#166 – Cal Newport: Deep Work, Focus, Productivity, Email, and Social Media

Cal Newport is a computer scientist who also writes about productivity. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – ExpressVPN : https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free – Linode : https://linode.com/lex to get $100 free credit – Sun Basket : https://sunbasket.com/lex and use code LEX to get $35 off – SimpliSafe : https://simplisafe.com/lex and use code LEX to get a free security camera EPISODE LINKS: A World Without Email (book): https://amzn.to/3blXyjv Deep Work (book): https://amzn.to/3c0npMM Digital Minimalism (book): https://amzn.to/3kJPMmx Cal’s Website: https://www.calnewport.com/ Deep Questions (podcast): https://www.calnewport.com/podcast/ PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: – Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast – Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman – Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman – Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LexFridmanPage – Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman OUTLINE: Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) – Introduction (08:24) – Deep work (13:10) – Focus (18:52) – Time blocking (25:47) – Deadlines (35:22) – Do less, do better, know why (38:04) – Clubhouse (52:07) – Burnout (58:34) – Boredom (1:06:19) – Quit social media for 30 days (1:16:13) – Social media (1:41:21) – How email destroyed our productivity at work (1:51:07) – How we fix email (1:58:09) – Over-optimization (2:02:23) – When to use email and when not to (2:10:06) – Podcasting (2:14:42) – Alan Turing proving the impossible (2:18:41) – Fragility of math in the face of randomness (2:27:30) – Neural networks (2:36:16) – What will the P=NP proof look like? (2:39:55) – Is math discovered or invented? (2:44:02) – Book publishing (2:54:09) – Love (2:57:30) – Death (3:00:26) – Meaning of life