Ep. 397: Why Do “Productivity Technologies” Make My Job Worse?

A new study finds that for many workers, AI increases shallow efforts while decreasing time focusing on what really matters. This is not the first digital productivity technology to create this paradoxical effect. In today’s episode, Cal dives deep into why this happens and then details three strategies for avoiding these traps in your own professional life. Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia DEEP DIVE:  Why Do “Productivity Technologies” Make My Job Worse? [3:17] INBOX:  An article about meetings [36:11] A case study on escaping email overload [47:29] A tool that makes the internet more boring [50:37] WHAT CAL IS UP TO: Deep or Crazy? [57:02] What Cal read [1:02:23] Cal in the news [1:05:57] Books: Reader, Come Home (Maryanne Wolf) What Do You Say? (William Stixrud and Ned Johnson) Links: Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at calnewport.com/slow Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?pmresearcher.substack.com/p/why-meetings-multiplydocs.pluckeye.net/overview Thanks to our Sponsors:  calderalab.com/deepcozyearth.com/deep (Use code “DEEP”)grammarly.comdrinkag1.com/deep Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, Nate Mechler for research and newsletter, and Mark Miles for mastering. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cal Newport takes a critical look at recent AI News. Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia STORY #1: Did an AI Agent Email an AI Researcher? [1:01] STORY #2: Does the Pentagon Think Claude Has a Soul? [10:20] STORY #3: What’s Going on with Anthropic Revenues? [14:16] Links: Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow  https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/philosopher-ai-consciousness-startled-ai-email https://x.com/dioscuri/status/2029227527718236359 https://x.com/thomaschattwill/status/2029273517175263679 https://x.com/ns123abc/status/2032122638852640951 https://www.reuters.com/commentary/breakingviews/anthropic-gives-lesson-ai-revenue-hallucination-2026-03-10/ https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/12/normal-technology/ Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Remember how much we loved our iPhones when they first came out? Can we get back to that relationship with these devices? In this episode, Cal explores five pieces of advice for transforming your current phone back to something that’s less distracting, more useful, and fun once again – a goal he calls “2007 mode.” Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia DEEP DIVE: Can I learn to love my phone again? [3:31] INBOX:  A new study on brain fry [30:29] Use of phones in The Pitt [38:58] 17th Century scholar dealing with overload [42:05] WHAT CAL IS UP TO: What I’m trying [43:57] What Cal read [48:45] What Cal watched [49:44] Movies: Secret Agent Links: Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at calnewport.com/slow Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?youtube.com/watch?v=x7qPAY9JqE4youtube.com/watch?v=mJ4lsi2RtaIyoutube.com/watch?v=ENUO7dbZ-TYyoutube.com/watch?v=7jVb1lLniEwyoutube.com/watch?v=aC0JKAN5xVIhbr.org/2026/03/when-using-ai-leads-to-brain-fryinstagram.com/reel/DUxCG_BDvWX/?igsh=a3pyZXNlNTZvdDVp Thanks to our Sponsors:  butcherbox.com/deepvanta.com/deepquestions1password.com/deepshopify.com/deep Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cal Newport takes a critical look at recent AI News. Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/3U3sTvo Video from today’s episode:  youtube.com/calnewportmedia ARTICLE #1: America Isn’t Ready for What AI Will Do to Jobs [2:15] ARTICLE #2: Mass Hysteria. Thousands of Jobs Lost. Just How Bad Is It Going to Get? [9:23]  ARTICLE #3: THE 2028 GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE CRISIS: A Thought Exercise in Financial History, from the Future [14:39] Links: Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow  https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/03/ai-economy-labor-market-transformation/685731/ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/opinion/ai-jobs-white-collar-apocalpyse.html https://www.citriniresearch.com/p/2028gic https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/business/citrini-ai-stock-market.html https://www.citadelsecurities.com/news-and-insights/2026-global-intelligence-crisis/ Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Do you need social media? Which services? For what purposes? These are complicated questions and in today’s episode Cal proposes a simple route to answers: conducting a “social media pause.” To help investigate this strategy, Cal is joined by T.K. Coleman, of The Minimalists, to talk about a social media pause that they tried and the surprising results it generated. Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/3U3sTvo Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia IDEAS SEGMENT: Interview with T.K. Coleman [3:26] INBOX: - Focused work in early modern time [1:00:18] - Tool suggestion from a programmer [1:05:10] - Staring at a painting for three hours [1:13:26] WHAT CAL IS UP TO: - Changes to the show [1:18:44] - What Cal read [1:20:04] - What Cal watched [1:21:34] - Renovation of Maker Lab [1:25:38] The Age of Extraction (Tim Wu) John and Paul (Ian Leslie) Movies: Train Dreams The Hurt Locker Three Days of the Condor Links: Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgMUBMqrE7Mhttps://www.reddit.com/r/ObsidianMD/comments/161jik7/please_share_how_you_use_obsidian_for_task/ Thanks to our Sponsors:https://www.monarch.com (Use code “DEEP”)https://www.factormeals.com/deep50offhttps://www.mybodytutor.comhttps://www.wayfair.com Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

AI Reality Check: Did the LLM Job Apocalypse Begin Last Week? Cal Newport takes a closer look at recent AI news. Below are the topics covered in today's episode (with their timestamps).  Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/3U3sTvo Video from today’s episode:youtube.com/calnewportmedia STORY #1: Jack Dorsey announces layoffs at Block [1:28] STORY #2: The education level of LLM-based tools [11:45] STORY #3: What’s happening in the world of computer programming? [19:24] Links: Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow  Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ https://x.com/jack/status/2027129697092731343 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/technology/block-square-job-cuts-ai.html https://x.com/emollick/status/2027153371241607420 https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2026/02/27/block-lays-off-40-of-staff-and-blames-it-on-ai-dont-buy-the-excuse/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56HJQm5nb0U http://calnewport.com Thanks to Jesse Miller for production and mastering.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s hard to live deeply in a distracted world if you don’t have control over how you spend your time. This goal requires a planning system that both works and can last. Do you have a reasonable planning system in place? If not, don’t worry. Today, Cal is joined by planning expert Sarah Hart-Unger (author of “Best Laid Plans”) to discuss the nitty-gritty details of creating sustainable systems that can help you regain autonomy over your schedule without becoming an over-scheduled drone. Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia IDEAS SEGMENT:  Interview with Sarah Hart-Unger [2:12] AUDIENCE FEEDBACK, NOTES, AND CHATTER:  Dopamine addictions and TV shows [1:05:06] Watching entire films [1:09:43] Attention span and movies [1:16:38] WHAT CAL IS UP TO: Update on my AI Programmer Project [1:21:12] Other Updates [1:28:02] What Cal Consumed [1:29:17] The Last Kings of Hollywood (Paul Fischer) Movies: The Smashing Machine Song Sung Blue Links: Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba? vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/07/why-are-movies-sooooo-long-an-investigation science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz9311 Sarah Hart-Unger online: Sarah Hart-Unger (MD, if you want to use that but I typically don't even bother in my creative work!) practicing pediatric endocrinologist, author, and podcaster Best Laid Plans Podcast Best of Both Worlds Podcast (cohosted with Laura Vanderkam) Best Laid Plans: A Simple Planning System for Living a Life That You Love, Sourcebooks Dec 2025 Website (since 2004 . . .): theshubox.com Social media: none :) Partially due to your influence, I quit FB in 2016, IG in 2021, and thankfully never got into anything else! I guess I do have minimal Youtube (occasional planner videos + feed of podcast eps) @youtube.com/@BestLaidPlansVideo Thanks to our Sponsors:  This show is sponsored by Better Help:  betterhelp.com/deepquestions zapier.com/deep calderalab.com/deep shopify.com/deep Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Last month, the Atlantic reported that film students are now struggling to sit through entire films. In this episode, Cal argues that this is both an issue and an opportunity. The fact we can’t watch full movies indicates the impact of digital tools on our brains is worse than we assumed. But in this problem, we also find a solution: maybe teaching ourselves to become better movie watchers can be the first step to reclaiming our own minds. Cal then dissects a viral AI essay that seems to have everyone worried (spoiler: Cal’s not impressed), reads a reader note about social media and the Olympics, and gives an update on his next book project. Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo Video from today’s episode:  youtube.com/calnewportmedia IDEAS SEGMENT:  Can Movies Save Us From Our Phones? [2:36] NEWS AND NOTES SEGMENT:  Something Big is Happening [31:23] Digital Minimalism and the Olympics [49:31] WHAT CAL’S READING: Cal gives his weekly reading update [56:03] Attensity The Lost Island (Eilis Dillon) Links: Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at calnewport.com/slow Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba? theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/college-students-movies-attention-span/685812/ fortune.com/2026/02/11/something-big-is-happening-ai-february-2020-moment-matt-shumer/ Thanks to our Sponsors:  pipedrive.com/deep drinkag1.com/deep butcherbox.com/deep grammarly.com Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There remains a gap between the production values of professional streaming services like Netflix and independent content that appears on platforms like YouTube. But what happens when that gap disappears? In the ideas segment of today’s episode, Cal sends a correspondent to investigate a fascinating new “micro-streaming” service producing Netflix-quality shows with a small team. Then, in the practices segment, he explains why he spent $60 on a single productivity application.Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvoVideo from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmediaIDEAS SEGMENT:  Are “Micro-Streamers” the Future of Media? [3:12]PRACTICES SEGMENT: Why Cal Spent $60 on a Task App? [36:33]QUESTIONS:How can I find time to become a Biblical scholar? [45:25]Should I freak out about this AI Superintelligence article? [49:23]WHAT CAL’S READING: Cal gives his weekly reading update [57:41]The Hidden Book in the Bible (Richard Elliott)Links:Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at calnewport.com/slowGet a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?https://www.masterclass.com/calnewporthttps://culturedcode.com/things/Thanks to our Sponsors: 1password.com/deepcozyearth.com/deep (Use code “DEEP” for 20% off)calderalab.com/deepshopify.com/excellenceThanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Is there something rotten in the state of AI reporting at the moment? In the ideas segment of this episode, Cal details three common traps in AI coverage that distort or distract from the reality of this technology. Once you know what to look for, these traps become easy to avoid – greatly improving your experience when trying to keep up to date on the latest advancements. Then, in the practice segment, Cal asks why morning routines have become so popular among young people. His explanation (hint: it involves the fight for depth in a distracted world) uncovers new ideas about how to make morning routines actually useful.Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvoVideo from today’s episode:youtube.com/calnewportmediaIDEAS SEGMENT:  Is AI Reporting Broken? [1:43]PRACTICES SEGMENT: Rethinking Morning Routines [29:27]QUESTIONS:Did I see somewhere that you’re filming a MasterClass? [41:24]Now that David Brooks left the NYT, will he start a Substack? [46:25]Cal reacts to comments [48:25]WHAT CAL’S READING: Cal gives his weekly reading update  [50:45]Time Freedom (Brian Heriott) ARCThe Vampire, The Tutor, and the Madman (Josh Douglas)One Direction (Charles Duhigg)Links:Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at calnewport.com/slowGet a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?qz.com/amazon-layoffs-ai-tech-job-lossescnbc.com/2026/01/28/amazon-layoffs-anti-bureaucracy-ai.htmlcalnewport.comnytimes.com/2025/07/28/arts/video-games-artificial-intelligence.htmlnypost.com/2026/01/31/tech/moltbook-is-a-new-social-media-platform-exclusively-for-ai/news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46838834youtube.com/@WesRoth/videosyoutube.com/@airevolutionx/videosyoutube.com/watch?v=JoQG25gQyRgnewyorker.com/magazine/2026/02/02/what-maga-can-teach-democrats-about-organizing-and-infightingThanks to our Sponsors: factormeals.com/deep50offmonarch.com (Use code “DEEP”)pipedrive.com/deepmybodytutor.comThanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.