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

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)

#536: How to Achieve a "Rich Life" With Your Finances

#536: How to Achieve a "Rich Life" With Your Finances

If you've read a lot of personal finance advice, you know that it usually concentrates on what you can't do -- what you shouldn't buy and how you shouldn't spend your money. What it doesn't often offe...

21 Aug 201951min

#535: The Problem of Self-Help in a Liquid Age

#535: The Problem of Self-Help in a Liquid Age

Self-help gurus, life coaches, and business consultants love to tell us that we must strive for constant self-improvement to realize our full potential and become truly happy. But it doesn't seem to w...

19 Aug 201956min

#534: How Navigation Makes Us Human

#534: How Navigation Makes Us Human

If you're like most people these days, you probably rely on the turn-by-turn directions given by a smartphone app to navigate to where you want to go. While Google Maps has certainly made getting arou...

14 Aug 201949min

#533: How to Be a Time Warrior

#533: How to Be a Time Warrior

If you struggle with procrastination, goal-setting, and generally moving ahead in life, the heart of your struggles may be your view of time. More specifically, that you look at it too linearly. That'...

12 Aug 201953min

#532: How to Create a Neighborhood Where Kids Play Outside

#532: How to Create a Neighborhood Where Kids Play Outside

Listen as you drive through most neighborhoods in America these days and you might notice something missing: the shrieks and laughter of kids playing outside. When my guest today had kids, he decided ...

7 Aug 201948min

#531: How to Best Harness Your Willpower

#531: How to Best Harness Your Willpower

Many of our goals in life -- from losing weight to saving more money -- require willpower. But what is willpower anyway, why does it feel like it fails us so often, and what can we do to make better u...

5 Aug 201948min

#530: How to Get More "Aha" Insights

#530: How to Get More "Aha" Insights

You've probably experienced a few aha moments in your life. Moments where an idea for a new business or piece of art, or a solution to a sticky technical, relational, or philosophical problem, suddenl...

31 Jul 201951min

#529: The Money Scripts That Are Holding Back Your Financial Future

#529: The Money Scripts That Are Holding Back Your Financial Future

If you struggle with getting your financial house in order, you may feel that what you need is more information on how things like stocks or IRAs or budgets work. However, my guest today would say tha...

29 Jul 201947min

Populært innen Fakta

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