Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com.

Episode 1698:

Cal Newport challenges the conventional wisdom that quick email replies signify productivity, revealing how excessive time spent on email can reduce overall effectiveness. He introduces the "E-mail Productivity Curve" to show that after a certain point, more responsiveness leads to diminishing, and even negative, returns in meaningful work output.

Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2015/06/18/the-e-mail-productivity-curve/

Quotes to ponder:

"Imagine a graph where the x-axis is time spent in your inbox per day, and the y-axis is your productivity. I call this the E-mail Productivity Curve."

"Once you pass a certain threshold, increased time in your inbox makes you less effective, not more."

"The easiest way to push past the productivity sweet spot is to try to be hyper responsive to e-mails."

Episode references:

Deep Work: https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices