• Ep. 349: Sam Altman On Productivity

  • Apr 21 2025
  • Length: 1 hr and 12 mins
  • Podcast

Ep. 349: Sam Altman On Productivity

  • Summary

  • Cal talks a lot about his ideas for producing meaningful work in a distracted world. But how do other people tackle this goal? To help better under this question, Cal reacts to a 2018 article from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in which he details his productivity philosophy. Cal then answers listener questions and concludes with a dystopian tech corner.

    Find out more about Done Daily at DoneDaily.com!

    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: Sam Altman On Productivity [2:20]

    - How do I prevent administrative sprawl? [22:01]
    - When is the best time to schedule Deep Work? [31:12]
    - How can a gardener gain career capital? [32:43]
    - How can one go from good performance to exceptional performance? [36:21]
    - Is it better to write with a single monitor? [38:33]

    CALL: Slow Productivity in a changing world [43:09]

    CALL: Rory Mcllroy and his phone [48:35]

    TECH CORNER: Will AI Destroy Humanity by 2027? [56:46]

    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?
    blog.samaltman.com/productivity
    ai-2027.com
    daveshap.substack.com/p/common-bad-takes-in-ai-safety-a-response

    Thanks to our Sponsors:

    shopify.com/deep
    zocdoc.com/deep
    vanta.com/deepquestions
    expressvpn.com/deep

    Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, Kieron Rees for the slow productivity music, and Mark Miles for mastering.

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