Ep. 259: The Four-Hour Work Day

Cal Newport explains the four-hour work day in Episode 259 of the Deep Questions podcast.

Do you ever feel completely overwhelmed by everything you have to do? The writer Oliver Burkeman recently experimented with an unexpected response to this common sensation: he decided to work much less. In more detail, he wanted to see what would happen if he reacted to overload by restricting his work to only four hours per day. In this episode, Cal reviews what Burkeman discovered in this experiment and what it teaches the rest of us.

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0:00 Cal's intro
6:01 What happens when you cut your workday in half?
25:23 Cal talks about Shopify and Cozy Earth
30:25 What does the “celebrate” deep life bucket include?
38:54 The are big life changes the right thing to do?
49:18 When does Cal “start” his work day?
50:35 How do I save for a good retirement without making my current lifestyle worse?
57:01 Case Study - The Joys of Doing Less
1:00:12 Cal talks about Grammarly and Policy Genius
1:05:50 Chris Nolan doesn’t own a phone

Connect with Cal Newport:

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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[garrybrown]

Thanks for sharing your 8 mm pearls of wisdom! I wish I had heard this at age 10 or so. At 70 years and 10 months it is NEVER too late. GJBrownDO 8/31/2023 12:12 Pacific

[sancap]

I really like Oliver’s newsletter, and book, he has a unique writing style, it just feels like a friend sending you a letter.

[sancap]

I want Cal merch! A mug would be great, and a ball cap.

[vivettegarciadeister]

How about an episode on work load management strategies? One or two models for knowledge workers

[arianeelsammak]

Loved this episode! Eye opening....as a creative, I feel like I am getting burned out and always feel like I have to do more and more. I like this approach, worth trying:)

[helenrachelreynolds]

Oppenheimer is exclusive to movie theatres for a whole year! You will not miss out by waiting

[SoberSongwriter]

I'm going to attempt this 4 hour experiment too. I definitely experience the "me against the evil task" feeling and maybe it's cos I have so much time to do it, the work just ends up getting spread out usually with doing extra research aka the Parkinson's law

[NotesinSpanishofficial]

Where can I find the Oliver Burkeman article? Thanks

[StraightforwardTech]

3 WAR only… you’re underrating your abilities Cal

[pradeepmohandas]

Cage - celebration, appreciation, gratitude, and enjoyment. Still keeps the C.

[fatcapital]

Love your content. Jokes about firing people aren't funny though.