@@SurpriseMeJT Honestly, I don’t think they can. There’s an imbalance of power by design. Capital controls the rules of game via rulings such as “Citizens United”. Labor has to do their bidding since it can’t compete with the money spent buying legislators. Anti-union rhetoric has crippled us. A fundamental flaw in our economy that may ultimately be its downfall. My 2-cents.
This is exactly what I've been doing since I was a kid, and I was treated like a slow minded idiot for doing it despite me having the most consistient and high quality results versus my peers. Thank you for proving that my childhood self had it right the whole time.
@@bigsaltyballerI've developed some methods to do well around my Coworkers and People in general, if you're really interested then discuss some points
Shool before, and now College made me realize how institutions teach us maximizing productivity to the point people start having anxiety to perform well, stress over all the work and grades. It's been normalized for so long, and I'm glad we're realizing more and more how tiring this is.
The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves. - Alan Watts
@@jiggersotoole7823 nice. But be careful that this does not mean losing your appetite for a good lunch. It all means, avoid the "stickiness" of it all and you'll be free.
This works great as long as I can be sure that nobody will force me out of my shelter or refuse to give me food and water or cancel my utilities. Alan Watts gave tons of public speaking talks and wrote books from which he earned the money that gave him the freedom to be sure that noone would force him out of his home and he would have utilities, food and water for the rest of his life.
@@markusheimerlyeah I feel like sometimes, or very often, upper class people forget that others have to work their ass off to just afford somewhere to live and have something to eat everyday… I mean I wish that the housing and food prices would get affordable so I could think deeply and walk the meadows all day, but I feel like that’s not going to happen. The best we can hope for is that employers sees this video and think that it seems like a great idea to implement at their companies. I think that’s what this video is for mostly.
I wish management understood this. I’m considered a “slow” developer…but when my work gets done it almost never needs revisited. My bug count is in the single digits vs in the hundreds that my “faster” coworkers have, and unlike my “faster” coworkers none of my projects ever had to be rewritten due to being built on delicate code (rewriting software is an enormous cost by the way). The technical debt of my projects is so minimal I have applications I’ve written over a decade ago that still run just fine and never had to be part of the yearly maintenance parade. As this video states, often times slower is better.
The problem is everyone wants quick results for profits. Companies don’t want a slow rollout with fewer bugs, they want the product/solution yesterday so they can check the box and make their investors happy. Management doesn’t care about quality - they care about quantity
its not managments fault.. ITS YOUR FAULT. you fear what you think management is thinking. if you just think for yourself you will gravitate to where you supposed to be.
Praise to God Almighty!!!! I'm favoured $150k every 4weeks! I can now give back to the locals in my community and also support God's work and the church. God bless America 🇺🇲💗💓💗💞 Thanks to Maksim konstan
except that's the problem. He's really just talking about productivity. But he's framing it as mental health. Computer scientists are not psychologists. He has good advice about being more productive. But that's for your boss's benefit, not yours. The advice is very bad advice for dealing with burnout. Listen to psychologists on matters of mental health, not computer scientists.
This is brilliant! We need more understanding in productivity of knowledge work. Now the management is pushing with metrics that are just counter effective
Or the way that many children already do things... before they're conditioned out of them... only to be told by "scientific breakthroughs" that their natural way was right and most productive all along xD Are you fucking kidding me
That's because our society always needs a leader or an expert to tell them something that is either obvious or just makes sense. Some of us aren't taught certain things and that can cause problems too, but in my experience the vast majority of people lean towards conventional wisdom and tribal thinking. It causes those who do things differently to be seen as outsiders and untrustworthy in some way. I've dealt with this my whole life to the point where I just don't share a lot of what I know anymore.
@@sp123 technology not even close. Finally getting the flying cars and I just read about a super powerful magnetic fusion reactor that wont be ready until 2030
A tip from me: *”Learn strategic negligence”* If I have 60 hours work a week, I will prioritise, and neglect the stuff at the bottom. So ok I couldn’t do everything- but all the important stuff is done well. Learn and know what you can get away with doing a ‘quick and dirty’ version, but keep your best quality for the high value / high profile tasks, that everyone will see.
I love the ideas behind “Deep Work / Slow Productivity,” but I have some concerns about its practicality and accessibility for most people. Here are a few thoughts: 1. Only for the privileged: slow productivity seems like a luxury that only the wealthy or upper-middle class can enjoy. People with stable jobs or their own businesses might have the flexibility to adopt this lifestyle, but for the average worker, it’s often out of reach. 2. Not for middle-class workers: Middle-class employees, like those in enterprises, nurses, or supermarket cashiers, can’t really apply Slow Productivity. Their jobs demand constant, high-paced work with little room to slow down. 3. Academic privilege: It’s easier to come up with these concepts when you’re a MIT professor and have income from books and speaking gigs. Most people don’t have that kind of financial security or freedom in their jobs. 4. Systemic pressure: The pressure to be highly productive usually comes from business owners and upper management, not individual workers. Suggesting that people should feel responsible for being too busy or not achieving slow productivity can make them feel guilty and even more stressed, overlooking the bigger systemic issues.
I think the ideas behind "Deep work / slow productivity" is more targetted into people that works in the creative industry and less on the labor industry
Exactly. Until the corporate machine realizes their profits would skyrocket following this they won’t be swayed. They’re too blind and foolish to see beyond their greed.
I was hoping there would be perhaps something more on the "what you'll find going slow productive" [meaning my Planner/Wunderlist/Todoist list doesn't go down quite as 'quickly' initially] and handling management's view on that
@Lockewoodmedia it's not greed, it's their ego. If it were greed, they'd be able to see that improving the quality of life for employees would yield higher profits
Correct, he's selling the idea of the individual should self-regulate in a culture and context that still requires and asks them to do the opposite. Top-level regulation would be more beneficial and conducive to regressing burnout, family issues, and mental health issues which the author purports to care about and be tackling.
I spent many years as a college professor. Every year the university hired more administrators who pushed busywork on the faculty. Some faculty members, especially those who went into administration themselves, also bought into this idea. Serving on pointless committees and filling out forms that nobody read became the main purpose of my job. As a result tuition skyrocketed and I was actually scolded for spending time meeting with students.
Be it healthcare or higher education. Most of the money the client pays goes to "administrative costs". I worked in a consultancy project trying to reduce the cost of American healthcare. The medical people don't get paid jack shit compared to the "administrative costs".
This is exactly why I left a tenured academic career. I even went INTO administration to try and make things better for the faculty and students and all it did was suck the living life out of my soul. I work in private industry now. My overall stress is lower and my pay MUCH higher but I miss the students and the act of discovery and sharing knowledge. Maybe I’ll figure it out before I die. Until then I’d like to figure out how to get out of some of the pointless administriva and spend more time doing important work.
Praise to God Almighty!!!! I'm favoured $150k every 4weeks! I can now give back to the locals in my community and also support God's work and the church. God bless America 🇺🇲💗💓💗💞 Thanks to Maksim konstan
@@juliacolson5040 I did my job and got paid for it. It was fair. Anything more than that if I don’t want, it’s my decision, not because of others’ expectation or others’ norm. Live your own life, not other ppl’s life.
The concept of slow productivity aligns perfectly with what many of us feel - that constant busyness doesn't always lead to real accomplishments. Quality over quantity, always.
I have left and lost so many jobs, and what I tried to make a career once, because I naturally followed the 3 principals outlined in this video. The one that NO employer will allow is working at a "natural pace" ! I have burned out and broken my body to work at the pace they deemed acceptable because some other idiot raised the bar by doing it faster. Or the guy that had been doing it longer was faster. If you're not as fast as them after learning the job in a couple weeks, you're done, or scolded until you rage quit because you can't stand being nagged by supervisors or customers. Nobody cares about quality. They just want it done NOW! Employers, from my experience, will always put their bottom line above your mental health!
@@michigandersea3485 That advice is why suddenly everyone is "overqualified" and the actual essential jobs are falling under while the "elite" jobs that don't actually help people are exploding. This turns a problem into another problem. The solution is to just solve the problem. Reasonable managers can go extremely fucking far in solving this dilemma.
@@ncedwards1234 it’s a constantly changing flux, unfortunately. Many just can’t afford to do this, but you have to keep reinventing yourself and keep trying to find a place. You can’t just get education and training and then sit on your hands and say “I tried” when it doesn’t pan out. You have to do your research using employment and salary data, projections of future employment in the area, and what people say about the actual job (and about getting the actual job) before you pick an area of study. Many certificates and training programs are quite cheap and educational content is available for free. People have to conform what they study to what there’s actual demand for.
As a retiree that help me a lot. It is difficult to pass from a ‘measured’ workload to a unmeasured workload. I wanted to be creative but I have a lot of old tools (think fabric, yarns, ink) accumulated over the year. Many of them is just ill adapted and uninspiring for me. I recently realize that all that is just keeping me down. I will go through all and donate. Just keeping what inspire me.
This advice is fantastic if you are self employed or applying it to other aspects of life like a hobby. Applying this in a modern day workplace is a sure fire way to get yourself on an “improvement plan” and very swiftly removed from their roster. Maybe it’ll motivate you maybe it’ll make you homeless. But this method cannot work in a practical setting until pseudo-productivity culture is turned on its head. Hopefully this guy can help accomplish that.
I am crippled by long covid. The silver lining is that my life is slower, calmer, and in many ways, much more peaceful. I use these techniques to great success. It’s nice to have the time, and patience for quality in my tasks.
I was an accountant, worked solo to keep mistakes at a minimum, i wouldn't open more than one book if I didn't have to. What i found is that if i got stuck , being able to take a break from it it would help me find the numbers to balance it. Its not always my fault, usually the data was in correct so i had to clarify. I would usually finish my work before lunch and dedicate the rest to help my coworkers to finish.
I am a network engineer and has been in the IT industry for a decade. One of the main time consumers is meetings. Especially ones which are just the management's idea of making something look very important. Something which can be resolved over a chat easily is blown out of proportion just because the manager wants to highlight himself infront of leadership. Second one is not delegating tasks as per a employee's capability. Delegating works magic if done properly
While I can appreciate the seemingly benevolent efforts but forth by individuals such as Cal Newport in his past 2 books and his promo tour for them on podcasts including Tim Ferriss-who himself has walked back his previous selling of productivity/efficiency with the changing of cultural tides-I think he and others gravely overlook a key issue in their attempt to capitalize off this pivot. That is that they're prescribing the same issue that begets the problem-placing the burden of self-regulation on the individual, while the individual's workplaces, employers, markets, macro-culture of work remain unchanged. It is akin to telling consumers to solve pollution by not buying plastic straws. It is easy to offer, and focuses on their locus of control. But it fails to address success rate under context. I don't assume this is intentional on Cal Newport's part, perhaps he's just insulated and/or aloof. It is, of course, easier for someone at his point of success, income, and career chapter to believe in and sell such ideas. And I recognize he cannot place regulatory legislation into law that would much more successfully alleviate these issues. However, this ultimately does come off as selling people the same neoliberal trick that helps dig this hole in the first place-the idea that the solution is self-regulation.
Great stuff. It's reassuring that we're _finally_ starting to move beyond 'Taylorism' management methods. Humans are not machines and we yield better outcomes when we aren't treated as such.
I FREAKING LOVE THIS! As a full-time short-form Content Creator, oftentimes you hear that you need to post x5 times a day which can work for certain niches. But what's worked the best for me, personally, is to take my time to make a video I'm really proud of and perhaps post once a week if not once every two weeks. I've noticed that those videos would do way better because their quality was better so thank you for emphasizing this!
This is great advice but only works if corporations/employers also take on this three principles. Otherwise you'll be seen as not being productive and not as profitable which, essentially, is only what companies care about.
The sole premise that by doing fewer things slower we can achieve more can be exhausting. We live in a world where all we want to do is achieve, we are goal oriented. There is incredible value in ripping yourself away from that. This can unfortunatley be a luxury to some where they do not have the luxury of looking past tomorrow. Achieving is the root of many psychological problems.
I have been implementing seasons into my workflow, and it seems to be working very well. Work hard during the spring when the flowers are blooming and in the fall when it’s time to get ready for hibernation. Work slow and enjoy the summer and the winter holiday season, reap the benefits of the hard work in the seasons prior, and spend time with family.
*Your explanations are clear and straight forward It's always a honor to have you here as a mentor, I appreciate you for the time being spent to educate us financially. Regardless of how bad it gets the economy, I still makeover $28K every single week. I truly value Laura, and her helpful guides*
The first step to successful investment is figuring your goals and risk tolerance either on your own or with the help of a financial professional but it's very advisable you make use of professional.
I know Laura, she has really set the standard for others to follow, we love her here in the UK as she has been really helpful and changed lots of lives.
I work in a hands on space. My partner works in a tech virtual space. I know the importance of teaching to let things dry, work in steps, brain storm. They are the same in other spaces. My partner needs to gather information, figure it out, talk to clients, and at times, take a break and just let a problem mature. In elementary school we did an exercise with an oppressive ruler and I " starvation protested" trying to convince my peers to join into something I didn't fully understand at the time. If a job needs to be done it should be done well and it should support the doer.
Good advice for many jobs, wouldn’t work as a nurse. We are constantly and consistently juggling many different tasks at once, and we do it for 12 to 16 hours straight, minus one 30 minute lunch break that we can sometimes take and sometimes not.
Absent from this discussion (and the book, for those interested) is any discussion of external pressures, commitments with overoptimistic schedules, deadlines, etc... All of which fly in the face of the three principles: for once, you're not always in a position to do "fewer things" than what has been committed by external forces ; second, the seasonality is somehow arbitrary ("this needs to be ready for the demo at X") ; and finally, given a tension between scope, quality and schedule, and two of those things being unegocciatable - quality will take the toll. I wish cal would address those, but it seems to be one of this blind spot - understandable for someone with relatively large control over his deadlines (author + tenured professor.)
Sadly, it has been my experience that just having the word "slow" in the title will cause most shareholders to reject the ideas outright without investigation. The term "delayed gratification", a central principle in this post, is unknown to them. They will not pause nor hesitate to leapfrog over ANY idea which might cause even a temporary loss of profits, which is a certainty here. Only the most forward thinking of companies would adopt such strategies, of which there are very few.
People who work for someone else and people who work for themselves ... are two completely different things. I work for myself. I work 7 days a week and have done so for 20 years ... I love it. I'm a 40 year old millionaire. I can't wait to get up and start kicking ass. This is how most self employeed people feel. If you work for someone else, it sucks. Most of your time at work is a total waste of your time. You have every incentive to work the least amount possible and usually little incentive to actually work hard. The point is... dont make someone else rich. Work for yourself and you'll enjoy work, make more money and feel much better about life in general
I do a lot of multi tasking. Sometimes it can be stressful but most of the time it isn’t,depending on the tasks. It keeps my productivity up, I achieve satisfaction, I get to enjoy tasks with different pace of completion & quality. Don’t do it to outperform someone else or competition. Just enjoy & be content with its completion. Trust me, the end work will be good.
I can't help but feel business leaders would take your point about natural rate and the ebbs and flows of work as being, "So you can be hitting the red line some of the time, and then smashing the rev limiter so hard you're getting valve float the rest." Genuinely feels like everyone in industry is exhausted. Getting more blood from stone is the phrase that comes to mind.
I had direct reports once, and I never interpreted "looking busy all the time" as a sign of being productivity, actually, it was a sign of problems. I am Ok with my team watching Netflix or planning trip as long as all daily jobs are complete, and they support our customers wholeheartedly. It is the results that matters, not being busy.
I've followed your writing career since your first book and honestly it changed my life. Totally agree with everything here too. The problem is getting management to buy in with this. I've tried to explain to my boss that constant context switching and trying to multitask makes things less productive but he's only worried about looking good to his boss and consistently pushes unrealistic deadlines that never get met by anyone on the team because people's brains don't work that way. But for a few weeks he can tell his boss that the work will be done a month or two early and gets pats on the back despite us all telling him it's not possible. I don't see this workplace culture changing anytime soon.
I love routines because I find them super relaxing. Also I never multitask , I like when things take the time they need and are the focus point of the day .
Don't do this. Stress isn't caused by number of tasks it's caused by needing to do too many tasks that you don't find meaningful or valuable. Too many "obligations". Don't rank your tasks by necessity. Rank them by how meaningful they are to you. You may even need to take on more work in order to be less stressed. The important thing is to spend most of your time doing things that are important to you. If you're spending all your time on "necessary" tasks an no time on "meaningful" tasks you will remain stressed no matter how much you cut back.
On a Operational System class at college, more than 20 years ago, while teacher explain multi process with just one processor I asked: "But this context change between two or more process will add time at the end and take longer than process being made one after the end of the previous". Professor replys: "You are right, but the user wants longer time to accomplish since he has the feeling of things being made same time "
Hallelujah 🙌🏻!!!!! The daily jesus devotional has been a huge part of my transformation, God is good 🙌🏻🙌🏻. I was owing a loan of $49,000 to the bank for my son's brain surgery, Now I'm no longer in debt after I invested $11,000 and got my payout of $290,500 every month…God bless Mrs Susan Jane Christy ❤️
This is insane. I opened the youtube app to look for “what to do against a burnout”. But thought nope, let me just scroll through my timeline, looking for something to distract me from it. First swip up: This video
Very clear and noticeably argued, although my understanding of what you're talking about is Talent. One cannot teach others how to be talented. Talented people do exactly what you are talking about, and do that with ease. This takes me, at least, to think about inspiration; therefore the question that arises, to me at least, is: "Is what you do for a living inspiring you?" And as for "You" I mean each and everyone of us. If that's not the case, something easier to learn and apply in one's daily life (which can help finding inspiration) is Meditation. Meditation, when honestly and deeply performed, will always pull talent out of people, infact most of the times you could find yourself having more that just 1 talent. Whatever is you do for a living, wrost scenario would be you leave your job for another that suits your talent(s) better. Love and prosperity.
Jerk off for years, already body is out of energy,when you work it drains your all energy Masterbation releases estrogen which promotes sleep And testosterone is energy which prevent sleep ,tiredness,burnout But it releases in small amount when we jerk off😢😢
I believe if people discipline themselves to get outside to move/relax/contemplate once a day (at least) for an *absolute minimum* of 30 minutes (real minimum being 1 hour), that will legit help to prevent burnout. Allowing ourselves to rest seems to be the real discipline these days in our fast-paced, modern times.
*Larry Burkett's book on "Giving and Tithing" drew me closer to God and helped my spirituality. 2020 was a year I literally lived it. I cashed in my life savings and gave it all away. My total giving amounted to 40,000 dollars. Everyone thought I was delusional. Today, 1 receive 85,000 dollars every two months. I have a property in Calabasas, CA, and travel a lot. God has promoted me more than once and opened doors for me to live beyond my dreams. God kept to his promises to and for me*
It is the digital market. That's been the secret to this wealth transfer. A lot of folks in the US and abroad are getting so much from it, God has been good to my household Thank you Jesus
Lots of people as they age start looking for fulfilment in their days and work. I see the younger generation already seeking that. To me that indicates changes in society in a positive way. I hope this will lead to a reduced focus on capital accumulation and material acquisitions to a culture of quality of life, fulfilment and real common wealth and wellbeing. It is a long path for sure.
This is how I handled working and university. I did school part time. Sure it took longer to get my degree, but I was working part time getting experience in my field. I was able to spend time with friends , eat healthy, workout, travel and enjoy time with family. Balance out the workload and even the mundane tasks of life becomes enjoyable. Manage the workload. Rest is important too. When I graduated I actually got a better pay and position than my classmates because I had the degree and work experience.
As long as I love the message… the culture shift in a company that’s used to busyness is really difficult. There’s so much work. It’s not even about the direct bosses. There’s just too much to do (most times, client-derived) and we’re not manned enough to deal with the load.
Funny how to me it just doesn't work to do less things, I have to learn multiple things daily (e.g, I dedicate time to my post-grad studies, language studies, drawing practice and 3D modeling. I also enjoy playing games whenever I can and watching some cozy shows). I do a bit of a lot of things everyday, which has been the solution to me for burnout instead of doing few things. I believe the cause for that is that it gives me less pressure to be perfect at something, it makes me have to think about different things through the day instead of worrying way too much about only one thing. I tried to listen to that advice of doing less and honestly, it made me get a burnout really fast. I do take breaks, but never for too long, otherwise I'll get lost on track. It's interesting how it's never a one-size-fits-all situation when it comes to productivity.
Jag testade USA som yngre och deras läskiga kapitalism skrämde mig tillbaks till Sverige. Ingen amerikansk arbetsgivare skulle implementera strategin i videon. semester var det bara rika personer som hade där. Vanligt folk där har aldrig råd med ledighet. Däremot börjar mätningen av ”produktivitet” så sakta leta sig till Sverige också tyvärr.
One of the biggest struggles I've had as an adult is that I'm interested in so many things. I find it hard to focus on just one activity only because there's so much to learn. In the end I end up achieving little in any of my interests because I jump from one to the next and just go aound in a big circle, cycling through my hobbies.
Every C suite in the world should watch this and espouse it. We work against our own biological rhythms by being output-centered and constant push to innovate and iterate. The macro of that is pushing us to our own untimely demise as a species. Nothing in nature is rushed or in a hurry, only human beings.
I agree. The problem is trying to explain this to management. Some bosses get it, but then there are those terrorists who think leadership is interrupting and hovering over a team that can get things done just fine without a supervisor.
02:08 Fewer Things at Once: 03:33 Natural Pace: 04:21 Obsess Over Quality: Fewer Things at Once: Focus on doing fewer things simultaneously. Attention residue from switching tasks reduces cognitive capacity. Completing commitments faster and with higher quality. Natural Pace: Embrace natural rhythms. Intense periods balanced with less busy times. Sustainable outcomes and better work quality. Obsess Over Quality: Identify high-value activities. Invest in better tools. Slow down, focus, and improve. by GPT Breeze
Big ups to this. Makes my life much nicer and way better productivity to focus on key quality. Basic efficiency. It’s a purpose centered systems approach rather than an exhausting busy work focus.
Bosses and managers should procure this kind of work but usually they are the first ones that promote multitasking, appearing busy and doing useless things
the concept is lovely and idealistic Our society has not prepared us for this thought process or how to act upon it Certain people and what they aspire, will naturally escape to just 'being' and doing what they consider their gift I appreciate them....The UA-cam is very intersting and gives pause.....
I definitely take item 3, quality as a #1 priority, however having weaponized my AuDHD I've also been able to parallelize my productivity while still feeling good about the work
This video sums up well the current Zeitgeist: our collective, intuitive sense of being burnt-out and overstimulated versus the modern institutional tall tale that we always need more of everything and that, if we're not doing a dozen things at once, we're not doing anything at all.
yeah I wouldve loved the 'do fewer things" to work at my old first job as a cadet in social housing. it instead got people, performance and culture to ask whether i was depressed and anxious and to get assessed and medicated, and the course managers I had for a qualification I was getting part of this program tell me to get assessed etc for adhd. it's workplaces that NEED to be slower for trainees and actually giving trainees time to do stuff... rather than giving them such an unworkable environment that they can NOT wait the get the fuck out of there.
Step 1: time block Step 2: don’t rush, panic as the thinking operates less optimally when stressed. Step 3: want to be better and organically figure out how to be better Step 4: rewarding work
Skip this video. Want to live a happy life? DON'T make living all about your job or how much you make. Life is for living. Be with your loved ones, make memories, improve yourself. Ppl say time is money... but NOTHING will ever give you back your time. If that were possible, time would be the most expensive thing ever. Spend yours wisely, invest in yourself.
Goodhart’s Law: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. Any observed statistical regularity will tend to collapse once pressure is placed upon it for control purposes.
Absolutely! Each generation since Silent Gen has been accused of being lazy by generations before. Boomers were “dirty hippies”. GenX were “The Slacker Generation”. Millennials have just generally been accused of laziness, and now Gen Z are facing the same rhetoric. The real issue? Industry leaders are A.) consciously or subconsciously uncomfortable with the progression of the Industrial Revolution moving quickly into the Information Age and B.) corrupt, and have a need to control.
Really? As someone in gen Z myself, the common theme seems to lean more towards overindulgence and doing nothing rather than slowly doing things with intention and quality. Can you provide more of your perspective?
@@Lodestar12345is that what you feel that happens with people of your same generation? I’m a millennial and have always been bullied for pointing this theme out in the workplace. Now, after I met a couple of gen-Zers, I don’t feel alone when I point these things out in the workplace and they don’t think I’m crazy, they believe I’m being logical.
@@TheLudmilita I agree that the constant push to get more stuff done is an unconstructive one, however from my perspective, gen Z's way is to just not do anything productive and scroll on their phones and overindulge. I feel like that's just as unhealthy and unconstructive as the current paradigm. However, I'm glad you've met some good folks that share your perspective.
Takes a lot of juice to pull this off in a real world business environment. You need a strong track record of delivering results that they can't get from anyone else because the essence of doing this in practice is saying "no" to almost everything and working your own agenda instead of what everyone else wants you to do. Most people don't have that kind of autonomy, and even if they did, would be in over their head. You have to be at the top of your game to tell everyone to back off and then be able to back it up.
the market incentives for corporations requires forcing their human labor to multi-task, work at a frenetic pace and obsess over quantity. I wonder if Cal has really experienced this corporate world phenomenon given he is from academia.
I longed the days a person create his magnum Opus over 20 years career. Exactly what happened in my working days where promotion is based off "productivity" multi taskings
I work for a gigantic multinational company. I now believe these folks have created their culture from exactly the opposite thinking: fast productivity. Never worked in a company before where people are so much busy while delivery (in quantity AND quality) is so low. Specially when it comes to strategic priorities and what really matters
I *wish* I could "do fewer things", or rather, not have to multitask. My job requires me to be available for unpredictable customer service moments, but there's enough down time between and around those moments that not working on other projects feels so wasteful, and there are days when those moments are all I have to work on them. It's a constant source of stress.
1. Do fewer things at once.
2. Work at natural pace.
3. Obsess over quality.
Thanks awfully.
4. Get fired 😞
@@Scott-sx1bf Oh man. I came here to make this exact joke.
@@Scott-sx1bf This is exactly the reality. We're being forced to do more with more quality. It's a joke. When will the people fight back?
@@SurpriseMeJT Honestly, I don’t think they can. There’s an imbalance of power by design. Capital controls the rules of game via rulings such as “Citizens United”. Labor has to do their bidding since it can’t compete with the money spent buying legislators. Anti-union rhetoric has crippled us. A fundamental flaw in our economy that may ultimately be its downfall. My 2-cents.
This is exactly what I've been doing since I was a kid, and I was treated like a slow minded idiot for doing it despite me having the most consistient and high quality results versus my peers. Thank you for proving that my childhood self had it right the whole time.
How does your adult self have it?
Ahh give me a Hug! I'm here actually because I'm also that Idiot😂 plus I'm a perfectionist
@@bigsaltyballerI've developed some methods to do well around my Coworkers and People in general, if you're really interested then discuss some points
... I was the idiot that took schoolwork way too seriously. Hello there lamo
Shool before, and now College made me realize how institutions teach us maximizing productivity to the point people start having anxiety to perform well, stress over all the work and grades. It's been normalized for so long, and I'm glad we're realizing more and more how tiring this is.
People often confuse activity for productivity. Just because you are busy does not mean you are productive.
Nice point
The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.
- Alan Watts
Leave your job, ditch your car, cancel your gym membership, eat lentils, walk. Live.
@@jiggersotoole7823 nice. But be careful that this does not mean losing your appetite for a good lunch. It all means, avoid the "stickiness" of it all and you'll be free.
This works great as long as I can be sure that nobody will force me out of my shelter or refuse to give me food and water or cancel my utilities. Alan Watts gave tons of public speaking talks and wrote books from which he earned the money that gave him the freedom to be sure that noone would force him out of his home and he would have utilities, food and water for the rest of his life.
@@markusheimerl you'd be surprised how little money we need to live well.
@@markusheimerlyeah I feel like sometimes, or very often, upper class people forget that others have to work their ass off to just afford somewhere to live and have something to eat everyday… I mean I wish that the housing and food prices would get affordable so I could think deeply and walk the meadows all day, but I feel like that’s not going to happen. The best we can hope for is that employers sees this video and think that it seems like a great idea to implement at their companies. I think that’s what this video is for mostly.
I wish management understood this. I’m considered a “slow” developer…but when my work gets done it almost never needs revisited. My bug count is in the single digits vs in the hundreds that my “faster” coworkers have, and unlike my “faster” coworkers none of my projects ever had to be rewritten due to being built on delicate code (rewriting software is an enormous cost by the way). The technical debt of my projects is so minimal I have applications I’ve written over a decade ago that still run just fine and never had to be part of the yearly maintenance parade.
As this video states, often times slower is better.
The problem is everyone wants quick results for profits. Companies don’t want a slow rollout with fewer bugs, they want the product/solution yesterday so they can check the box and make their investors happy.
Management doesn’t care about quality - they care about quantity
@@dude4173 Thus the problem with an overly capitalistic influenced society.
its not managments fault.. ITS YOUR FAULT. you fear what you think management is thinking. if you just think for yourself you will gravitate to where you supposed to be.
@@j.c.s5630 That is not how it works in real life. Ever.
@@s81n worked for me
The fact that a computer person advocates for doing fewer quality things at a natural pace is fascinating. Thank you sir for rescuing our humanity.
Praise to God Almighty!!!! I'm favoured $150k every 4weeks! I can now give back to the locals in my community and also support God's work and the church. God bless America 🇺🇲💗💓💗💞
Thanks to Maksim konstan
except that's the problem. He's really just talking about productivity. But he's framing it as mental health. Computer scientists are not psychologists. He has good advice about being more productive. But that's for your boss's benefit, not yours. The advice is very bad advice for dealing with burnout. Listen to psychologists on matters of mental health, not computer scientists.
This is brilliant! We need more understanding in productivity of knowledge work. Now the management is pushing with metrics that are just counter effective
@@neildutoit5177 How is this bad advice for dealing with burnout?
I love how the most progressive scientific breakthroughs are just regressing back to doing things the way our ancestors did them…
Or the way that many children already do things... before they're conditioned out of them... only to be told by "scientific breakthroughs" that their natural way was right and most productive all along xD Are you fucking kidding me
That's because our society always needs a leader or an expert to tell them something that is either obvious or just makes sense.
Some of us aren't taught certain things and that can cause problems too, but in my experience the vast majority of people lean towards conventional wisdom and tribal thinking.
It causes those who do things differently to be seen as outsiders and untrustworthy in some way.
I've dealt with this my whole life to the point where I just don't share a lot of what I know anymore.
"The good old days." Were they happy? Nostalgic thinking perhaps
Society/technology has peaked
@@sp123 technology not even close. Finally getting the flying cars and I just read about a super powerful magnetic fusion reactor that wont be ready until 2030
A tip from me:
*”Learn strategic negligence”*
If I have 60 hours work a week, I will prioritise, and neglect the stuff at the bottom. So ok I couldn’t do everything- but all the important stuff is done well. Learn and know what you can get away with doing a ‘quick and dirty’ version, but keep your best quality for the high value / high profile tasks, that everyone will see.
I love the ideas behind “Deep Work / Slow Productivity,” but I have some concerns about its practicality and accessibility for most people. Here are a few thoughts:
1. Only for the privileged: slow productivity seems like a luxury that only the wealthy or upper-middle class can enjoy. People with stable jobs or their own businesses might have the flexibility to adopt this lifestyle, but for the average worker, it’s often out of reach.
2. Not for middle-class workers: Middle-class employees, like those in enterprises, nurses, or supermarket cashiers, can’t really apply Slow Productivity. Their jobs demand constant, high-paced work with little room to slow down.
3. Academic privilege: It’s easier to come up with these concepts when you’re a MIT professor and have income from books and speaking gigs. Most people don’t have that kind of financial security or freedom in their jobs.
4. Systemic pressure: The pressure to be highly productive usually comes from business owners and upper management, not individual workers. Suggesting that people should feel responsible for being too busy or not achieving slow productivity can make them feel guilty and even more stressed, overlooking the bigger systemic issues.
I was thinking pretty much along the same lines.
I disagree. Give me a slow, steady, methodical (more expensive) plumber/dentist/window cleaner/whatever every time.
Read this book : Deep work rules for focused success in distracted world, it has answered your concerns.
I think the ideas behind "Deep work / slow productivity" is more targetted into people that works in the creative industry and less on the labor industry
👏👏👏
this viewpoint is good and healthy. but if corporate’s mindset doesn’t align with it then it is still wishful thinking.
Exactly. Until the corporate machine realizes their profits would skyrocket following this they won’t be swayed. They’re too blind and foolish to see beyond their greed.
I was hoping there would be perhaps something more on the "what you'll find going slow productive" [meaning my Planner/Wunderlist/Todoist list doesn't go down quite as 'quickly' initially] and handling management's view on that
@@jamesgrant9560 indeed, I also expect something more practical for business management
@Lockewoodmedia it's not greed, it's their ego. If it were greed, they'd be able to see that improving the quality of life for employees would yield higher profits
Correct, he's selling the idea of the individual should self-regulate in a culture and context that still requires and asks them to do the opposite. Top-level regulation would be more beneficial and conducive to regressing burnout, family issues, and mental health issues which the author purports to care about and be tackling.
I spent many years as a college professor. Every year the university hired more administrators who pushed busywork on the faculty. Some faculty members, especially those who went into administration themselves, also bought into this idea. Serving on pointless committees and filling out forms that nobody read became the main purpose of my job. As a result tuition skyrocketed and I was actually scolded for spending time meeting with students.
Be it healthcare or higher education. Most of the money the client pays goes to "administrative costs".
I worked in a consultancy project trying to reduce the cost of American healthcare. The medical people don't get paid jack shit compared to the "administrative costs".
It's even worse for staff........
Neoliberalism sucks indeed.
This is exactly why I left a tenured academic career. I even went INTO administration to try and make things better for the faculty and students and all it did was suck the living life out of my soul. I work in private industry now. My overall stress is lower and my pay MUCH higher but I miss the students and the act of discovery and sharing knowledge. Maybe I’ll figure it out before I die. Until then I’d like to figure out how to get out of some of the pointless administriva and spend more time doing important work.
I was similarly scolded for caring about the teaching part of my academic job. I left.
I wasn’t seeking promotion at work, content to be a rank and file. Now retired, I don’t feel guilty doing nothing all day.
how old are you?
Praise to God Almighty!!!! I'm favoured $150k every 4weeks! I can now give back to the locals in my community and also support God's work and the church. God bless America 🇺🇲💗💓💗💞
Thanks to Maksim konstan
I don't seek promotion either. Maybe some of us just want to clock in, do our job and clock out for 40 hours a week so we can live normal lives.
But then you get criticized for not seeking promotion...
@@juliacolson5040 I did my job and got paid for it. It was fair. Anything more than that if I don’t want, it’s my decision, not because of others’ expectation or others’ norm. Live your own life, not other ppl’s life.
The concept of slow productivity aligns perfectly with what many of us feel - that constant busyness doesn't always lead to real accomplishments. Quality over quantity, always.
I have left and lost so many jobs, and what I tried to make a career once, because I naturally followed the 3 principals outlined in this video. The one that NO employer will allow is working at a "natural pace" ! I have burned out and broken my body to work at the pace they deemed acceptable because some other idiot raised the bar by doing it faster. Or the guy that had been doing it longer was faster. If you're not as fast as them after learning the job in a couple weeks, you're done, or scolded until you rage quit because you can't stand being nagged by supervisors or customers. Nobody cares about quality. They just want it done NOW! Employers, from my experience, will always put their bottom line above your mental health!
Sound like your probably just slow af lol
You need more qualifications and education. You are given more leeway the more education/specific useful knowledge you have.
@@michigandersea3485
That advice is why suddenly everyone is "overqualified" and the actual essential jobs are falling under while the "elite" jobs that don't actually help people are exploding.
This turns a problem into another problem. The solution is to just solve the problem. Reasonable managers can go extremely fucking far in solving this dilemma.
@@ncedwards1234 it’s a constantly changing flux, unfortunately. Many just can’t afford to do this, but you have to keep reinventing yourself and keep trying to find a place. You can’t just get education and training and then sit on your hands and say “I tried” when it doesn’t pan out. You have to do your research using employment and salary data, projections of future employment in the area, and what people say about the actual job (and about getting the actual job) before you pick an area of study. Many certificates and training programs are quite cheap and educational content is available for free. People have to conform what they study to what there’s actual demand for.
As a retiree that help me a lot. It is difficult to pass from a ‘measured’ workload to a unmeasured workload. I wanted to be creative but I have a lot of old tools (think fabric, yarns, ink) accumulated over the year. Many of them is just ill adapted and uninspiring for me. I recently realize that all that is just keeping me down. I will go through all and donate. Just keeping what inspire me.
This advice is fantastic if you are self employed or applying it to other aspects of life like a hobby.
Applying this in a modern day workplace is a sure fire way to get yourself on an “improvement plan” and very swiftly removed from their roster. Maybe it’ll motivate you maybe it’ll make you homeless. But this method cannot work in a practical setting until pseudo-productivity culture is turned on its head. Hopefully this guy can help accomplish that.
I am crippled by long covid. The silver lining is that my life is slower, calmer, and in many ways, much more peaceful. I use these techniques to great success. It’s nice to have the time, and patience for quality in my tasks.
I was an accountant, worked solo to keep mistakes at a minimum, i wouldn't open more than one book if I didn't have to. What i found is that if i got stuck , being able to take a break from it it would help me find the numbers to balance it. Its not always my fault, usually the data was in correct so i had to clarify. I would usually finish my work before lunch and dedicate the rest to help my coworkers to finish.
I am a network engineer and has been in the IT industry for a decade. One of the main time consumers is meetings. Especially ones which are just the management's idea of making something look very important. Something which can be resolved over a chat easily is blown out of proportion just because the manager wants to highlight himself infront of leadership. Second one is not delegating tasks as per a employee's capability. Delegating works magic if done properly
setuju👍👍
While I can appreciate the seemingly benevolent efforts but forth by individuals such as Cal Newport in his past 2 books and his promo tour for them on podcasts including Tim Ferriss-who himself has walked back his previous selling of productivity/efficiency with the changing of cultural tides-I think he and others gravely overlook a key issue in their attempt to capitalize off this pivot.
That is that they're prescribing the same issue that begets the problem-placing the burden of self-regulation on the individual, while the individual's workplaces, employers, markets, macro-culture of work remain unchanged. It is akin to telling consumers to solve pollution by not buying plastic straws. It is easy to offer, and focuses on their locus of control. But it fails to address success rate under context.
I don't assume this is intentional on Cal Newport's part, perhaps he's just insulated and/or aloof. It is, of course, easier for someone at his point of success, income, and career chapter to believe in and sell such ideas. And I recognize he cannot place regulatory legislation into law that would much more successfully alleviate these issues. However, this ultimately does come off as selling people the same neoliberal trick that helps dig this hole in the first place-the idea that the solution is self-regulation.
Great stuff. It's reassuring that we're _finally_ starting to move beyond 'Taylorism' management methods. Humans are not machines and we yield better outcomes when we aren't treated as such.
2:00 Do fewer things
3:30 Work at a natual pace
4:20 Obsess over quality
I FREAKING LOVE THIS! As a full-time short-form Content Creator, oftentimes you hear that you need to post x5 times a day which can work for certain niches. But what's worked the best for me, personally, is to take my time to make a video I'm really proud of and perhaps post once a week if not once every two weeks.
I've noticed that those videos would do way better because their quality was better so thank you for emphasizing this!
0:34 where was that guy throwing that dart??
😂😂😂
When i feel like rushing through my life, i try to remind myself that "slow and steady wins the race" 😊
This is great advice but only works if corporations/employers also take on this three principles. Otherwise you'll be seen as not being productive and not as profitable which, essentially, is only what companies care about.
The sole premise that by doing fewer things slower we can achieve more can be exhausting. We live in a world where all we want to do is achieve, we are goal oriented. There is incredible value in ripping yourself away from that. This can unfortunatley be a luxury to some where they do not have the luxury of looking past tomorrow. Achieving is the root of many psychological problems.
I have been implementing seasons into my workflow, and it seems to be working very well. Work hard during the spring when the flowers are blooming and in the fall when it’s time to get ready for hibernation.
Work slow and enjoy the summer and the winter holiday season, reap the benefits of the hard work in the seasons prior, and spend time with family.
*Your explanations are clear and straight forward It's always a honor to have you here as a mentor, I appreciate you for the time being spent to educate us financially. Regardless of how bad it gets the economy, I still makeover $28K every single week. I truly value Laura, and her helpful guides*
The first step to successful investment is figuring your goals and risk tolerance either on your own or with the help of a financial professional but it's very advisable you make use of professional.
I know Laura, she has really set the standard for others to follow, we love her here in the UK as she has been really helpful and changed lots of lives.
You're right! The very first time I tried, I invested $2000 and after a week, I received $8,400. That really helped us a lot to pay up our bills.
Interesting! But I'm new here. How can I get to this person's guidelines??
SHE IS ON TELEGRAMs
I work in a hands on space. My partner works in a tech virtual space. I know the importance of teaching to let things dry, work in steps, brain storm. They are the same in other spaces. My partner needs to gather information, figure it out, talk to clients, and at times, take a break and just let a problem mature.
In elementary school we did an exercise with an oppressive ruler and I " starvation protested" trying to convince my peers to join into something I didn't fully understand at the time. If a job needs to be done it should be done well and it should support the doer.
This concept is deeper than the “work life balance” mantra.
Good advice for many jobs, wouldn’t work as a nurse. We are constantly and consistently juggling many different tasks at once, and we do it for 12 to 16 hours straight, minus one 30 minute lunch break that we can sometimes take and sometimes not.
Thank you for your service, we would truly be screwed wihout people like you. I wish your conditions were better 🙏
Absent from this discussion (and the book, for those interested) is any discussion of external pressures, commitments with overoptimistic schedules, deadlines, etc... All of which fly in the face of the three principles: for once, you're not always in a position to do "fewer things" than what has been committed by external forces ; second, the seasonality is somehow arbitrary ("this needs to be ready for the demo at X") ; and finally, given a tension between scope, quality and schedule, and two of those things being unegocciatable - quality will take the toll.
I wish cal would address those, but it seems to be one of this blind spot - understandable for someone with relatively large control over his deadlines (author + tenured professor.)
Sadly, it has been my experience that just having the word "slow" in the title will cause most shareholders to reject the ideas outright without investigation.
The term "delayed gratification", a central principle in this post, is unknown to them.
They will not pause nor hesitate to leapfrog over ANY idea which might cause even a temporary loss of profits, which is a certainty here.
Only the most forward thinking of companies would adopt such strategies, of which there are very few.
People who work for someone else and people who work for themselves ... are two completely different things.
I work for myself. I work 7 days a week and have done so for 20 years ... I love it. I'm a 40 year old millionaire. I can't wait to get up and start kicking ass. This is how most self employeed people feel.
If you work for someone else, it sucks. Most of your time at work is a total waste of your time. You have every incentive to work the least amount possible and usually little incentive to actually work hard.
The point is... dont make someone else rich. Work for yourself and you'll enjoy work, make more money and feel much better about life in general
I do a lot of multi tasking. Sometimes it can be stressful but most of the time it isn’t,depending on the tasks. It keeps my productivity up, I achieve satisfaction, I get to enjoy tasks with different pace of completion & quality. Don’t do it to outperform someone else or competition. Just enjoy & be content with its completion. Trust me, the end work will be good.
I can't help but feel business leaders would take your point about natural rate and the ebbs and flows of work as being, "So you can be hitting the red line some of the time, and then smashing the rev limiter so hard you're getting valve float the rest."
Genuinely feels like everyone in industry is exhausted. Getting more blood from stone is the phrase that comes to mind.
Seasons hella matter. We used to only work a sum of 6 months of the year. Now we’ve got work 12 months of the year. Even kids have 9 months or more.
I had direct reports once, and I never interpreted "looking busy all the time" as a sign of being productivity, actually, it was a sign of problems. I am Ok with my team watching Netflix or planning trip as long as all daily jobs are complete, and they support our customers wholeheartedly. It is the results that matters, not being busy.
I've followed your writing career since your first book and honestly it changed my life. Totally agree with everything here too. The problem is getting management to buy in with this. I've tried to explain to my boss that constant context switching and trying to multitask makes things less productive but he's only worried about looking good to his boss and consistently pushes unrealistic deadlines that never get met by anyone on the team because people's brains don't work that way. But for a few weeks he can tell his boss that the work will be done a month or two early and gets pats on the back despite us all telling him it's not possible.
I don't see this workplace culture changing anytime soon.
I love routines because I find them super relaxing. Also I never multitask , I like when things take the time they need and are the focus point of the day .
Cal is already so handsome, eloquent and explains everything very well, but in this video so much more. Thank you so much!
This is so important. I am trying to reduce my stress by focusing on single tasks and keep strict closing times and rank my tasks by necessity.
Don't do this. Stress isn't caused by number of tasks it's caused by needing to do too many tasks that you don't find meaningful or valuable. Too many "obligations". Don't rank your tasks by necessity. Rank them by how meaningful they are to you. You may even need to take on more work in order to be less stressed. The important thing is to spend most of your time doing things that are important to you. If you're spending all your time on "necessary" tasks an no time on "meaningful" tasks you will remain stressed no matter how much you cut back.
@@neildutoit5177 I do agree with you, but at work it's not always about what I like to do.
Best book I've ever read! Really helped me deal with the shame and guilt feelings of not working 24/7
On a Operational System class at college, more than 20 years ago, while teacher explain multi process with just one processor I asked:
"But this context change between two or more process will add time at the end and take longer than process being made one after the end of the previous".
Professor replys:
"You are right, but the user wants longer time to accomplish since he has the feeling of things being made same time "
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Hello!! how do you make such monthly, I’m a born Christian and sometimes I feel so down of myself 😭 because of low finance but I still believe God
Thanks to my co-worker (Carson ) who suggested Ms Susan Jane Christy
She's a licensed broker here in the states🇺🇸 and finance advisor.
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Can I also do it??? My life is facing lots of challenges lately
This is insane. I opened the youtube app to look for “what to do against a burnout”. But thought nope, let me just scroll through my timeline, looking for something to distract me from it.
First swip up:
This video
The algorithm is terrifying.
UA-cam heard you say keywords recently that would suggest a burnout clip
Very clear and noticeably argued, although my understanding of what you're talking about is Talent. One cannot teach others how to be talented. Talented people do exactly what you are talking about, and do that with ease.
This takes me, at least, to think about inspiration; therefore the question that arises, to me at least, is: "Is what you do for a living inspiring you?" And as for "You" I mean each and everyone of us. If that's not the case, something easier to learn and apply in one's daily life (which can help finding inspiration) is Meditation.
Meditation, when honestly and deeply performed, will always pull talent out of people, infact most of the times you could find yourself having more that just 1 talent.
Whatever is you do for a living, wrost scenario would be you leave your job for another that suits your talent(s) better.
Love and prosperity.
I really love Big Think. They make sciences cool again.
now show me a company that follows this.
whenever i do this as an employee i get punished. what boss wants to hear "slow productivity"?
Jerk off for years, already body is out of energy,when you work it drains your all energy
Masterbation releases estrogen which promotes sleep
And testosterone is energy which prevent sleep ,tiredness,burnout
But it releases in small amount when we jerk off😢😢
Change the company, or boss
@@drmisko007 Who isn't into crunch culture these days?
@@thomaskositzki9424 I agree, but it's counterproductive imo. is anyone thinking about tomorrow
@@drmisko007Good luck 😀
I believe if people discipline themselves to get outside to move/relax/contemplate once a day (at least) for an *absolute minimum* of 30 minutes (real minimum being 1 hour), that will legit help to prevent burnout. Allowing ourselves to rest seems to be the real discipline these days in our fast-paced, modern times.
Finally Cal Newport on Big think !!!
*Larry Burkett's book on "Giving and Tithing" drew me closer to God and helped my spirituality. 2020 was a year I literally lived it. I cashed in my life savings and gave it all away. My total giving amounted to 40,000 dollars. Everyone thought I was delusional. Today, 1 receive 85,000 dollars every two months. I have a property in Calabasas, CA, and travel a lot. God has promoted me more than once and opened doors for me to live beyond my dreams. God kept to his promises to and for me*
There's wonder working power in following Kingdom principles on giving and tithing. Hallelujah!
But then, how do you get all that in that period of time? What is it you do please, mind sharing?
It is the digital market. That's been the secret to this wealth transfer. A lot of folks in the US and abroad are getting so much from it, God has been good to my household Thank you Jesus
Big thanks to Ms. Susan Jane Christy❤️✨💯May God bless Christy Fiore services,she have changed thousands of lives globally
How can I start this digital market, any guidelines and how can I reach out to her?
3 things I learned to Financial freedom are focus, bravery, and consistency. Stay Uncommon!
This is what many corporate environments are lacking, it seems managers cannot comprehend these concepts
Lots of people as they age start looking for fulfilment in their days and work. I see the younger generation already seeking that. To me that indicates changes in society in a positive way. I hope this will lead to a reduced focus on capital accumulation and material acquisitions to a culture of quality of life, fulfilment and real common wealth and wellbeing. It is a long path for sure.
Yet Amazon sales keep climbing.
This is how I handled working and university. I did school part time. Sure it took longer to get my degree, but I was working part time getting experience in my field. I was able to spend time with friends , eat healthy, workout, travel and enjoy time with family.
Balance out the workload and even the mundane tasks of life becomes enjoyable. Manage the workload. Rest is important too. When I graduated I actually got a better pay and position than my classmates because I had the degree and work experience.
Love it. I’ve never heard it put that way but this is exactly the philosophy that I practice with my team.
As long as I love the message… the culture shift in a company that’s used to busyness is really difficult. There’s so much work. It’s not even about the direct bosses. There’s just too much to do (most times, client-derived) and we’re not manned enough to deal with the load.
Funny how to me it just doesn't work to do less things, I have to learn multiple things daily (e.g, I dedicate time to my post-grad studies, language studies, drawing practice and 3D modeling. I also enjoy playing games whenever I can and watching some cozy shows). I do a bit of a lot of things everyday, which has been the solution to me for burnout instead of doing few things.
I believe the cause for that is that it gives me less pressure to be perfect at something, it makes me have to think about different things through the day instead of worrying way too much about only one thing.
I tried to listen to that advice of doing less and honestly, it made me get a burnout really fast. I do take breaks, but never for too long, otherwise I'll get lost on track. It's interesting how it's never a one-size-fits-all situation when it comes to productivity.
Så jäkla glad att jag inte behöver använda datorer och krångliga system, som kraschar. Att vi har 5 veckors betald semester är också ett stort plus.
Jag testade USA som yngre och deras läskiga kapitalism skrämde mig tillbaks till Sverige. Ingen amerikansk arbetsgivare skulle implementera strategin i videon. semester var det bara rika personer som hade där. Vanligt folk där har aldrig råd med ledighet. Däremot börjar mätningen av ”produktivitet” så sakta leta sig till Sverige också tyvärr.
One of the biggest struggles I've had as an adult is that I'm interested in so many things. I find it hard to focus on just one activity only because there's so much to learn. In the end I end up achieving little in any of my interests because I jump from one to the next and just go aound in a big circle, cycling through my hobbies.
i'm like that , as a result i can't accomplish anything meaningful , and i can't progress very well...
Every C suite in the world should watch this and espouse it. We work against our own biological rhythms by being output-centered and constant push to innovate and iterate. The macro of that is pushing us to our own untimely demise as a species. Nothing in nature is rushed or in a hurry, only human beings.
No other species earn and pay money for a living either! This so called work/career illusion are a man made product.
This is a fantastic outlook, and great advice. Happy to hear this said out loud. Will be buying this book!
I agree. The problem is trying to explain this to management. Some bosses get it, but then there are those terrorists who think leadership is interrupting and hovering over a team that can get things done just fine without a supervisor.
02:08 Fewer Things at Once:
03:33 Natural Pace:
04:21 Obsess Over Quality:
Fewer Things at Once:
Focus on doing fewer things simultaneously.
Attention residue from switching tasks reduces cognitive capacity.
Completing commitments faster and with higher quality.
Natural Pace:
Embrace natural rhythms.
Intense periods balanced with less busy times.
Sustainable outcomes and better work quality.
Obsess Over Quality:
Identify high-value activities.
Invest in better tools.
Slow down, focus, and improve.
by GPT Breeze
terima kasih😊😊
I love Cal's books. I really wish people paid more attention to his ideas as they address several of our current woes.
Big ups to this. Makes my life much nicer and way better productivity to focus on key quality. Basic efficiency. It’s a purpose centered systems approach rather than an exhausting busy work focus.
I have always tried to fly under the radar and do as little as possible at work. It’s been working for me👌🏻
Bosses and managers should procure this kind of work but usually they are the first ones that promote multitasking, appearing busy and doing useless things
the concept is lovely and idealistic Our society has not prepared us for this thought process or how to act upon it Certain people and what they aspire, will naturally escape to just 'being' and doing what they consider their gift I appreciate them....The UA-cam is very intersting and gives pause.....
This is a refreshing take on productivity in the modern workplace as a knowledge worker.
Its what most employers in this new age we're into, must realize. About time someone started to talk about this!
This was so perfectly explained. I have to buy your books now
Indeed, multitasking is a myth. We really actually focus on one thing at a time.
I definitely take item 3, quality as a #1 priority, however having weaponized my AuDHD I've also been able to parallelize my productivity while still feeling good about the work
I can relate to this.. But as I’ve grown up, I learned to not take life seriously.. Just need to take one step at a time..
Good video!
I've been following these principles for years. Can recommend wholly, 10/10 great work!
I want to watch Cal's full video on this platform. Big Think please share the whole video. Thanks
Cashed in my health for wealth. My biggest mistake was managing inputs rather than outputs. For most others it is confusing activity with progress.
a great piece of content that literally transform your life 360 degrees better
I see what you did there.
I'd like to see this guy apply this knowledge to people with neurodivergent/ADHD qualities.
Cal Newport author to a couple of the most effective books I’ve ever read
This video sums up well the current Zeitgeist: our collective, intuitive sense of being burnt-out and overstimulated versus the modern institutional tall tale that we always need more of everything and that, if we're not doing a dozen things at once, we're not doing anything at all.
This video actually expands your lungs.
yeah I wouldve loved the 'do fewer things" to work at my old first job as a cadet in social housing. it instead got people, performance and culture to ask whether i was depressed and anxious and to get assessed and medicated, and the course managers I had for a qualification I was getting part of this program tell me to get assessed etc for adhd. it's workplaces that NEED to be slower for trainees and actually giving trainees time to do stuff... rather than giving them such an unworkable environment that they can NOT wait the get the fuck out of there.
Step 1: time block
Step 2: don’t rush, panic as the thinking operates less optimally when stressed.
Step 3: want to be better and organically figure out how to be better
Step 4: rewarding work
Skip this video.
Want to live a happy life?
DON'T make living all about your job or how much you make. Life is for living. Be with your loved ones, make memories, improve yourself.
Ppl say time is money... but NOTHING will ever give you back your time.
If that were possible, time would be the most expensive thing ever.
Spend yours wisely, invest in yourself.
Sounds great.
Now try to explain it to employers
I mean why not
Goodhart’s Law: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. Any observed statistical regularity will tend to collapse once pressure is placed upon it for control purposes.
This is exactly what gen z has been pointing out since they entered the workplace and they’ve been called “lazy”
Absolutely! Each generation since Silent Gen has been accused of being lazy by generations before. Boomers were “dirty hippies”. GenX were “The Slacker Generation”. Millennials have just generally been accused of laziness, and now Gen Z are facing the same rhetoric. The real issue? Industry leaders are A.) consciously or subconsciously uncomfortable with the progression of the Industrial Revolution moving quickly into the Information Age and B.) corrupt, and have a need to control.
That’s a damn good point. And it’s what all previous generations suppress, but know is the right way to live.
Really? As someone in gen Z myself, the common theme seems to lean more towards overindulgence and doing nothing rather than slowly doing things with intention and quality.
Can you provide more of your perspective?
@@Lodestar12345is that what you feel that happens with people of your same generation? I’m a millennial and have always been bullied for pointing this theme out in the workplace. Now, after I met a couple of gen-Zers, I don’t feel alone when I point these things out in the workplace and they don’t think I’m crazy, they believe I’m being logical.
@@TheLudmilita
I agree that the constant push to get more stuff done is an unconstructive one, however from my perspective, gen Z's way is to just not do anything productive and scroll on their phones and overindulge. I feel like that's just as unhealthy and unconstructive as the current paradigm.
However, I'm glad you've met some good folks that share your perspective.
Takes a lot of juice to pull this off in a real world business environment. You need a strong track record of delivering results that they can't get from anyone else because the essence of doing this in practice is saying "no" to almost everything and working your own agenda instead of what everyone else wants you to do. Most people don't have that kind of autonomy, and even if they did, would be in over their head. You have to be at the top of your game to tell everyone to back off and then be able to back it up.
Great (probably) for entrepreneurs, or if you write books. Completely impossible in a modern corporate environment.
The final conversation was amazing!
the market incentives for corporations requires forcing their human labor to multi-task, work at a frenetic pace and obsess over quantity. I wonder if Cal has really experienced this corporate world phenomenon given he is from academia.
I longed the days a person create his magnum Opus over 20 years career. Exactly what happened in my working days where promotion is based off "productivity" multi taskings
I work for a gigantic multinational company. I now believe these folks have created their culture from exactly the opposite thinking: fast productivity. Never worked in a company before where people are so much busy while delivery (in quantity AND quality) is so low. Specially when it comes to strategic priorities and what really matters
My Cal 😊😊😊😊😊 I’m a long time listener of his podcast .. have read 3 of his books…. ❤
I *wish* I could "do fewer things", or rather, not have to multitask. My job requires me to be available for unpredictable customer service moments, but there's enough down time between and around those moments that not working on other projects feels so wasteful, and there are days when those moments are all I have to work on them. It's a constant source of stress.
One thing at a time. Take your time. Do it well