The Danger Of Having Too Many Interests | Deep Questions With Cal Newport

Cal Newport talks about the dangers of having too many interests. Cal explains what it means to be "productive" and also what it means to live deliberately.

0:00 Cal's intro
1:55 Making little progress
4:12 Baseline hobbies
5:13 Turning attention

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About Cal Newport:
Cal Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown University. In addition to his academic research, he writes about the intersection of digital technology and culture. Cal's particularly interested in our struggle to deploy these tools in ways that support instead of subvert the things we care about in both our personal and professional lives.

Cal is a New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including, most recently, A World Without Email, Digital Minimalism, and Deep Work. He's also the creator of The Time-Block Planner.

The videos are considered to be used under the "Fair Use Doctrine" of United States Copyright Law, Title 17 U.S. Code Sections 107-118. Videos are used for editorial and educational purposes only and I do not claim ownership of any original video content. I don't use said video clips in advertisements, marketing or for direct financial gain. All video content in each clip is considered owned by the individual broadcast companies.

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[DanielAvinashVOX]

I think the YT algorithm noticed me searching for too many unrelated topics and decided I needed to watch this instead 😂 Bravo algo! I did.

[MrTnnr]

For me, it's not the mastery of subjects that I find rewarding, its the process of getting there. The excitement of learning new things and the challenge of accomplishment is truly what drives me to constantly tackle new endeavors. On the contrary, I actually become bored and disinterested in something once I have "mastered" it. It really is the journey, not the destination. Luckily, I have been able to strike a acceptable balance of performing a career at a level that provides a stable and adequate income, while pursuing other interests as hobbies that keep my mind occupied. The realization that not everything has to be financially productive has certainly helped. I also realize I may not be reaching my full potential (and income) in life, but have come to accept this as a consequence of who I am.

[positivelyrebellious]

There was a word in this video that I didn't want to hear but it was likely most useful for me. There are so many fascinating things I often feel annoyed that I need to sleep because I'd rather dive into another book. To choose the interest or the creative direction (as work) seemed impossible for me. "You need to be realistic..." "Realistic" sounds depressing, but it's in a realistic choice, in focusing on one main thing, that we get the reward, the satisfaction. And frankly this is the way to confidence because we get better at this one thing.

[ezekielchentnik]

you are treating life like math, good luck!

[misteroz]

It’s a lesson I’ve learned the hard way, having spent most of my life building a skillset that’s broad but shallow. I think there were two fears behind that: Picking an option I’d come to regret, and of failing in something in which I was trying to excel.

[danish]

Think in Projects, not Careers. I think people will always have varied interests in many fields in life. However, they need to learn to take it one project at a time. And Slowly build those projects till they come to fruition. It is nothing wrong in having varied interests, what is wrong is not putting in efforts to actually keep leveling up in those areas of interests.

[Electric_]

I have ADHD and I learned to just have 2 hobbies. I go to the gym and I play my favorite video game. I have a successful business and I am constantly tempted to go into unrelated markets, but I have found solace in giving myself “permission” to just focus on our core competency and to stop tricking myself into thinking I’m leaving money on the table.

[jean-chritophedesjarlais]

"He who'd arrive at the appointed end must follow a single road and not wonder through many ways."
- Venerable Seneca

[theowhite]

"A Jack of all trades is a master of none, but often times better than a master of one."

Multiple interests have not always been frowned upon, think of:
- The renaissance man (or woman).
- The polymath

Breadth is needed for depth of knowledge and often meaning. Connecting the dots across disparate domains is immensely rewarding. We lose insight when we become too narrowly specialised. There is wisdom to be found in breadth and holism rather than myopic reductionism.

[yar]

My piano teacher told me: "Better to practice 20 minutes every day than 3 hours once a week". And his advice worked very well. At the same time I can't break complicated things into small time frames, so your advice is also good.

[Fireneedsair]

Once you get away from the economic imperative, life is way richer with varied interests. And i find there tend to be connections and overlapping knowledge between many. But it is true everything you say about what one needs to sacrifice for mastery. Excellent video

[NickNoted]

Great clip - super important advice for something I also struggle with.

Possibility and potential are awfully shiny, they are representations of what you _could_ be, notions that you can happily fantasise about and chase around .
You _could_ be a successful author, musician, actor, athlete, business owner, content creator, scientist, professor, doctor, or "anything you want" as you may have been told growing up.
And so, by narrowing yourself to one or two things, you are destroying all of those other possibilities (creating painful impossibilities) which requires acceptance and understanding of your limits: you only have so much time.

[mghenry]

I asked this question and had no idea it was answered! YouTube served me the video this morning. Thank you Cal and Jesse, this video found me at just the right time.

[amarug]

I used to think it's a semi-curse that am interested in almost everything. I have gathered a few skills on the way, from a PhD in engineering (also here ranging from differential geometry to heart surgery), painting, composing music, graphical design, tailoring clothes, I speak 5 languages, including "exotic" ones like Finnish and Japanese fluently (meaning I can speak on more or less any topic and could teach my university classes in any of them). A lot of DIY/maker, building stuff, Golf, martial arts, fitness, cooking .... I really went in any direction and in retrospect, I must say I am not sure I regret it. I rarely did things much in "parallel" but rather in short extreme bursts and sure, I am never as good at any of these things like someone who does them professionally, but many of the skills really interacted in helpful ways and I am surprised how far I actually did come in many of the skills, such as languages and sports. My nightmare would have been to put all eggs in one basket - for a few reasons: These days things move quickly and individual baskets may become meaningless overnight. I would feel bored and empty. I am happy not being the best at one single thing. If I could start again, apart from setting the "weights" a bit differently, I would do things exactly the same again. It's brought me amazing opportunities across all areas of life, from career to hobbies, friends and general satisfaction.

[two_inline_sixes]

My mentor told me "a little here and a little there only adds up to a little" and "you can only dance at one party at a time". Also Buffet's quote you can't have a baby in a month by getting 9 women pregnant. I struggled with the the same thing though

[erniea]

Most of us think we have many interests… starting something new feels hopeful so we’re constantly chasing after the next thing. Social media makes it worse.

[jennifer]

If you’re just doing them for enjoyment, no need to choose. If the goal is to make meaningful progress, then narrow your focus.

I do my hobbies sheerly for enjoyment. I’m crap at almost all of them, but I’m happy because I have plenty of variety.

[bluebellbeatnik]

God can i pay you to sort my life out please? my whole life since i was 17 has been constant mismanagement of hobbies and interests. add to that side hustle projects and I'm lost. I'm 40 now and I have achieved nothing other than a dayjob. I also suspect I might have ADHD.

[oeckstei]

I suffer from having a lot of interests that I’d like to pursue. Something I may try and suggest is to tackle one or two things in a 6 month long or 1 year period and see how much improvement you make. Then if you feel satisfied go and tackle the next thing on your list in another 6 month time block.

[MhueD]

We have to be VERY careful here! What we can't do is coach Leonardo Da Vinci to "just focus" and be more into a small set of things. Surely there are different kinds of people and some are more virtuosic in narrow areas and some are more interdisciplinary. Society needs BOTH kinds of production because we need specialized progress AND connections between different areas revealed. Along with some of the other commenters below I use a rotational system where I have a 'quarter' curricula. Only a couple things get total focus in any given 3 month segment, but there can be hard pivots several times a year. Of course, I will not reach the same realms of achievement as a specialized expert, but that is not the point of my efforts anyway. I hope to enhance connections between 'dots' while others move those fields forward at deeper levels.