Down With Pseudo-Productivity: Why We Need to Transform the Way We Work
The Art of Manliness6 Mar 2024

Down With Pseudo-Productivity: Why We Need to Transform the Way We Work

The last several years have seen the rise of a sort of anti-productivity movement. Knowledge workers who feel burned out and that work is pointless, meaningless, and grinding, have been talking more about opting out, “quiet quitting,” and doing nothing.

My guest would argue that, in fact, productivity itself isn’t the problem and that most people actually want to do good work. Instead, he says, it’s our whole approach to productivity that’s broken and needs to be transformed.

Cal Newport is a professor of computer science and the author of books like Deep Work and Digital Minimalism. His latest book is Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout. Today on the show, Cal explains what’s led to the rise of what he calls “pseudo-productivity” and the fallout when we apply the structures of the industrial revolution to modern work. He then unpacks the tenets and tactics of the “slow productivity” approach to work, and how to implement them whether you work for yourself or for a boss. We discuss why you need to do fewer things in the short-term to do more things in the long term, the artificiality of working at the same intensity every day and how to inject more seasonality in your work, the role quiet quitting can play in achieving greater balance, and many other ideas on how to make modern work more sustainable, humane, and fruitful.

Resources Related to the PodcastConnect With CalNewport

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episoder(1158)

#360: Why Men Have a Hard Time Making Friends in Adulthood

#360: Why Men Have a Hard Time Making Friends in Adulthood

It’s a common trope that adult men don’t value friendship as much as their female counterparts, and that men really don’t need and want friends like women do. But my guest today argues that assumption...

30 Nov 201747min

#359: Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best of the Best

#359: Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best of the Best

Do you sometimes wish you had a cabinet of counselors you could go to for advice and insight on how to make life better and easier for yourself? Well, my guest today created his own board of mighty me...

28 Nov 201742min

#358: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit

#358: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit

Have you ever just wanted to get in your car, drive off into the middle of nowhere, leave behind the hustle and bustle of civilization, and just be by yourself? Well, in 1986 a man named Christopher K...

22 Nov 201746min

#357: How to Be a Creative Genius Like da Vinci

#357: How to Be a Creative Genius Like da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci has become the ultimate archetype of the creative genius. Besides his famous paintings, including the Mona Lisa, da Vinci had insights into anatomy and optics that would take science...

17 Nov 201736min

#356: How to Finally Beat Procrastination

#356: How to Finally Beat Procrastination

Procrastination. We’ve all done it and we tell ourselves we’ll never do it again. So we come up with an elaborate time management system to get us on track only to find ourselves continuing to put thi...

14 Nov 201754min

#355: Leadership and Public Service With Gov. Eric Greitens

#355: Leadership and Public Service With Gov. Eric Greitens

#355: Leadership and Public Service With Gov. Eric Greitens by The Art of ManlinessSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sel...

9 Nov 201743min

#354: Brains & Brawn — Tips and Inspiration on Being a Well-Rounded Man

#354: Brains & Brawn — Tips and Inspiration on Being a Well-Rounded Man

Physical training has a lot of carry over to other domains of your life. It can help you become a better husband and father, a more productive worker, and a more disciplined student. My guest today is...

8 Nov 20171h 2min

#353: Nostalgia — Its Benefits and Downsides

#353: Nostalgia — Its Benefits and Downsides

Picture this: You’re sitting in your car at a stoplight mindlessly staring off into the distance when a memory from your childhood pops into your mind. Initially, thinking about the memory makes you f...

2 Nov 201753min

Populært innen Fakta

mikkels-paskenotter
fastlegen
dine-penger-pengeradet
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
foreldreradet
treningspodden
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
rss-bisarr-historie
jakt-og-fiskepodden
hverdagspsyken
sinnsyn
tomprat-med-gunnar-tjomlid
fryktlos
level-up-med-anniken-binz
gravid-uke-for-uke
rss-kunsten-a-leve
rss-kull
takk-og-lov-med-anine-kierulf
hagespiren-podcast
uroskolen