Episode
#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
3:09:24
Published: Fri Mar 05 2021
Description
Cal Newport is a computer scientist who also writes about productivity. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free - Linode: https://linode.com/lex to get $100 free credit - Sun Basket: https://sunbasket.com/lex and use code LEX to get $35 off - SimpliSafe: https://simplisafe.com/lex and use code LEX to get a free security camera EPISODE LINKS: A World Without Email (book): https://amzn.to/3blXyjv Deep Work (book): https://amzn.to/3c0npMM Digital Minimalism (book): https://amzn.to/3kJPMmx Cal's Website: https://www.calnewport.com/ Deep Questions (podcast): https://www.calnewport.com/podcast/ PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: - Check out the sponsors above, it's the best way to support this podcast - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LexFridmanPage - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman OUTLINE: Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) - Introduction (08:24) - Deep work (13:10) - Focus (18:52) - Time blocking (25:47) - Deadlines (35:22) - Do less, do better, know why (38:04) - Clubhouse (52:07) - Burnout (58:34) - Boredom (1:06:19) - Quit social media for 30 days (1:16:13) - Social media (1:41:21) - How email destroyed our productivity at work (1:51:07) - How we fix email (1:58:09) - Over-optimization (2:02:23) - When to use email and when not to (2:10:06) - Podcasting (2:14:42) - Alan Turing proving the impossible (2:18:41) - Fragility of math in the face of randomness (2:27:30) - Neural networks (2:36:16) - What will the P=NP proof look like? (2:39:55) - Is math discovered or invented? (2:44:02) - Book publishing (2:54:09) - Love (2:57:30) - Death (3:00:26) - Meaning of life
Chapters
Cal Newport, author of Digital Minimalism, shares his thoughts on social media, productivity, and the future of the internet.
00:00 - 05:25 (05:25)
Summary
Cal Newport, author of Digital Minimalism, shares his thoughts on social media, productivity, and the future of the internet.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The speaker feels like a fraud when around mathematicians or physicists as it seems that they are cheating their way into solutions, while programming does not always require deep thinking to work deeply.
05:25 - 11:23 (05:57)
Summary
The speaker feels like a fraud when around mathematicians or physicists as it seems that they are cheating their way into solutions, while programming does not always require deep thinking to work deeply.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The act of context switching can take a toll on your brain and decrease productivity in areas like programming or writing.
11:23 - 17:43 (06:19)
Summary
The act of context switching can take a toll on your brain and decrease productivity in areas like programming or writing. Even small interruptions such as checking emails can initiate a context shift in your brain.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
This episode discusses the importance of balancing deep work sessions and meetings, and how to plan out your week to make the most of your time.
17:43 - 24:24 (06:41)
Summary
This episode discusses the importance of balancing deep work sessions and meetings, and how to plan out your week to make the most of your time.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
In this podcast episode, the speaker discusses the challenges of writing and understanding academic papers and how it can feel like an insurmountable feat.
24:24 - 29:25 (05:00)
Summary
In this podcast episode, the speaker discusses the challenges of writing and understanding academic papers and how it can feel like an insurmountable feat. David Goggins is also mentioned as a source of motivation and how being in a distracting environment like a Vegas hotel can hinder productivity.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The importance of setting an end to the day to ensure work-life balance and to avoid burnout when pursuing passion projects is discussed in this podcast episode.
29:25 - 36:16 (06:50)
Summary
The importance of setting an end to the day to ensure work-life balance and to avoid burnout when pursuing passion projects is discussed in this podcast episode. Married people with families and those with sources of stress were also proven to be more productive.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The speaker talks about the importance of having passion and love for something in order to make a career out of it, but also notes that blindly following your passion can be bad advice.
36:16 - 40:44 (04:28)
Summary
The speaker talks about the importance of having passion and love for something in order to make a career out of it, but also notes that blindly following your passion can be bad advice. They discuss the unique nature of the app Clubhouse as a social network.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
This social network correctly uses "follow" and pulls in successful and busy people for intimate and difficult conversations about race.
40:44 - 44:37 (03:52)
Summary
This social network correctly uses "follow" and pulls in successful and busy people for intimate and difficult conversations about race. It brings in different voices for a fascinating experience.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The Clubhouse app allows for virtual events with notable figures like Sam Harris and Joe Rogan, drawing in thousands of viewers without the constraints of traditional meetings and events.
44:37 - 51:53 (07:16)
Summary
The Clubhouse app allows for virtual events with notable figures like Sam Harris and Joe Rogan, drawing in thousands of viewers without the constraints of traditional meetings and events.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
In this episode, the speaker discusses the fundamental problem with experiencing depression and burnout and suggests finding sources of joy in one's surroundings as a way of coping.
51:53 - 58:32 (06:39)
Summary
In this episode, the speaker discusses the fundamental problem with experiencing depression and burnout and suggests finding sources of joy in one's surroundings as a way of coping.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The concept of Embrace Boredom in deep work by Cal Newport claims to build toleration towards boredom, where the Pavlovian connection between feeling boredom and getting stimuli will no longer occur, hence, allowing for more productive work.
58:32 - 1:06:13 (07:40)
Summary
The concept of Embrace Boredom in deep work by Cal Newport claims to build toleration towards boredom, where the Pavlovian connection between feeling boredom and getting stimuli will no longer occur, hence, allowing for more productive work. Newport also discusses using our ancestral environment as a foundation to learn how to listen to your body when working.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The speaker suggests taking a break from social media and other digital entertainment for 30 days to gain a better sense of oneself and to have more time for meaningful connections and intellectual pursuits.
1:06:13 - 1:12:34 (06:21)
Summary
The speaker suggests taking a break from social media and other digital entertainment for 30 days to gain a better sense of oneself and to have more time for meaningful connections and intellectual pursuits.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The host explores how love and connection, as well as social media platforms like Twitter, have changed the way people perceive debate and discussion.
1:12:34 - 1:18:34 (05:59)
Summary
The host explores how love and connection, as well as social media platforms like Twitter, have changed the way people perceive debate and discussion. He shares how the desire for informal connections with his audience has impacted his own use of social media.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The future of social media may fragment into "long tail" platforms tailored to more specific interests, where users can connect with smaller communities and share information beyond the traditional feeds.
1:18:34 - 1:24:38 (06:04)
Summary
The future of social media may fragment into "long tail" platforms tailored to more specific interests, where users can connect with smaller communities and share information beyond the traditional feeds. This could lead to a more diverse and engaging online experience beyond the current social media landscape.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
In the early days of Web 2.0, distributed curation happened through links and people would gain credibility in a distributed fashion.
1:24:38 - 1:31:11 (06:32)
Summary
In the early days of Web 2.0, distributed curation happened through links and people would gain credibility in a distributed fashion. This kind of filtering helped to elevate trustworthy sources over time rather than homogenizing all sources and allowing for random conspiracy theories to spread, as seen on Twitter.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The Substack newsletter model appeals to those who are uncomfortable with postmodern critical theories in politics and prefer subscribing to a few selected writers/ journalists.
1:31:11 - 1:37:27 (06:16)
Summary
The Substack newsletter model appeals to those who are uncomfortable with postmodern critical theories in politics and prefer subscribing to a few selected writers/ journalists.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The hyperactive hive mind workflow, born out of the introduction of internal email in the mid to late 80s, has overtaken fundamental communication in both personal and business life, leading to an overwhelming onslaught of collaboration.
1:37:27 - 1:46:10 (08:42)
Summary
The hyperactive hive mind workflow, born out of the introduction of internal email in the mid to late 80s, has overtaken fundamental communication in both personal and business life, leading to an overwhelming onslaught of collaboration.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The rise of fast asynchronous communication has made offices less productive and pulled down non-industrial productivity.
1:46:10 - 1:49:58 (03:48)
Summary
The rise of fast asynchronous communication has made offices less productive and pulled down non-industrial productivity. Though important, fast communication can lead to an exponential rise in communication amounts.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The inefficiencies of email in the workplace can suppress productivity and cost millions of dollars.
1:49:58 - 1:58:16 (08:17)
Summary
The inefficiencies of email in the workplace can suppress productivity and cost millions of dollars. By finding ways to streamline communication, particularly with scheduling and basic requests, the latent productivity can be unlocked.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The idea that productivity systems combined with software can offload most of the difficulty of work turned out to be a fallacy according to the speaker.
1:58:16 - 2:04:42 (06:25)
Summary
The idea that productivity systems combined with software can offload most of the difficulty of work turned out to be a fallacy according to the speaker. Work is hard and making decisions about what to work on is hard, requiring a psychological process that no system can do for us.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The utilization of a process helps to eliminate the constant shift in focus from one task to another, leading to timely completion of important work.
2:04:42 - 2:09:58 (05:16)
Summary
The utilization of a process helps to eliminate the constant shift in focus from one task to another, leading to timely completion of important work. Moreover, the process ensures that important tasks are completed, even if they are not considered pressing or crucial, such as maintaining social connections.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The difficulty of discussing complex and theoretical computer science concepts with a wider audience is an ongoing challenge, which can also be seen in other areas like chess game analysis.
2:09:58 - 2:14:01 (04:02)
Summary
The difficulty of discussing complex and theoretical computer science concepts with a wider audience is an ongoing challenge, which can also be seen in other areas like chess game analysis.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The guests discuss an approach in understanding algorithms and problem-solving by representing problems as an infinite binary string where each position can indicate whether a certain string is in the language or not.
2:14:01 - 2:18:20 (04:19)
Summary
The guests discuss an approach in understanding algorithms and problem-solving by representing problems as an infinite binary string where each position can indicate whether a certain string is in the language or not.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The tension between provable bounds and more fragile ones in networks is discussed where strong lower bounds are important in cases where the network can change frequently, and a bad actor is at play.
2:18:20 - 2:24:02 (05:41)
Summary
The tension between provable bounds and more fragile ones in networks is discussed where strong lower bounds are important in cases where the network can change frequently, and a bad actor is at play.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The tension between inscrutable and engineerable technology exists in both machine learning and public health, particularly in the age of Twitter.
2:24:02 - 2:36:11 (12:08)
Summary
The tension between inscrutable and engineerable technology exists in both machine learning and public health, particularly in the age of Twitter. This poses a challenge for public health officials to balance caution with effective messaging, while machine learning is still resistant to application papers despite its impact in the real world.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The intersection of computer science and biology has given rise to the idea that algorithms can be very explanatory in fields like ant colony behavior.
2:36:11 - 2:43:47 (07:36)
Summary
The intersection of computer science and biology has given rise to the idea that algorithms can be very explanatory in fields like ant colony behavior. There is still uncertainty around where a smooth analysis fits into this and its relationship with the noise in the system, but this can be elucidated by deeper mathematics that are currently being obfuscated.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The speaker shares his experience of selling his first book at the age of 21 through a family friend who was an agent and becoming fed up with Simon and Schuster, he started his own imprint.
2:43:47 - 2:49:44 (05:57)
Summary
The speaker shares his experience of selling his first book at the age of 21 through a family friend who was an agent and becoming fed up with Simon and Schuster, he started his own imprint.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The author discusses the importance of having creative collaborators throughout the process of book production, from editors to graphic book binders and printers.
2:49:44 - 2:53:43 (03:58)
Summary
The author discusses the importance of having creative collaborators throughout the process of book production, from editors to graphic book binders and printers. She shares her experiences of working with supportive agents and editors who see her vision for the project.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The speaker shares his concerns about social media reducing strong relationships that require time, attention and sacrifices.
2:53:44 - 2:57:30 (03:46)
Summary
The speaker shares his concerns about social media reducing strong relationships that require time, attention and sacrifices. He also advises young people to prepare for unforeseeable challenges in life.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
The idea of living a perfect life with principles and focusing on relationships forgets the reality that life doesn't make sense.
2:57:30 - 3:01:42 (04:11)
Summary
The idea of living a perfect life with principles and focusing on relationships forgets the reality that life doesn't make sense. A better approach to live is to do the best you can, be proud of your actions, and live according to a code or structure, which is what religion used to provide.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
Theologians like Paul Tillich and Heschel think very sophisticatedly about religion, while Karen Armstrong's analysis resembles that of an OS for getting in alignment with cultural evolution.
3:01:44 - 3:08:11 (06:27)
Summary
Theologians like Paul Tillich and Heschel think very sophisticatedly about religion, while Karen Armstrong's analysis resembles that of an OS for getting in alignment with cultural evolution. This makes Sam Harris's critique of religion irrelevant to her perspective.
Episode#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media
PodcastLex Fridman Podcast
In this episode, the guest Cal Newport shares his thoughts on productivity, deep work, and attention management.
3:08:11 - 3:09:31 (01:19)
Summary
In this episode, the guest Cal Newport shares his thoughts on productivity, deep work, and attention management. The conversation ends with a quote by Cal about clarity and the podcast's sponsor ads.