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Welcome back to First Principles, the newsletter from Afford Anything. In 1896, a young Marie Curie, Polish physicist and mathematician, became fascinated by uranium. She was inspired by scientist Henri Becquerel’s discovery of radioactivity, which took place that same year. Curie herself coined the term “radioactivity” to describe the occurrence of radiation caused by atomic decay. Curie focused her research on pitchblende, a mineral rich in uranium. She observed that pitchblende was far more radioactive than pure uranium, leading her to hypothesize the presence of additional radioactive elements in the mineral. She was on the verge of the discovery that would lead to the first of her two Nobel Prizes, which she won for both physics and chemistry. But before she achieved her scientific triumphs, she … went on vacation?! Huh?! After publishing a notice about her research to the scientific community, Curie took an extended two-month sabbatical. She spent the summer with her family in the rural hills of France. Unplugged. Disconnected from the laboratory, the competitive world. Returning to her lab in the fall, Curie resumed her research. In 1898, she discovered two new elements: polonium, which she named in honor of her home country Poland, and radium. Four years later, in 1902, after processing several tons of pitchblende, she and her assistant isolated tenth of a gram of pure radium chloride. For her groundbreaking discovery, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics the following year. Today, few of us could imagine taking a two-month sabbatical while on the precipice of a trailblazing, career-defining discovery. Our modern sensibilities scream: “This project is too important! You can’t take that much time off!” But Curie took a different approach to work. She measured productivity in years, not weeks or months. This is the practice of slow productivity. In a quiet, suburban office on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., I sit at a conference room table across from Dr. Cal Newport. Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown University. His academic work focuses on distributed systems theory.
Many years ago, I saw a video clip featuring a slide from one of his academic presentations. It featured a formula written with a terrifying assortment of Greek letters and symbols. His academic work is rigorous, dense. Yet somehow, Newport found time to publish books unrelated to his field. Eight books, in fact. His books grapple with questions related to productivity, focus, and efficient work habits. Several are New York Times bestsellers. He contributes articles to The New Yorker. He hosts Deep Questions, a podcast with nearly 300 episodes. His YouTube channel has 566 videos and 184,000 subscribers. When I meet him, I’m struck by one immediate observation: He looks incredibly relaxed. He’s in the middle of a book launch, a notoriously busy time for authors, even those who aren’t also balancing academic responsibilities. Yet he’s … just. 👏 so. 👏 relaxed. We sit across the table. We chitchat about my visit to D.C.; we discuss the weather. Eventually we enter his studio and begin our formal interview. I don’t know how long the interview lasted, but the edited — ahem, EDITED — published version features a runtime of 80 minutes. Cal Newport is not in a rush.
I realize, while talking to him, that his relaxed demeanor is a result of his dedication to three principles: 1: Do fewer things 2: Work at a natural pace 3: Obsess over quality The first point, “do fewer things,” may initially seem at odds with Newport’s lengthy list of achievements. At first blush, these sound contradictory. But a deeper look reveals that Newport can achieve so much — eight books, a successful podcast and Youtube channel, a role as a contributor to The New Yorker, and an academic career at Georgetown — precisely because he’s selective about the projects he undertakes. He avoids social media and minimizes email. He’s not a heavy mileage accumulator on the conference and speaker circuit. He’s not on TikTok. I didn’t ask, but I’m guessing he doesn’t cold plunge. Doing fewer things is the prerequisite to the second principle: work at a natural pace. Pause. Take breaks. Stretch. Eat a snack. Chitchat with the personal finance podcaster that just dropped by. Newport says this is key to the “art of accomplishment without burnout.” Marie Curie epitomized working at a natural pace when she took multi-month sabbaticals in the middle of her research, Newport says. Her work varied in intensity: acute bouts of research punctuated by sustained rest. It’s an interval training approach: sprint, rest, sprint, rest. Doing fewer things, at a natural pace, allows a person to obsess over quality, Newport says. When attention isn’t fragmented, life isn’t frenetic, and email and Slack isn’t pinging constantly, you’re free to focus on deep work. Deep, excellent-quality work will build your career, reputation, impact and legacy, he says. Across a lifetime, you’ll be seen as productive and prolific. But on a random Tuesday, you may just be staring at the clouds, thinking through a tough problem. That’s the art of slow productivity.
While is my third time interviewing Newport, it’s our first interview face-to-face. It’s one of the most enlightening and inspiring conversations I’ve recorded in awhile. If you’re stressed, overwhelmed, or dreaming of an extended break, you’ll benefit from watching our interview. Enjoy! — Paula P.S. Shout out to my video editor, Steve, who sprinkled in funny little easter eggs. 🙂 |
