Ep. 254: The Laws of Less
Some of the most interesting and impactful people in the world build their work around a commitment to doing only a few things very well. No one remembers that it took Newton decades to finish The
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
Cal Newport is a computer science professor and a New York Times bestselling author who writes about the impact of technology on society, and the struggle to work and live deeply in a world increasingly mired in digital distractions. On this podcast, he answers questions from his readers and offers advice about cultivating focus, productivity, and meaning amidst the noise that pervades our lives.
Ep. 268: Stoicism and the Deep Life
Stoicism seems to be all the rage at the moment. In what ways is it relevant to our question to live deeply in a distracted world? And in what ways is it not? Cal takes a closer look at Meditations
Ep. 261: Control Your Time
In celebration of the newly released *second* edition of the Time Block Planner, Cal provides some additional expert tips for getting the most out of a time blocking discipline before answering
Ep. 259: The Four-Hour Work Day
Do you ever feel completely overwhelmed by everything you have to do? The writer Oliver Burkeman recently experimented with an unexpected response to this common sensation: he decided to work much
Ep. 260: Make Haste Slowly
One of the most popular (and widely forgotten) slogans of the ancient world was Festina Lente, or, “Make Haste Slowly.” In this episode, Cal looks deeper at what this phrase meant, and in doing
Ep. 258: Godel’s Deep Life Stack
Do history’s greatest thinkers care about time management? In today’s episode, Cal analyzes the system that the mathematician and philosopher, Kurt Godel, used to structure his days, weeks, and
Ep. 267: Why Are You Tired?
Knowledge workers increasingly describe themselves as exhausted and burnt out. Why is this happening? In this episode, Cal argues that some of the obvious answers aren’t enough to explain the
Ep. 266: Take Control of Your Technology Habits
Do we need to move to a ranch in the middle of nowhere to take control of our technology habits? Cal argues that these types of extreme examples are counter-productive, making it seem like real
Ep. 263: Overhaul Your Life
Too many people believe that the New Year is the right time to undertake major improvements to your life. In this episode, Cal argues that it is instead right now, at the beginning of fall, that is
Ep. 262: Creativity Hacking
When it comes to generating fantastic ideas – the type that can make your career – you don’t have to passively wait for inspiration to strike. You can, instead, *hack* the creative process to
Ep. 264: IN-DEPTH: How to Master Change (with Brad Stulberg)
Change is unavoidable. You can either fear it or learn to master it. In this interview episode, Cal talks with longtime friend of the show, Brad Stulberg, about his new book, “Master of Change.”
Ep. 265: Big Ideas for Deeper Living
In this episode, Cal 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
Ep. 269: Don’t Get Started
After an episode in which Cal reviewed ancient wisdom on cultivating a deeper life, he turns his attention back to more recent advice. Focusing on three of the more unconventional but unambiguously
Ep. 272: The Essential Tools (w/ David Epstein)
In this episode, Cal reviews what he believes to be the four essential tools for feeling on top of everything you need to do. If you’re missing one of these, you might struggle. If you use all
Ep. 280: Proven Rules for Deep Living (w/ Arthur Brooks)
The mega-bestselling writer Arthur Brooks is one of the rare individuals to have both lived a carefully cultivated deep life and written a book on the topic (co-authored with Oprah!). In today’s
Ep. 276: Lazy or Disorganized?
One of the most common types of messages sent in from listeners of this podcast are self-recriminations about laziness. But what does “laziness” actually mean? In this episode, Cal takes a deeper
Ep. 278: How to Think
One of the most important skills for cultivating a satisfying and high impact life is one we rarely discuss: the art of serious thinking. In this episode, Cal makes the case for serious thinking as
Ep. 275: Accomplishing Hard Goals
How you accomplish important goals: The type that can transform your life in remarkable ways? In this episode, Cal breaks down the common mistakes we make in pursuing hard goals and then details the
Ep. 273: A Deep Response to Distraction
A viral video making the rounds recently argues that the key to promoting learning is to deliver education in apps that are equally addictive as social media. Cal takes a closer look at the brain
Ep. 277: From Chaos to Calm (in 1 day)
We talk a lot on this show about remaining organized in a digital workplace that drowns us with incoming obligations. In this episode, Cal focuses on the key question of how you get *started* toward