Listen
Do we need to move to a ranch in the middle of nowhere to take control of our technology habits? Cal argues that these types of extreme examples are counter-productive, making it seem like real changes are close to impossible. He offers instead an alternative approach based on zero-based budgeting your technological life.
Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo
Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia
Today’s Deep Question: What does it really take to cure your smartphone addiction? [3:33]
– How can I build an audience without being consumed by social media? [31:20]
– If my kid uses an iPad for school, will he become cursed with digital distraction? [40:33]
– Does the digital minimalist community approve of Goodreads and Letterboxd? [48:52]
– I’m 30 years old and lost. How can I get my life back on track? [53:43]
– How can I stay on top of current events without scrolling social media? [1:02:11]
Closing Discussion: Is the Friendship Recession Real? What can you do to escape it? (w/ Jamie Kilstein) [1:08:38]
Links:
https://www.thefp.com/p/why-i-traded-my-smartphone-for-an-ax
https://midland-school.org
Thanks to our Sponsors:
Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering.

DEEP QUESTIONS

Ep. 265: Big Ideas for Deeper Living

Ep. 264: IN-DEPTH: How to Master Change (with Brad Stulberg)

Ep. 263: Overhaul Your Life

Ep. 262: Creativity Hacking

Ep. 261: Control Your Time

Ep. 260: Make Haste Slowly

Ep. 259: The Four-Hour Work Day

Ep. 258: Godel’s Deep Life Stack

Ep. 257: Refusing Overwork

Ep. 256: Start with Discipline

Ep. 255: The Failure of Cybernetic Productivity

Ep. 254: The Laws of Less

Ep. 253: Making Time for What Matters (w/ Laura Vanderkam)

Ep. 252: The Deep Life Stack

Ep. 251: The Efficiency Trap

Ep. 250: In Defense of Thinking

Ep. 249: The Good Enough Job (w/ Simone Stolzoff)

Ep. 248: Decoding Overload

Ep. 247: The Productive Life

Ep. 246: Kids and Phones

Ep. 245: “Crazy” Productivity

Ep. 244: Thoughts on ChatGPT

Ep. 243: In The Weeds!

Ep. 242: The Simple Life

Ep. 241: The Virality Trap

Ep. 240: Disciplined Laziness

Ep. 239: On Time and Stress

Ep. 238: The Joys Of The Reading Life

Ep. 237: Reimagining The Internet

Ep. 236: Hacking Remote Work

Ep. 235: Is Productivity Overrated?

Ep. 234: Ambition without Burnout

Ep. 233: Escaping Your Tyrannical Inbox

Ep. 232: The Lumberjack Paradox

Ep. 231: Fight Burnout With Work Cycles

Ep. 230: How Well Are You Living?

Ep. 229: Developing Discipline

Ep. 227: Visions of the Deep Life?

Ep. 226: The Productivity Dragon

Ep. 225: Should I Become A Thriller Writer? (w/ J.T. Ellison)

Ep. 224: A World Without Twitter?

Ep. 223: Could This Meeting Have Been An Email?

Ep. 222: Did Cavemen Use To-Do Lists?

Ep. 221: Can Parents Do Deep Work?

Ep. 220: The Two Types of Ambition

Ep. 219: The Deep Reset

Ep. 218: Work vs. Meaning

Ep. 217: Slow Productivity Advice

Ep. 216: Deep Walking To Work Less

Ep. 215: RYAN HOLIDAY: Discipline Is Destiny

Ep. 214: Quiet Quitting

Ep. 213: The Art Of Saying No

Ep. 212: The Productivity Dragon Returns

Ep. 211: How Cal Organizes His Life

Ep. 210: Visions of a Deep Life

Ep. 209: Email and Living with Purpose

Ep. 208: To-Do Lists Are Inhumane

Ep. 207: A Digital Minimalism Intervention (w/ JAMIE KILSTEIN)

Ep 206: Striving to do less

Ep. 205: Why I’m a Bad Correspondent

Ep. 204: Deep Life Principles

Ep. 203: Taming Meetings

Ep. 202: TikTok Dismisses Facebook

Ep. 201: Making a Living Online

Ep. 200: Decoding the Deep Life

Ep. 199: Quieting an Ambitious Brain

Ep. 198: The Second Principle of Slow Productivity

Ep. 197: I’m Writing a New Book

Ep. 196: Shutting Down Anxiety

Ep. 195: Deep Walks

Ep. 194: The Surprising Math of Doing Less

Ep. 193: How do I read more?

Ep. 192: Habit Tune-Up Returns!

Ep. 191: Can We Fix the Internet?

Ep. 190: CALLS: Managing Idea Notebooks

Ep. 189: Why Did The Times Drop Twitter?

Ep. 188: The Books I Read in March 2022

Ep. 187: Helping 100K Employees Work Deeper

Ep. 186: The Power of “Day Batching”

Ep. 185: How Do I Escape Filter Bubbles?

Ep. 184: REPLAY: The Productivity Baby Steps

Ep. 183: Crazy or Deep?

Ep. 182: Cal’s Business Model

Ep. 181: Should I Quit My Lawyer Job?

Ep. 180: CALLS: Four Day Weeks Aren’t Enough

Ep. 179: Do Techniques Beat Talent?

Ep. 178: CALLS: On Doing Hard Things

Ep. 177: Is Ambition Worth It?

Ep. 176: CALLS: Taming Information Overload

Ep. 175: What is the Deep Life?

Ep. 174: CALLS: Thinking for Yourself

Ep. 173: What is Deep Work?

Ep. 172: CALLS: The Books I Read in January 2022

Ep. 171: Is Slow Productivity the Solution to Burnout?

Ep. 170: CALLS: Don’t Follow Your Passion

Ep. 169: How Do I Manage My Time?

Ep. 168: Should I Quit My Law Partner Job?

Ep. 167: What Do We Look Like? (Videos Are Now Live!)

Ep. 166: LISTENER CALLS: How I schedule podcasting

Ep. 165: Why Are We Burnt Out?

Ep. 163: The Books I Read in December 2021

Ep. 164: LISTENER CALLS: Training for Hard Intellectual Work

Ep. 162: LISTENER CALLS: Ambition and the Deep Life

Ep. 161: Should I Follow My Skill or My Passion?

Ep. 160: REPLAY: What is Discipline (and How Do I Get It?)

Ep. 159: REPLAY: How Much Should I Read?

Ep. 158: LISTENER CALLS: The Story of My First Book Deal

Ep. 157: JENNY BLAKE: Help Me Do Less!

Ep. 156: LISTENER CALLS: My Process for Writing New Yorker Articles

Ep. 155: Is Your Productivity System Leaking?

Ep. 154: LISTENER CALLS: Coping With a Hyperactive Job

Ep. 153: Why Was Ian Malcom Sent to Jurassic Park?

Ep. 152: LISTENER CALLS: The Magic of Autopilot Scheduling

Ep. 151: Should you move to the country?

Ep. 150: LISTENER CALLS: Finding More Family Time

Ep. 149: How Do I Tame Email?

Ep. 148: LISTENER CALLS: Decoding the Productive Pause

Ep. 147: Why Did I Never Join Social Media?

Ep. 146: LISTENER CALLS: A Revolution is Coming in Knowledge Work

Ep. 145: Is the Deep Life Compatible with Serving Humanity?

Ep. 144: LISTENER CALLS: Is Overload Necessary?

Ep. 143: Is the Era of Social Media Ending?

Ep. 142: LISTENER CALLS: Making Hard Work Routine

Ep. 141: Is the Era of Social Media Ending?

Ep. 140: LISTENER CALLS: Frustration and the Deep Life

Ep. 139: Am I Good at Time Management or Just Lazy?

Ep. 138: LISTENER CALLS: How I Read So Much

Ep. 137: Why Am I Uncomfortable With Facebook Backlash?

Ep. 136: LISTENER CALLS: Reversing Burnout

Ep. 135: Is Screen Time Bad?

Ep. 134: LISTENER CALLS: Returning to Deep Work After the Pandemic

Ep. 133: How Do I Defeat Distraction?

Ep. 132: LISTENER CALLS: Managing Non-Work Tasks

Ep. 131: The Elements of the Deep Life

Ep. 130: LISTENER CALLS: Leadership vs. Availability

Ep. 129: How Do I Get My Kid Off His Smartphone?

Ep. 128: LISTENER CALLS: The Art of “No”

Ep. 127: Does Productivity Diminish Leisure? (with Brad Stulberg)

Ep. 126: LISTENER CALLS: A Tour of My Home Offices

Ep. 125: What is Discipline (and How Do I Get It?)

Ep. 124: LISTENER CALLS: Preserving Depth in the Vast Shallows

Ep. 123: What Is My Daily Routine?

Ep. 122: LISTENER CALLS: Figuring Out Your Values

Ep. 121: Is Writing Everyday Overrated? (with Srini Rao)

Ep. 120: LISTENER CALLS: Students’ Diminishing Focus

Ep. 119: Does Accomplishment Require Overload?

Ep. 118: LISTENER CALLS: A Primer On My Planning Philosophy

Ep. 117: Should I Quit My Job to Become a Writer?

Ep. 116: RE-READING: Shop Class as Soulcraft (with Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness)

Ep. 115: JORDAN HARBINGER: What is the Future of Podcasting?

Ep. 114: LISTENER CALLS: Growing a Podcast Without Social Media

Ep. 113: How Do I Become a Deep Life Radical?

Ep. 111: How Do I Tame Distracting Thoughts?

Ep. 112: LISTENER CALLS: The Productivity Baby Steps

Ep. 110: LISTENER CALLS: Making the Deep Life Happen

Ep. 109: How Much Should I Read?

Ep. 108: LISTENER CALLS: Becoming Productive

Ep. 107: How Do I Stay Motivated on Long-Term Projects?

Ep. 106: LISTENER CALLS: Art Without Social Media

Ep. 105: Should I Read the News?

Ep. 104: LISTENER CALLS: Saying “No” Without Saying “No”

Ep. 103: What is the Relationship Between Order and Well-Being?

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September 4, 2023
On Tools and the Aesthetics of Work
In the summer of 2022, an engineer named Keegan McNamara, who was at the time working for a fundraising technology startup, found his way to the Arms and Armor exhibit at the Met. He was struck by the unapologetic mixture of extreme beauty and focused function captured in the antique firearms on display. As reported…
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