Phones have been receiving a lot of criticism recently, but what if these concerns are missing the mark? In this episode, Cal introduces the difference between primary and secondary phone harms, and argues how our obsession with the former hides the importance of the latter. He then answers reader questions and reviews the books he read in March 2025.
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Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo
Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia
Deep Dive: The Forgotten Phone Harms [3:32]
- What do you do when your writing doesn’t quite feel right? [24:32]
- How should I prioritize responding to different types of communication? [33:29]
- Should personal and work tasks be split into different Trello boards? [39:10]
- What is the difference between a two-status board and a reverse task list? [41:47]
CASE STUDY: A student adopts the Tao of Cal [45:17]
CALL: Structuring weekly templates [49:00]
MARCH BOOKS: The 5 books Cal read in March 2025 [57:24]
- Believe (Ross Douhut)
- How to Winter (Kari Leibowitz)
- Letter and the Scroll (Jonathan Sacks)
- I and Thou (Martin Buber)
- Coming into the Country (John McPhee)
Links:
Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at calnewport.com/slow
Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/
Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?
Thanks to our Sponsors:
This show is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/deepquestions and get on your way to being your best self.
Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, Kieron Rees for the slow productivity music, and Mark Miles for mastering.