The lost art of accomplishment without burnout | Cal Newport for Big Think +
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### š¢ Slow Down to Speed Up: Cal Newportās Cure for Burnout š® **Tired of pretending to be busy all day?** Your boss can now see your Slack pings, your emails, your every move. Work doesnāt end at 6pmāit follows you home, shows up on weekends, and eats into your peace of mind. Weāre burning out, and **it's time to rethink productivity.** --- ## š” Enter: *Slow Productivity* šØāš» **Cal Newport**, computer scientist and author of *Slow Productivity*, says the way we work is brokenāand itās stressing us out. Back in the day, **productivity was simple math**: > āHow many cars did we make per hour?ā But in todayās **knowledge economy**, thereās no assembly line. Everyoneās doing different stuff, in different ways. So we created **āpseudo-productivityā**: š If you're doing *visible* stuff (emails, meetings, typing like a maniac), you *look* productiveāeven if you're not doing anything meaningful. š§ Result? Weāre stuck performing busyness instead of doing valuable work. --- ## š§ The Fix: 3 Pillars of Slow Productivity ### 1ļøā£ **Do Fewer Things (at once!)** > Multitasking isnāt a flexāitās a **cognitive disaster**. š§ Your brain canāt switch tasks smoothly. Every shift leaves behind **āattention residue,ā** making your thinking slower and your mood worse. š„ Focusing deeply on one task leads to: - Higher quality work - Faster results - Less stress ### 2ļøā£ **Work at a Natural Pace** > Humans were never meant to work at full throttle 52 weeks a year. ā Like farmers follow seasonsāplant, harvest, restāwe need **ebb and flow** in our schedules. Have busy weeks. Have quiet ones. Donāt guilt-trip yourself. š§ Less burnout = more creativity + better ideas. ### 3ļøā£ **Obsess Over Quality** > Forget looking busy. Focus on what *really matters* in your job. š§© Ask: Whatās the **one thing** I do that adds the most value? šÆ Then go all in. Get better tools. Block distractions. Practice your craft. š Cal even bought a fancy lab notebook when he was broke, just to take his work more seriouslyāand it worked. --- ## š ļø Why This Works When you slow down and focus on quality: ā You finish important tasks *faster* ā Your work gets *better* ā You feel *happier* doing it Meetings, emails, and busywork stop looking like āworkā and start looking like what they are: distractions. --- ### š Bottom Line: **Slow is not lazy. Itās smart.** Want to do great work *without* losing your mind? Go slow. Go deep. Get better. --- ### š Keywords: Slow productivity, Cal Newport, burnout recovery, knowledge work, productivity redefined, deep work, work-life balance, pseudo-productivity, attention residue, multitasking problems, natural work rhythm, seasonal productivity, workplace wellness, meaningful work, focus, cognitive performance, better work habits, performance without pressure, remote work culture, email overload, Slack fatigue, outcome-based productivity, MIT, high quality output, sustainable work, value-driven productivity --- Timestamps: 0:00 - Burnout 0:50 - Slow productivity 1:35 - Pseudo-productivity 2:25 - Principle 1 3:32 - Principle 2 4:23 - Principle 3 About Cal Newport: Cal Newport is an MIT-trained computer science professor at Georgetown University who also writes about the intersections of technology, work, and the quest to find depth in an increasingly distracted world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices