Episode · The Daily Stoic · 2024-03-21
Books mentioned on Cal Newport: Take The Pressure Off Productivity
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Two Books Are Better Than One!
Discussed“So early in grad school, I'm at MIT. I had published these two books about how to be a good student, right? And I had a blog.”
Where to get it
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It's a Book!
It's a Book! by Lane Smith is a charming and humorous children's picture book that explores the digital age through the interactions between a witty monkey and a tech-savvy jackass who cannot comprehend a physical object without a keyboard or mouse.
Discussed“I was like, okay, got have my standard advice for writing a book and he had this whole like alternative world built out about how he was going to run around the whole. It involved him spending a lot of money, yeah, on these marketing firms and these marketing firms were going to get a lot of attention to his”
Where to get it
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The Four Cardinal Virtues
Discussed“And then it's okay, we're going to do the four cardinal virtues books, we're going to, you know, really push the studio quality pod, you know, the plays. It was like you push chips in, right?”
Where to get it
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Slow Productivity
Slow Productivity by Cal Newport is a contemporary nonfiction book that explores how to accomplish meaningful work without succumbing to burnout by adopting a more sustainable and deliberate pace.
Discussed“And so I was like, I got to really—I really got to clean up my understanding of these intuitions and instincts I have about slowly working towards what matters because I've actually created a lot of things as I've gotten better and gotten more stature and the opportunities are everywhere. And I felt like I was in danger of impeding”
Where to get it
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Deep Work
Deep Work by Cal Newport is a guide to cultivating focused success and eliminating distractions in an increasingly hyper-connected world.
Discussed“I want to be better at like really something I'm really working at like when I wrote Deep Work, for example, it was, yeah, I came out of this environment, the theory group at MIT, in which like focus was the number one thing.”
Where to get it
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The Lean Startup
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries is an influential business strategy book that advocates for validated learning, rapid prototyping, and continuous experimentation to help companies build products that customers actually want.
Discussed“And you can actually see this by looking at business advice literature like books like the popular books, right? So in the 80s and 90s, he was like, the big name is going to be Stephen Covey, right?”
Where to get it
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The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R.
Discussed“So you get seven habits, you get first things first, read these books, they're very optimistic, they're all about self-actualization. If you've ever read these books, it's like, you figure out your roles in life, yeah.”
Where to get it
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Getting Things Done
Getting Things Done by David Allen is a foundational productivity and time management guide that introduces a comprehensive system for clearing mental clutter and executing tasks efficiently.
Discussed“Yeah, you go back and read David Allen, what you get, what's his goal? Occasional moments of Zen-like peace, among the mind, like there's nothing to turn you into a processing machine and a survival process you, right?”
Where to get it
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The Obstacle Is the Way
The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday is a bestselling book that popularizes ancient Stoic philosophy by demonstrating how turning obstacles upside down can lead to growth, resilience, and professional success.
Discussed“In your case, truly the obstacles away sold incredibly well over time, closing the loop on the early takes of its career and growth.”
Where to get it
