Modern work has a giant problem: It keeps us stressed enough to be miserable, but never stressed enough to quit. Cal Newport, a computer scientist at Georgetown University, says that's not an accident: When work switched from factories and farms to offices, we never figured out how to measure the productivity of knowledge workers. Looking busy became our flawed metric, even though busyness keeps us from producing better work.

Michael sits down with Newport, author of Deep Work and Slow Productivity, about how to do deep, valuable work in a world that rewards fake productivity. They cover:

Why emails and meetings are killing our ability to do work that means something.

The conversation to have with your boss when you have too many meetings and other tasks.

The three core rules of “Slow Productivity:” do fewer things, work at a natural pace, obsess over quality.

Enduring myths of productivity, from Jane Austen to Jack Kerouac.

How to say no without burning a bridge.

How to use AI to enhance your work without hurting your thinking.

How to rebuild your attention span the way you'd train for a mile.
And more …

Go deeper: A Viral NYT Story Says Remote Work Makes Us Depressed. It's Wrong.

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today's episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. Our editor is Will Mayo. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.

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What AI Is Actually Doing to Your Workday | Cal Newport

Two Percent with Michael Easter

What AI Is Actually Doing to Your Workday | Cal Newport