Deep Questions with Cal Newport

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. LISTENER CALLS:- Optimal amounts of advanced scheduling. [6:46]- Recommendations for not going overboard with strategic planning. [14:31] - Training for hard intellectual work. [19:12]- Convincing students to limit social media (ran...

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). For instructions on submitting your own questions, go to calnewport.com/podcast. OPENING CHAT: The Books I Read in December 2021 DEEP WORK QUESTIONS:- How do I handle insecurity about my writing ability? [35:39]- How do I balance non-work and work activities? [39:51]- How can I take regular breaks to avoid eye strain? [43:...

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. LISTENER CALLS:- Getting better vs. selling harder. [3:29]- Convincing a girlfriend to use less social media [9:15]- Time-blocking tips [20:29]- Ambition and the deep life [26:17]- Advice of an ideal desk set up [32:56] Thanks to Je...

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 WORK QUESTIONS:- How can a freelancer perform deep work? [9:56]- Should I follow my skill or my passion? [12:50]- How do you manage group projects in college? [21:51]- Do you recommend listening to music while doing deep work? [24:16]- Wh...

Because I'm away on vacation these week, I'm replaying a classic show from the Deep Questions archives. This is Episode 125, which originally ran back in August. ---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? [1:45]DEEP WORK QUESTIONS - What should...

Because I'm away on vacation these week, I'm replaying a classic show from the Deep Questions archives. This is Episode 109, which originally ran back in June. ---Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). For instructions on submitting your own questions, go to calnewport.com/podcast. BOOK REPORT: The Square and the Tower [04:28]DEEP WORK QUESTIONS - What should I...

Below are the topics covered in today's listener calls episode (with timestamps). For instructions on submitting your own questions, go to calnewport.com/podcast. LISTENER CALLS:- Was Tesla the ultimate deep thinker? [4:01]- Writing for academic audiences (bonus: the story of my first book deal).  [7:03]- The difference between deep work and the deep life buckets (bonus: Jesse and I discuss the la...

In this episode, author Jenny Blake joins me for a conversation about her new book, FREE TIME: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business  (https://itsfreetime.com/book), which helps entrepreneurs engineer the stress out of their work. I ask her to use myself as a case study and apply her principles to helping me reduce stress in my working life. Though FREE TIME doesn’t come out until March, if you pr...

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 CHAT: Cal is excited about his new email setup. LISTENER CALLS:- Shutdown struggles. [13:58]- The difference between value-based planning and the deep life buckets. [17:47]- Drowning in meeting prep. [28:21]- Fiction book re...

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 your productivity system leaking? [6:01]DEEP WORK QUESTIONS:- How do I accomplish big projects in small amounts daily effort? [12:50]- How do I make more money as I become more efficient? [17:28]- What’s the best way to add struc...

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. LISTENER CALLS:- Doctors and depth. [6:42]- Career capital in the military. [10:39]- Coping with a hyperactive job. [14:45]- Making a teaching plan for the semester. [27:32]- Managing references. [33:53] Thanks to Jesse Miller for p...

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). For instructions on submitting your own questions, go to calnewport.com/podcast. OPENING CHAT: The 5 Books I Read in November (Bonus Rant: Why did Jurassic Park need an assessment from a chaos theoretician?) [2:06]DEEP WORK QUESTIONS:- Is it worth becoming good at skills that you only need short term? [21:51]- How do I see...

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 CHAT: YouTube vs. Social MediaLISTENER CALLS:- The magic of autopilot scheduling [16:35]- Tips for finding a non-hyperactive good boss [23:18]- Alternatives to email-based workflows [27:24]- Taming Trello [35:07]- Study tact...

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: Should you move to the country?  [3:55]DEEP WORK QUESTIONS:- Is it worth time blocking for long projects? [20:11]- What’s your (Cal’s) opinion on bosses stopping by the office to chat?  [22:16]- How can I remember all of your advice...

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. DEEP DIVE: When should tasks live on my calendar? [7:24]LISTENER CALLS:- Online presences for novelists  [14:13]- Not getting stuff done outside of work [26:10]- Managing team workload [32:19]- Finding more family time [39:37]- Leve...

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 do I tame email? [9:51]DEEP WORK QUESTIONS:- How to accomplish deep work in the context of meeting overload? [29:09]- What is difference between the productivity funnel and capture/configure/control? [36:06]- Do you (Cal) have a...

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. DEEP DIVE: Decoding the Productive Pause [2:43]LISTENER CALLS:- Finding a research interests.  [10:00]- Trading moments of your life for money. [13:23] - Scheduling more deep work. [23:14]- Handling the difficult switch from work to...

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 WORK QUESTIONS:- Are some people more suited for deep work than others?  [4:54]- How do I tame post-shutdown excitement?   [8:33]- How to I deal with ambiguous deep work?  [14:41]- Can you  (Cal) elaborate on the Friction/Flow/Finalizatio...

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. A conversation with Producer Jesse about my next book [1:48]LISTENER CALLS:- Twitter FOMO for a journalist. [16:40]- Tracking small amounts of time. [25:12]- My quarterly planning process. [30:07]- Tedious tasks with an entry level...

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: My October reading list [1:49]DEEP WORK QUESTIONS: - How do you avoid burn out from deep work? [11:55] - Are your (Cal's) systems for tracking deep work and for tracking GTD projects independent? [13:59] - Does studying “on the go”...

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. DEEP DIVE: Is Overload Necessary? (Epic rant alert) [3:53]LISTENER CALLS: - Beyond the most important task of the day. [27:00]  - "Pseudo-blocking" household admin. [31:53]  - A doctor struggling to find leisure time. [36:47] - Defa...

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: What would you say you do here? [3:05]DEEP WORK QUESTIONS: - What time management strategies do you suggest if I work a 9-5 and want to pursue master's or phd? [13:32] - How to overcome productivity pr0n?  - Lifehacker addict is hun...

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. DEEP DIVE: On Facebook, Misinformation, and the Death of Collaborative Curation [2:59]LISTENER CALLS: - My thoughts on speed reading. [21:29] - My system for writing New Yorker articles (routinizing demanding work). [24:43] - The im...

DEEP DIVE: Is the Era of Social Media Ending? [2:37]DEEP WORK QUESTIONS: - Did COVID-19 closures change my (Cal's) thoughts on my working situation? [18:01] - Should I stick with management consulting? [37:06] - How do I lead my organization away from email? [40:17] - How do I pick a specialization in a broad field? [44:55]DEEP LIFE QUESTIONS: - Do I (Cal) use my smartphone for directions and phot...

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. DEEP DIVE: Smartphones and moral panics. [3:43]LISTENER CALLS: - Scheduling when you've fallen behind. [12:29] - Squandering autonomy. [18:06] - Hacking habits and the shortcomings of raw discipline. [26:11] - Tenure and valuable sk...