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When I feel overwhelmed I love listening to Cal Newport and getting ideas for rethinking the way I work and the structure I need.

First off, I appreciate Cal’s work and I don’t think it’s bad to repeat yourself if you keep thinking up new ways to reframe and he does. As a woman listening to a podcast there is often a tipping point where the voices, references, questions, answers, quotes, and subject material tip so heavily to the side of men and men’s voices and opinions and lives that it doesn’t feel relatable. If it’s for everyone, can you try to be aware of when you are bro-ing out? As an interviewer I’d love to hear Cal really dive into details of what a guest is saying, but with more insights into their perspective and experiences and less about book sales (and less about Cal’s book sales…in an interview of someone else). I don’t know what your editing process is like, but sometimes you can go ahead and tell those personal stories to a guest to put them at ease and relate, but take some of it out in post especially if it’s again, just talking about your own book sales. Also, lol that how-to-mom episode. Get a good handyman and um, my job as a mom is 25-30 hours a week (I get to fit my work and intellectual life around my family and my spouse’s job and not the other way around) so your 1 thing a day was cute.

Deep Questions is the ONLY podcast i listen to religiously. Cal’s wisdom has truly enriched my life in a deep way. I’m forever grateful🙏🏼

Great advice not only for a more productive and sustainable work life - but also for a deeper life outside work. Love Cal’s books and podcast.

I like this podcast and his books as well, but Cal can kind of rub me the wrong way in his lack of humility. He paints himself as a savior at times and constantly plugs his books like they’re the Bible. Instead of simply making suggestions for people, it often feels like he KNOWS his way is the best way and everyone else should follow suit.

Cal is a good productivity guru. When he larps as a broad intellectual figure and advice columnist things go a bit off the rails. So you need to listen to the show the way you’d read Hacker News comments section - there’s occasional gold on technical topics and wildly variable takes on everything else. One episode someone wrote in with climate anxiety and Cal said don’t worry about things outside of your control, go fix a neighborhood playground. Yet it seems when a topic is emotionally salient for Cal, he is unable to resist the twitter rage bait he just spent the previous hour warning listeners about. In these instances his deep intellectualism schtick really just reads as an expertly crafted scaffolding for sounding authoritative. Anyways, I treat the podcast like a weekly devotional for concepts like time blocking and multi scale planning.

This is just we all need in this crazy unrealistic “Grind culture “ we find ourselves in (yeah , grind yourself into the ground!!”) ..Cals Guidance will lead you to being more productive and satisfied in your life and work in a more rational way … I appreciate his easy going style and sense of humor…well worth anybodies time !

I am only 15, but I feel like my life has already changed. This man, Dr. Newport, has pretty much devoted his adult life to helping others see life as something to be used and cherished, and it’s invaluable, from his books about Deep Work and Digital Minimalism (all of which I am reading) to his podcast and other media, it’s truly a gem. Thank you Mr. Newport, for turning my life around from a hyper-connected zombie to an enjoyer of God’s Creation.

I’m pretty far from the typical white-collar knowledge worker whom Cal is usually addressing directly, but I’ve still derived immense benefit from this show. Together with his new book Slow Productivity, it’s the best thing to happen for my time prioritization struggles since first reading Stephen Covey.

As a person who’s recently gotten rid of all socials it’s refreshing hearing Cal Newport. First heard of him on the Ted talk years back. This podcast is phenomenal. So much value to take from these episodes

Terrific content and a breeze to sit for a listen any week. The hour show seems like 30 min.

The topics are centered around productivity and achievement, rooted in becoming more fully human. Very grateful for this podcast and the work of Cal Newport.

I follow several podcasts, and this one is by far my favorite. I never miss an episode. Cal’s deep work/deep life philosophy has changed my life, and saved me from burnout. Great podcast!

I’ve been listening to Cal for a while, and I have found his approach to productivity the only one to make a meaningful impact. His approach is humane, especially in philosophy of Slow Productivity, not feeding hustle culture, but devising a way to work hard, well, and wisely in a way that leverages the natural rhythms and needs of the human mind and soul. I strongly recommend not only his podcast but all his books, especially Deep Work, Digital Minimalism, and the aforementioned Slow Productivity. It’ll change your relationship with your work and your life.

Cal Newport’s books have been a fixture in my education from the past 10 years. Having the variety in podcasts from this show has only deepened my commitment to the deep life. Thank you.

Cal has helped my understanding of working and living deeply and with more intention. Years ago he helped me reshape my relationship with social media, and now my obsession with spending my time in a meaningful way has expanded to the way I view work and my personal life.

I love the content. I feel like there is a lot of actionable takeaways. And I love his new book Slow productivity.

This show has made a big impact in my life — plus, it’s fun

I absolutely love this podcast. It is the one podcast I always listen to weekly without fail. I was introduced to Cal Newport through his book Deep Work and have been a huge fan since then. I eagerly await your next book Cal. The podcast is full of value every week. Kudos to Jessie as well.

Especially for students. Have been listening for forever, thank you!

I listen to cal each week on the way into work. I typically choose audiobooks over podcasts but love this one because they strike the right balance of humor and helpful content. Things I’ve learned from cal have had a tremendous impact on my career and how much I enjoy my office job.

Love cal he’s one of the GOATS

This is a disrespectful unedited waste of time, completely at odds with Cal’s written material.

This isn’t about productivity. It’s about living a more meaningful life in relationship to the work you do. Cal takes an approach that is unique, and it’s clear he’s out significant thought into his content here. It’s well informed, it’s well reasoned, the delivery is great and engaging. I always learn something. As a graduate student, I have only recently come across Cals books and this podcast, and they have all given me such a better way of approaching my future professional work. So as a note to him, thank you man. Also I made this handle for reviews a long, long time ago.

Best podcast ever, to learn how to increase productivity in areas in your life that are your highest priority.

This is one of my favorite podcasts right now, so much good content! Love the deep dives and the case studies. There is one thing that flummoxes me, however. Cal says “drawling” instead of “drawing.” Why? Is this an east coast thing? Have people corrected him and he just delights in the idiosyncrasy of it? I HAVE TO KNOW 😬

This is the only podcast I listen to that has insights that I actually end up applying to my own life. Many podcasts give advice, but none else have prompted me to make real positive changes that stick. At the beginning of the podcast’s run, Cal mostly just answered questions from listeners and readers of his blog. In the last year or so, he has changed the format, for the better imo. He starts with a discussion of a particular topic, then answers questions he has prepared before the show that tie into that main theme. (And then at the end he talks about something unrelated that he finds interesting.) This has added more variety to the show, and more importantly, allows ideas to develop across episodes. The show promotes a way of life called the Deep Life, which is the central idea around which most or all of the themes orbit. I find that listening to the podcast regularly helps keep this way of life top of mind, no matter what the theme of the day is. As for the jokes, I find them endearing.

I really enjoyed this podcast when it first started out and even submitted a question in the first year. It was cool to watch Cal work through his ideas in real time with actual situations. But it turns out lots of people have the same problems at work, and as the podcast has grown bigger and bigger, fewer of those submitting questions have any familiarity with Cal’s large body of work. So now it is just he same advice, doled over and over and even the more nuanced strategies that take the podcast beyond his books are becoming old. The worst for me, though, was the addition of Jesse, who is not a co-host. I think Cal really wanted a co-host, not a producer, and he keeps treating Jesse, who has absolutely nothing to say, as though he is one. So it has turned into two guys bro-ing it up and making bad jokes and having running gags (Jesse Skeleton, Name of the Wind, turning it into a baseball podcast). It’s boring. I used to set aside a long dog walk to listen to the latest episode; recently, I noticed that it stopped downloading because I hadn’t listened in so long. So…eh. Listen to it for awhile, but after a year of episodes or so, you’ll have everything you need.

If you’re a self improver, this show is for you. Cal’s advice is articulate, hilarious, and pragmatic. Everything from productivity to career direction to living more meaningfully with less distraction. My life runs like a TAG Heuer thanks to Cal. Smooth. Okay, not always, but increasingly. Thanks Cal!

I appreciate when content flows effectively and efficiently from a creator (but is still packed with research, interesting insights, and problem-solving tactics). In other words, some real magic is being pumped out consistently here and a lot of it is original and hard to find on other podcasts. I love hearing about the tid-bits of Cal’s personal life in order to feel a human connection, and I think this element is balanced perfectly with the information, motivation, and knowledge I am craving. Even when the information repeats itself it is because SIMPLE is not EASY. I need to hear the repetition for myself (and because I condense a lot of Cal’s information and offer it to my own student’s consistently). While I don’t always have time to implement what I have learned right away, the podcast is organized very well and given great titles so I can find what I need and go back to it when I am ready. Also, Jesse is great:) Thank you for all you do!!!!

I thought it was the tool. I thought the next planner or the next piece of software would make work better. More manageable. More tolerable. I was wrong. I didn’t have systems in my life that worked. I didn’t have a WAY of working and thinking that adequately addressed the modern workplace. Thanks to Cal’s podcast and writing, my life is deeper, more meaningful, more effective, and genuinely more enjoyable. Work is improving as well. Especially my thinking on what makes a career great.

A fantastic podcast. Cal values his time and his audience’s. There’s not a lot of fluff here or meandering tangents. He gets right to the crux of the problem, addressing questions, providing insights, and useful tips. I appreciate the timestamps, too, which further prove he not interested in wasting your time. Creating a deep life is a goal we should all strive for.

Cal’s advice manages to feel modern, wise, cutting edge, relevant and timeless without gimmicks and, importantly, without being contradictory. So much online “productivity advice” feels gimmicky, shallow(!), and more about shiny tools and marginal gains for clicks which, ultimately, cause more distraction and worsens the problem. Cal avoids this and brings his listeners along for the ride (maybe you could say he brings us along for the “Deep Ride”, as he navigates the Deep Stack…?! IYKYK). I wish he’d do some guest interviews (maybe with folks like Andrew Huberman, and others) to discuss how the processes and advice might change or could be adapted for people who have conditions that may make achieving a Deep Life harder. An episode on how to adapt for Autism, ADHD, etc. would be interesting.

As a knowledge worker, his books and podcasts helped me a lot. Thank you Cal ❤️

Cal Newport simplifies complicated subjects while adding depth. Absolutely brilliant! The only podcast I usually listen to at normal speed because his pace is perfect and he’s serving up way too much to take in at 1.5x or 2x. At first I thought I’d never listen to the same person talk for an hour and a half, but Cal keeps me engaged. Even if I listen a little at a time, I almost always finish the entire episode. Highly recommend!

I have learned a lot from reading Deep Work and SGTCIY, but it’s this podcast that has really helped me learn about or validate my intuition about how to prioritize my time - even though I’m at a primarily undergraduate/teaching university. Time blocking for my research is the only way to move my research projects forward during the semester. It’s really the only way I can get non urgent but important things done as a tenure track professor mom of four.

I am a full time remote working Director for my company and a mother of two young kids. Implementing Cal’s strategies have taken me out of being the middle man and saved me so much grief. Specifically, using Smartsheet to manage team project communications, referring any external persons to Calendly, and the time block planning method. Thanks to Cal’s advice, I actually have time for *gasp* hobbies, walking my kids to and from the bus, and I enjoy my work days.

I’m a physician and father of young kids. I have looked around for different sources to help improve productivity; decrease over-scheduling, distraction, and stress; and focus on the more fulfilling things in my life. Deep Questions and Cal’s books have provided the most useful guidance I have come across in years, even though I am not a modern knowledge worker. Thank you for excellent evidence-based ideas and concrete advice on applying them. The regular weekly newsletters and podcasts help me feel continuity and some sense of community. Keep up the good, slowly productive work.

Cal Newport has good insights.

Look,if it was only Cal I would’ve rated this a 10 out of 5 but i come checking on the podcast after some time and there’s this new guy Jesse who hasn’t written any books,who isn’t an MIT professor, who hasn’t done anything “so good that it can’t be ignored” and is given me his opinion on what Cal is saying,it’s almost like Cal took a random guy out of nowhere and decided to record with him from then.

I discovered Cal Newport’s body of work at Powells bookstore in Portland, Oregon, where “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” was featured as an Employee Favorite. Later, I found Cal’s Deep Questions podcast, where he enjoyably(!) unfolds his personal pursuit of what he calls Lifestyle Centric Career planning. The basic idea is that your life plays out in real places among real people, and these affect your ability to live well and grow - to do purpose-driven deep work rather than shallow work, to attend to all areas of life, not only work. When I listen to Cal, these Somerset Maugham story lines come to mind: "Most people, the vast majority in fact, lead the lives that circumstances have thrust upon them, and though some repine, looking upon themselves as round pegs in square holes, and think that if things had been different they might have made a much better showing, the greater part accept their lot, if not with serenity, at all events with resignation. They are like train-cars traveling forever on the selfsame rails. They go backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards, inevitably, till they can go no longer and then are sold as scrap-iron. It is not often that you find a man who has boldly taken the course of his life into his own hands. When you do, it is worthwhile having a good look at him.” I had the good fortune to actually live a Lifestyle-Centric-Career-Plan life, and I highly recommend it! So, I hope you tune into Deep Questions podcast. And, on occasions when you’re trying too hard, loosen up the gears with a dose of calm perspective-shifting via Reveri self-hypnosis app, developed by Stanford MD, Dr. David Spiegel, whose own body of work exemplifies working deeply.

It’s hard to believe that this is free. Cal, the wisdom that you offer, with a lighthearted and kind spirit, is wonderful. I’m constantly sharing episodes with colleagues, friends and family. Pure gold! If David Allen and Andrew Huberman had a baby … it might be a lot like you! Thank you for all your hard work on our behalf.

Cal Newport is a well-oiled machine and has the tips and tricks one needs to leverage their brain at ultimate capacity. His methods allow for insane productively in small amounts of time. Must listen podcast

This is my revised review, after the initial one was removed. There is some good content here but the host comes off a bit preachy and full of himself. And the office video tour, which featured his books on every wall of the space, was perhaps a bit much.

I love this podcast (along with Cal’s incredible body of work) and am so grateful for the deeper insights, reminders, recommendations and new information. An added bonus: Cal is HILARIOUS! Keep up the good work! P.S. Cal, please don’t EVER stop talking about baseball… even if your team is the Nats. Go Giants!

Cal Newport’s advice is great. Love the podcast.

Good content here but two things I wish would change—one is that Newport seems to be doing an impression of talk radio hosts he has listened to, with long pauses between words, etc. He should just use his natural voice. The other is that he overdoes it with the self-deprecating humor, and jokes in general. Not his fault, he’s just not that funny. If I want self-deprecating humor I can listen to Conan O’Brian, who is funny. Let’s focus here on the substance instead.

I love this podcast so much that I could listen to a new episode every day. Thanks for the excellent work, Cal.

I’ve been following Newport’s work since 2012. I love that he has found some time to podcast his thoughts because it’s awesome to see how even though 10 years have elapsed, the principles remain unchanged.