Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

TLDR: “A re-hash of everything else he’s written. Comfort food, basically.”

Book review by Deane Barker • • tags: productivity, self-help •
An image of the cover of the book "Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout"

I’ll basically read anything Cal Newport writes. After So Good They Can’t Ignore You and Deep Work, I was just hooked on the dream he offers – deep work, without interruption, toward tangible, consistent results.

Mind you, it’s a dream I’ve never quite been able to reach, but I keep reaching for it.

Honestly, this book doesn’t offer much new information. Newport boils productivity down to three things:

  1. Do less
  2. Work at a natural pace
  3. Obsess over quality

There’s not much here that’s not wildly obvious, or hasn’t been covered in Newport’s other books.

But still, there’s just something encouragingly aspirational about it all. It’s lifecycle porn – a dream of something we might be able to attain someday, and that we take comfort in knowing is out there somewhere.

Book Info

Author
Cal Newport
Year
Pages
256
Acquired
  • I have read this book. According to my records, I completed it on .
  • A hardcover copy of this book is currently in my home library.
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