Slow Productivity by Cal Newport

Cal Newport’s Slow Productivity is one my favorite books of the year.

These are my bullet notes from the book - my top lessons in short, bullet point lists.

Slow Productivity -

• Do fewer things
• Work at a natural pace
• Obsess over quality
• Varies and humane pace
• Balance of hard periods and relaxation
• NOT performative activity

Pseudo Productivity -

• Visible activity ~ productive effort leads to pseudo productivity

Knowledge Work

• Economic activity
• Knowledge transformed into artifact with market value
• Cognitive effort

Do Fewer Things

• Reduce your obligations
• Fewer projects that matter most, embraced fully

Say no proactively

• If you wait till you feel exhausted, you will always have unsustainable workloads
• Permanently exhausted
• Almost at the tipping point of burn out

Apply Limits

At different scales -

• Overarching missions
• Ongoing projects
• Daily goals Intentionally set limits at all these scales

Work at a Natural Pace

• Don't rush most important work
• Allow work to unfold along a sustainable timeline
• Variation in intensity

Continuous Intensity is Artificial

• Unceasing intensity is unsustainable
• Its against our fundamental nature
• Generates misery

Take Longer

• Be comfortable taking longer
• Trust yourself to NOT procrastinate
• Make a 5 year plan

Double Your Timelines

• Humans are bad at estimations
• Especially non-physical projects
• Most of our estimates are guesses or wishful thinking - best case scenarios
• Grand achievement = Steady accumulation of modest results over time
• The path is long, pace yourself

Simplify Your Workday

• Reduce your task list by 50%
• No more than half of working hours for meetings or calls
• Declare certain "Protected Hours"

Forgive Yourself

• Timing work is tricky
• Its ok if you take longer
• Its ok if you miss deadlines and opportunities
• You're NOT lazy

Embrace Seasonality

• Vary intensity and focus throughout the year
• Work without change or rest is unnatural
• Seasonality is deeply integrated into the human experience

Schedule Slow Seasons

• Have an "off season" with no major projects
• Slow down a few months throughout the year

Shorter work year

• Have annual extended escapes from work
• Its okay if you make less money because of it
• Nothing terrible will happen if you work less

Small Seasonality

• Take a random weekday off once or twice a month
• Spend a summer away
• "No Meeting Mondays"
• See a Matinee movie once a month

Obsess Over Quality

• Quality > Quick returns
• Quality of work is more important even if you miss short term opportunities
• Quality and Slowness are correlated
• Commit to doing everything "very well"

Improve Your Taste

• Quality in work comes from reps
• Do LOT of work
• Have strong internal filters for quality
• Immerse yourself in appreciation for fields that are different from your own - like Cinema, or Art

Gather with a group

• Collective taste of a group is better than an individuals
• Have discussions about your work and industry with others
• Learn from and teach them

Spend for Quality Tools

• Quality tools -> Quality work
• "I'm a pro now" vibe
• Expensive tools -> Signal to self that you're serious about this

Perfectionism?

• Give yourself enough time to do quality work
• But NOT unlimited time
• Progress matters more than perfection

Bet on Yourself

• Non trivial stakes for failure
• Attractive rewards for success
• This is how you push the quality of your work