Friday Rec | April 5th, 2024
One weekly recommendation on what to read, watch, listen to, or think about
I have a complicated relationship with productivity.
I’ve technically been “self-employed” or a contractor since I was 15 years old, when I signed my first record deal. Since then I’ve been songwriter, a freelance copywriter, and an essayist in a fully remote work setting — up until last year, when I added in-person teaching to my career and had to wear pants and go to a physical location on a schedule for the first time.
Being mostly self-directed for so long has made me acutely aware of my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to managing my time. It’s also made me someone who loves reading about the way different people in different fields and work settings manage their time.
Unfortunately, most writing on productivity is worthless, damaging, or focused entirely on maximizing your professional output at the expense of — you know — having joy in your life.
Books like Oliver Burkeman’s 4,000 Weeks do a great job of resetting mindsets toward productivity in a healthy way. But people like me still want real tips and direction, even if we approach productivity in a more holistic way.
Enter Cal Newport’s excellent Slow Productivity.
I first read Newport’s Deep Work, and then Digital Minimalism, and loved them both. So when I realized that he had come out with a book on slow, deliberate productivity in knowledge work at the exact time in my life that I had taken on more knowledge work/creative work than I ever have before, I knew I had to read it.
I was not disappointed.
Slow Productivity is the perfect balance of philosophical inspiration to help you find joy in all parts of your life, as well as actual effective guidance to help you accomplish more of what matters by adopting a deliberate, natural pace. No more bonkers, caffeine-fueled sessions of trying to knock out everything on your to-do list. Just deep focus on moving forward on the things you care about.
Read or listen to it this week. You won’t regret it.
What have you been reading, watching, listening to, or doing? Let us all know in the comments!
Wasn't aware he had a new book out!
I loved Four Thousand Weeks - picked it up on a whim, I thought it was going to be your typical productivity book, it wasn't, and it helped provide some balance.