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Ep. 379: The Flexibility Myth

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Ep. 379: The Flexibility Myth

Deep Questions with Cal Newport

Nov 17
Deep Questions with Cal Newport

Deep Questions with Cal Newport

Nov 17
OverviewShownoteHighlightsTranscriptChaptersPins

Shownote

When companies began instituting return-to-office plans after the pandemic, a disproportionate number of women chose instead to leave the workforce. Why? The obvious answer is that they wanted the flexibility of remote work. But in this episode, Cal draws ...

Highlights

The return of rigid office mandates after the pandemic revealed a deeper issue in knowledge work—one that goes beyond simple preferences for remote flexibility. As many women exited the workforce in disproportionate numbers, the underlying cause was not just location but the chaotic nature of modern work itself.
03:29
Working mothers would sacrifice 40% of pay to avoid employer-discretion jobs
56:26
A lack of centralization slows people down; use a single source for tasks and information.
1:01:48
Bosses are more afraid of losing good employees than employees are of disappointing their bosses.
1:10:00
Doing well in coding challenges demonstrates organizational and goal-achievement skills important for developer jobs
1:14:35
Work should serve life, not define it.
1:21:47
Slow productivity produces higher-quality academic work than frantic, last-minute efforts.
1:27:24
Use visual border styles to differentiate deep work, admin, and meetings at a glance.
1:49:23
Belief in superintelligence has become a faith-based movement among rationalists

Chapters

Deep Dive: The Flexibility Myth
00:00
How should a venture backed startup team design their work schedule?
51:42
How do I stop my boss from e-mailing me at all hours?
57:02
How should a professor on break schedule his deep work?
1:02:35
How can I better schedule my blocks to prepare for technical interviews?
1:09:59
When considering lifestyle-centric planning, what practices may help determine the type of work to pursue?
1:12:16
CASE STUDY: Completing a Thesis
1:19:08
CALL: Details about time blocking
1:25:08
CAL READS THE COMMENTS: The Case Against Superintelligence
1:33:58

Transcript

Cal Newport: I recently came across an op-ed in the New York Times that caught my attention. It was written by Corrine Lowe, an economist at Penn who studies gender in the workplace. In this piece, she says the following. This is the quote that really grab...