic overload.*
22:22 Cal *Newport discusses his exploration of slow productivity in recent interviews, articles, and potential upcoming book proposals, hinting at the idea of simultaneous work on "The Deep Life" and "Slow Productivity."*
23:48 Newport *shares his preference for working on multiple book proposals simultaneously, allowing him to focus on writing rather than constantly worrying about selling books.*
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Fantastic!! Thank you so much!! I've been going in that direction in multiple dimensions lately, and it was so encouraging to get this advice and confirmation!! 🙏☀️
12:25 bullseye! Not work related but, I really like to consume self-improvement content. It has been years and I still feel like I can never catch and improve enough. That brings constant pressure. never thought that way.
Thank you so much man! Being a small business owner that finds it hard to pace himself to a more natural rhythm, this is so valuable. For me, it's hard to relax and pull back on my go-getter attitude when a project that I've been working on starts needing less from me in terms of time and actions, Also, this doesn't mean that I can jump into another project because it would too much headspace wise. It's like I feel useless when what it's only required of me is to wait, It's kind of a weird feeling of I should be doing something but I also see how there is really nothing to do. Like let's say I want a plant to grow, for this to grow I need to water the plant at a given moment, but once the watering is done, I need to wait without intervening for it to grow as well. This stepping back and doing nothing creates a lot of anxiety. Do you have any insights about this?
We really should be working a whole lot less now with the great technology advancements we have made. Food for thought.
I wish I could have had this during the shutdown when I was diagnosed with a mental breakdown due to my job.
The whole of humanity should watch/read this message.
It's that fundamental.
A huge issue implementing it - competition. When not everyone is following what's more natural, logical, sane and balance, someone is getting the upper hand and you are left behind.
A true maturity of humanity as a whole, is understanding that, and everyone slowing down. Yes, that means earning less.
But when everyone earn less, rich will still be rich.
But that's a concept too hard for the leaders of this yet-to-mature humanity leaders to grasp and take action on.
It will happen, but it'll take a few more centuries.
It must. It's either understanding this and slowing down, or finish humanity faster than necessary.
EXACTLY how you would tell a frantic adolescents to slow and strive for excellence and quality, not amount.
We want *quality* of life, not just *long* life.
The broken economy systems around the world created a situation where "excellence" is measure by "how much" money you have, which leads (naturally) to people favouring focusing on making money (amount), as this is the current definition of "excellence". This must be changed.
Cal, I'm in sales. Chronic overload is everywhere. Thankfully I enjoy getting better at my craft, but I find myself distracted by the exact systems that are supposed to make tracking leads easier and to produce the metrics by which I am measured each month.
What are your thoughts on systems that act as a complete responsibility in and of themselves? What level of responsibility should a "work support system" have?
Also in sales. One thing that helped me was separating tasks into sales and admin. When I have a call, or have to track a metric, I’ll write down I have to do it but won’t actually log it in the CRM. Then, at the end of the day I will book add all of these things to the CRM which helps reduce task switching
Thank you!
Gold
as I watch this video with a plugin playing it a 3X because I don't have time to fit it into my 100000000 list of things that needed to be completed by the end of 2019.
I need this book yesterday😅
Hey Cal amazing podcast! just a quick note, there is static noise in the mic or something. I thought it was my earphones but I changed the earphones and it was still there. thought you should know!
20:03 This! 🙏
Small Circles are the best~
“Less but better” is the philosophy of minimalism
There is a book called Futilitariansim by Neil Vallely...which goes into some polical depth about how for lower order people (like me) maximising ones "Utility" might be attempting to make pointless work seem pointful! You might find it useful Cal Newport
man it is how i live!!!! i should have started this channel haha. I sacrificed to live like this
This is all very well, but how do we apply this to people who are not knowledge workers? How do we move away from the mechanistic / industrial model that underpins modern work?
Wondering how to do this as a full time working mom of three with two under five. This all sounds great, but I don't know how to put it into practice.
4:00 We need to do work
Do the book, please! I need 7 hours of immersion in this line of thinking.
Well would you look at that
13:55 I literally don’t read email anymore, at work or at home lol
This has a connection to the book Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber
How do I create a visible cue in a government setting. I like the idea in order to minimize admin over head
I’ve known too many people that claimed to be good multitaskers, who’d actually just churn out the bare minimum with no thought given to value.
Tribes are also groups of people - we do not have tribes today. Even at work - these are not tribes - these are factories. How do we allow work to be a tribe - a team? I have worked at places where it was frowned upon to ask for help. When you rush to gather as much work as you can and then drop one - that is a fire-able offense. After this - do you want to go back?
Cal, did you read “Work” by James Suzman? It’s a cool book about work through the lens of history and anthropology!
It’s not a matter of do or do not. It’s a matter of doing the right things and not doing dumb things.
Books mentioned In this podcast?
let's go full Bartleby on the system
Awesome, though the great Bob Marley sang fifty years ago, "There's work to be done, so let's do it little by little...."
To answer the question of what our ancestors used productivity for, It was for survival. So going back to the ancients, is rather useless in some ways. In others it appears nothing has changed too much.
Fuckin Nailed it, Newport, you’re a fuckin legend !
You're a messiah, Cal. :)
Do Less, Do better, Know Why. Cal Newport
14:30
May be that's not a problem. People at manager and above level have only meetings scheduled. Mostly they do not do any actual work. And they have no idea that they know nothing
Does watching this video at 2x speed negates it's teaching?
I wouldn't call it an anti productivity movement, I think mental bandwidth have maxed out due to the load of attention stealing devices and the reach of "the attention economy" adding to the fast pace of modern life for young adults. I think people want to be productive and find a way to drop all the wasted mental burden that we have to participate in and especially behaviors that are extremely hard to control and moderate.
19:09 Adujsting fonts 😂😂
My dude, TH-cam is a social media website.
Seems a good message but your guest Jesse Itzler seems to be at a juxtaposition I.e. Goggins mentality.
Can’t help but think: create the problem, sell the solution going on..
The answer is not do less. The answer is do less but in more words 😜
Avoid chronic overload
People are 🔥 out because they text all day long 🤖
Points
0:44
2:10
6:03🌟🌟🌟
7:20
14:57
16:55
18:10
18:50🌟🌟🌟
19:40 escape mediocrity
20:55 🌟🌟🌟🌟quality
22:37 😂😂
Do less, better.
the suggested solutions are no more realistic than just saying to your boss 'hey, i dont want to be exploited by capitalism so im working less today'. What you should do is have a look at how people live and work in some other countries (the US isnt the whole world), where people do have a better time at work. In the end to get the changes you are talking about you will need a change in culture and in politics such that you end up with industrial relations laws and regulations that shift the balance of power from employers to employees. You need more unionisation, and more of what Americans call socialism - things like a decent amount of sick leave, longer vacations, paid maternity leave, paid paternity leave
Clearly the author never worked ina fast paced environment. You mention any of those “solutions” to your supervisor and you are gone.
Still intelligible though, so why not?
Advice “do less and be happy” is not very useful. We need better.
We are most happy when we do things, not when we are doing nothing (on a sidenote: Flow research also shows that we are most satisfied when both skill and challenge are high). We just need to find ways to do things without burnout.
What was natural to our ancestors?
* highly skilled work every day
* at a natural pace with breaks in between
* not many things at the same time
What we have now?
* chronic overload of tasks which short-circuits our brain’s ability to get satisfaction from planning and executing those plans
* overhead overload that each new project and commitment to it brings
* relentless pace with no time to relax
What is the solution?
Do fewer things
At a natural pace
Obsessing over quality
* Do fewer things
Instead of planning 5 items for a day, plan 2 or even 1 but most important
Take new tasks only when you’ve finished working on the previous ones
* At a natural pace
Change the timescale: think in months and years instead of days and weeks. Thinking in years frees us from anxiety of ticking off daily to-dos into producing high-quality work over longer time.
Embrace seasonality of work: have easy days/weeks following a natural rhythm of ebb and flow or energy
* Obsessing over quality
If you do less, you will have to do it better
Doing it really well will give the courage to say “no” to less important stuff. (But first get clear on what you are trying to get better at in the long term.)
If you are employed, getting really good gives you more autonomy to say “no” to tasks you don't want to do.
Please make the videos shorter like 10mins
As much as I like your stuff you do am injustice to the religious time frame blaming the protestant area or time. For our work ethic today what does Protestantism have to do with anything you’re blaming the wrong culture it was God who worked six days and rested one blame him. Obviously you need to know God better how dare you blame a religious culture for today’s value system when this value system is totally backwards and immoral
You are brainwashed and will realize this when you’re older.