Should we expect distractions at work? Or are we unwittingly cooperating in our own ineffectiveness?

In this conversation, Cal Newport, bestselling author of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, shares how deep work has become the superpower of the 21st century. Cal argues that today’s workplace is a minefield of distractions. With email, open floor plans, and instant messaging systems, we’re continually pulled away from meaningful, productive work. And the very tools our workplaces rely on to promote productivity are actually contributing to increased distraction and inefficiency.

Learning to take control of our own attention is not only the key to a meaningful life, but it is the key to economic viability in a distracted age.

Cal is Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University, as well as the bestselling author of five books. His ideas and writing are frequently featured in major publications, and he is author of the popular blog, Study Hacks.

In this episode, we talk about:

What makes deep work so valuable

How deep work makes life more meaningful

What deep work looks like and how little distraction it takes to ruin it

Why boredom is actually the key to doing deep work

Why relationships hold the key to deep work

Why we should be teaching young people to engage in deep work

The value of being lazy when it comes to deep work

Why you need a philosophy for doing deep work

Cal also shares his deep curiosity to rethink cognitive workflows in a post-industrial age.

Episode Links

@CalNewport

Calnewport.com

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Georgetown University

MIT

Slack

Eric Barker

The Second Machine Age by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson

Madmen

Adam Grant

Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Sophie LeRoy and attention residue

Jack Dorsey

Square

Twitter

Industrial Revolution

Henry Ford

Scientific management

Assembly lines

Knowledge worker

Wilhelm Hofmann

Roy Baumeister

How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett

Downton Abbey

The Collaboration Curse in The Economist

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