Ep. 394: Do I Need a Better Planning System?
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
Tools, Rituals, and Retreat-Style Planning
They emphasize tools don't matter; rituals and dedicated planning time (retreats) do the heavy lifting.
It’s hard to live deeply in a distracted world if you don’t have control over how you spend your time. This goal requires a planning system that both works and can last. Do you have a reasonable planning system in place? If not, don’t worry. Today, Cal is joined by planning expert Sarah Hart-Unger (author of “Best Laid Plans”) to discuss the nitty-gritty details of creating sustainable systems that can help you regain autonomy over your schedule without becoming an over-scheduled drone.
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
IDEAS SEGMENT: Interview with Sarah Hart-Unger [2:12]
AUDIENCE FEEDBACK, NOTES, AND CHATTER:
Dopamine addictions and TV shows [1:05:06]
Watching entire films [1:09:43]
Attention span and movies [1:16:38]
WHAT CAL IS UP TO:
Update on my AI Programmer Project [1:21:12]
Other Updates [1:28:02]
What Cal Consumed [1:29:17]
The Last Kings of Hollywood (Paul Fischer)
Movies:
The Smashing Machine
Song Sung Blue
Links:
Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow
Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/
Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?
vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/07/why-are-movies-sooooo-long-an-investigation
science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz9311
Sarah Hart-Unger online:
Sarah Hart-Unger (MD, if you want to use that but I typically don't even bother in my creative work!)
practicing pediatric endocrinologist, author, and podcaster
Best of Both Worlds Podcast (cohosted with Laura Vanderkam)
Best Laid Plans: A Simple Planning System for Living a Life That You Love, Sourcebooks Dec 2025
Website (since 2004 . . .): theshubox.com
Social media: none :) Partially due to your influence, I quit FB in 2016, IG in 2021, and thankfully never got into anything else! I guess I do have minimal Youtube (occasional planner videos + feed of podcast eps) @youtube.com/@BestLaidPlansVideo
Thanks to our Sponsors:
This show is sponsored by Better Help:
Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering.
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