About this episode
In this episode of Deep Questions I answer reader questions on work resistance, the state of techno-criticism, tales from the MIT theory group, and the depth-destroying power of children. I also play some question roulette and tackle the audio question of the day. (Hint: it’s about my reading habits.) To submit your own questions, sign up for my mailing list at calnewport.com (I send a survey to this list soliciting questions on a semi-regular basis). Here’s the full list of topics tackled in today’s episode along with the timestamps: * The organizational power of plain text files [1:18] * Confronting an overwhelming number of obligations [4:00] * Getting back on track after lockdown disrupted work habits [7:15] * Dealing with resistance to work [9:39] * Audio question of the day: managing a variety of different inputs [18:28] * Avoiding social media on the phone browser [23:26] * The need for a distraction-reducing phone operating system [26:06] * Tracking birthdays without Facebook [28:32] * My podcast habits [31:07] * Humane tools and the state of techno-criticism [33:57] * Question roulette: my book reading habits [43:46] * Life inside the MIT Theory Group (bonus: cracking the superstar code) [48:47] * The seeming impossibility of deep work with kids [1:02:42] * Curing your spouse’s Facebook addiction [1:14:10] * On the deep value of work [1:16:12] Thanks to listener Jay Kerstens for the intro music. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.