Slow Productivity

The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

De: Cal Newport

Narrado por: Cal Newport

A New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and IndieBound bestseller

"Brilliant and timely"—Oliver Burkeman

~ Do Fewer Things. Work at a Natural Pace. Obsess over Quality. ~

From the New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work, a groundbreaking philosophy for pursuing meaningful accomplishment while avoiding overload

Our current definition of “productivity” is broken. It pushes us to treat busyness as a proxy for useful effort, leading to impossibly lengthy task lists and ceaseless meetings. We’re overwhelmed by all we have to do and on the edge of burnout, left to decide between giving into soul-sapping hustle culture or rejecting ambition altogether. But are these really our only choices?

Long before the arrival of pinging inboxes and clogged schedules, history’s most creative and impactful philosophers, scientists, artists, and writers mastered the art of producing valuable work with staying power. In this timely and provocative book, Cal Newport harnesses the wisdom of these traditional knowledge workers to radically transform our modern jobs. Drawing from deep research on the habits and mindsets of a varied cast of storied thinkers–from Galileo and Isaac Newton, to Jane Austen and Georgia O’Keefe–Newport lays out the key principles of “slow productivity,” a more sustainable alternative to the aimless overwhelm that defines our current moment. Combining cultural criticism with systematic pragmatism, Newport deconstructs the absurdities inherent in standard notions of productivity, and then provides step-by-step advice for cultivating a slower, more humane alternative.

From the aggressive rethinking of workload management, to introducing seasonal variation, to shifting your performance toward long-term quality, Slow Productivity provides a roadmap for escaping overload and arriving instead at a more timeless approach to pursuing meaningful accomplishment. The world of work is due for a new revolution. Slow productivity is exactly what we need.

©2024 Cal Newport (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"This brilliant and timely book is for all of us who've grown disillusioned with conventional productivity advice, yet still yearn to get meaningful things done. With his trademark blend of philosophical depth and realistic techniques, Newport outlines an approach that's more human and vastly more effective in the long run." —Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks

"With profound insights backed by research, analysis, and examples from the lives of scientists and artists, Cal Newport explores a better way to work—one that promises more calm, clarity, and creativity." —Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

"Cal's mix of storytelling and practical advice makes this a super engaging read that you'll want to revisit repeatedly." —Ali Abdaal, author of Feel-Good Productivity

Professional Engineer Turned Ph.D.

Once again Cal Newport has produced a book that has given me more skills, strategies and habits to be successful. I started listening to Deep Work, How to Be a Straight A Student and So Good They Can't Ignore You. Like his other work this book has helped a professional engineer excel as an older Ph.D. student. I highly recommend for any knowledge worker.

Have A Seat And Digest This Much Needed Food For Thought

I was impressed with the ease of which the book remained incredibly relatable: not only for persons the information skills, but persons who are tired of being cogs in some corporate plantation.

Probably only for top leaders or writers

Does not seem applicable to entry-mid career folks who don’t have resources to rely on or some other staff to delegate work to.

There is another way!

Excellent piece of work from one of the most influential writers of my generation. I’ve used these principles in my own life and recommend other readers to do the same.

Slower Production Makes For Better Quality

I found this book to be full of ideas to help you produce or write with better quality. The reader was a little drab. I would like his reader to include more voice inflection to make it easier to listen. Otherwise there is great content.

Useful, actionable tips

I didn’t need to be convinced of his argument, but Newport does a good job of laying out his case for slow productivity. He then proceeds to provide useful anecdotes and tips for how to implement slow productivity in everyday life. I thought Chapters 3 and 4 were particularly strong and helpful.

How knowledge work can optimized to get great results

I liked his examples that show how successful people have done slow productivity, without compromising the quality, and creativity. Us knowledge workers need to heed this advice and work effectively. Leave the “make work” behind and just do good work. Great listen!

Good but overly focused on the arts and recycles alot

The book was interesting and I will take some good recommendations away from it; however, like Cal, I work in the technology sector, and I’d estimate that over 80% of his examples were based on writers and songwriters and other artists. I enjoyed the stories, but couldn’t fuly connect to my work. The book also recycles ideas from other books, such as using an expensive notebook and socializing a schedule.

Cal Needs Narration Training

I really wanted to love this after hearing Cal on the Sam Harris podcast. The topic is intriguing. But- Cal sounds like a middle schooler struggling to slowly and precisely read a text book. It’s so robotic my ears are bleeding. Every “a” and syllable are painfully articulated phonetically- not as spoken, normal, conversational dialogue. It’s tough and distracting.

Less about knowledge workers and more about creative workers

There are a couple good take away for the average knowledge worker to take away throughout the first half of the book. The second half of the book only used examples from creative pursuits to make the key points about how to achieve better productivity. This would be ok if they connect back with concrete methods for improving productivity in knowledge work settings but it never circles back. It goes on and on about musicians and writers and their tactics. IA few examples from business settings would have made the lessons more impactful.