#calnewport — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #calnewport, aggregated by home.social.
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Have any experts written for a general (mostly non-technical audience) about what a candidate's reliance on an #LLM to write their platform and to answer policy questionnaires indicates about what could be expected of that candidate if elected?
Their continuing use of an LLM to in place of original work is obviously foreseeable, but what would that mean in practice with such a person as mayor? as a provincial legislator? How would such cognitive delegation affect legislation? budgets? How would that candidate's views of the industry affect zoning? taxation? regulation?
(Yes, these might not be the hardest questions to answer, but having someone credible, and publicly seen as such, to whose work to refer people, could be helpful. I'm just the friendly neighbourhood emotional support technician: not an expert.)
Context: in my (Canadian) province, some current candidates for MLA and for mayor or city councillor left in a multitude of telltale clanker verbiage in such text, including the common trailing engagement hook paragraph.
I read, hear, or watch a lot by
@emilymbender, @alex, @timnitGebru, @pluralistic, @Zitron, #KarenHao, and #CalNewport (sorry to tag spam a little), but if any of you/them have discussed this publicly, I haven't encountered it yet. (I am still catching up on some of your work, so perhaps I've missed something.)I have found some non-expert reporting, mostly about opinion polls and the like, in mainstream news, and I haven't yet found an expert spelling this out for non-expert audiences. What I have found from non-expert sources, writers get seriously wrong in parts (e.g., anthropomorphism or claims of inevitability).
If any of you, or someone I don't know about yet, have any interest in the topic, or if there's something in your prior work I've missed, I'd love to be able to share your work, especially ahead of the upcoming municipal and provincial elections.
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Have any experts written for a general (mostly non-technical audience) about what a candidate's reliance on an #LLM to write their platform and to answer policy questionnaires indicates about what could be expected of that candidate if elected?
Their continuing use of an LLM to in place of original work is obviously foreseeable, but what would that mean in practice with such a person as mayor? as a provincial legislator? How would such cognitive delegation affect legislation? budgets? How would that candidate's views of the industry affect zoning? taxation? regulation?
(Yes, these might not be the hardest questions to answer, but having someone credible, and publicly seen as such, to whose work to refer people, could be helpful. I'm just the friendly neighbourhood emotional support technician: not an expert.)
Context: in my (Canadian) province, some current candidates for MLA and for mayor or city councillor left in a multitude of telltale clanker verbiage in such text, including the common trailing engagement hook paragraph.
I read, hear, or watch a lot by
@emilymbender, @alex, @timnitGebru, @pluralistic, @Zitron, #KarenHao, and #CalNewport (sorry to tag spam a little), but if any of you/them have discussed this publicly, I haven't encountered it yet. (I am still catching up on some of your work, so perhaps I've missed something.)I have found some non-expert reporting, mostly about opinion polls and the like, in mainstream news, and I haven't yet found an expert spelling this out for non-expert audiences. What I have found from non-expert sources, writers get seriously wrong in parts (e.g., anthropomorphism or claims of inevitability).
If any of you, or someone I don't know about yet, have any interest in the topic, or if there's something in your prior work I've missed, I'd love to be able to share your work, especially ahead of the upcoming municipal and provincial elections.
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Have any experts written for a general (mostly non-technical audience) about what a candidate's reliance on an #LLM to write their platform and to answer policy questionnaires indicates about what could be expected of that candidate if elected?
Their continuing use of an LLM to in place of original work is obviously foreseeable, but what would that mean in practice with such a person as mayor? as a provincial legislator? How would such cognitive delegation affect legislation? budgets? How would that candidate's views of the industry affect zoning? taxation? regulation?
(Yes, these might not be the hardest questions to answer, but having someone credible, and publicly seen as such, to whose work to refer people, could be helpful. I'm just the friendly neighbourhood emotional support technician: not an expert.)
Context: in my (Canadian) province, some current candidates for MLA and for mayor or city councillor left in a multitude of telltale clanker verbiage in such text, including the common trailing engagement hook paragraph.
I read, hear, or watch a lot by
@emilymbender, @alex, @timnitGebru, @pluralistic, @Zitron, #KarenHao, and #CalNewport (sorry to tag spam a little), but if any of you/them have discussed this publicly, I haven't encountered it yet. (I am still catching up on some of your work, so perhaps I've missed something.)I have found some non-expert reporting, mostly about opinion polls and the like, in mainstream news, and I haven't yet found an expert spelling this out for non-expert audiences. What I have found from non-expert sources, writers get seriously wrong in parts (e.g., anthropomorphism or claims of inevitability).
If any of you, or someone I don't know about yet, have any interest in the topic, or if there's something in your prior work I've missed, I'd love to be able to share your work, especially ahead of the upcoming municipal and provincial elections.
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Have any experts written for a general (mostly non-technical audience) about what a candidate's reliance on an #LLM to write their platform and to answer policy questionnaires indicates about what could be expected of that candidate if elected?
Their continuing use of an LLM to in place of original work is obviously foreseeable, but what would that mean in practice with such a person as mayor? as a provincial legislator? How would such cognitive delegation affect legislation? budgets? How would that candidate's views of the industry affect zoning? taxation? regulation?
(Yes, these might not be the hardest questions to answer, but having someone credible, and publicly seen as such, to whose work to refer people, could be helpful. I'm just the friendly neighbourhood emotional support technician: not an expert.)
Context: in my (Canadian) province, some current candidates for MLA and for mayor or city councillor left in a multitude of telltale clanker verbiage in such text, including the common trailing engagement hook paragraph.
I read, hear, or watch a lot by
@emilymbender, @alex, @timnitGebru, @pluralistic, @Zitron, #KarenHao, and #CalNewport (sorry to tag spam a little), but if any of you/them have discussed this publicly, I haven't encountered it yet. (I am still catching up on some of your work, so perhaps I've missed something.)I have found some non-expert reporting, mostly about opinion polls and the like, in mainstream news, and I haven't yet found an expert spelling this out for non-expert audiences. What I have found from non-expert sources, writers get seriously wrong in parts (e.g., anthropomorphism or claims of inevitability).
If any of you, or someone I don't know about yet, have any interest in the topic, or if there's something in your prior work I've missed, I'd love to be able to share your work, especially ahead of the upcoming municipal and provincial elections.
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It is a hero's journey to escape from the #bigtech matrix. Great #podcast episode from #calnewport
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A very informative look at our shrinking attention spans and what to do about it. Can't be passive about this anymore. While companies are actively trying to get you to think less, you have to actively chose to get on the brain-treadmill.
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/16209733-why-attention-span-trash
#attention #intention #deepwork #calnewport #thinking #tiktok #instagram #algorithm #meta #facebook #twitter
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A very informative look at our shrinking attention spans and what to do about it. Can't be passive about this anymore. While companies are actively trying to get you to think less, you have to actively chose to get on the brain-treadmill.
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/16209733-why-attention-span-trash
#attention #intention #deepwork #calnewport #thinking #tiktok #instagram #algorithm #meta #facebook #twitter
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A very informative look at our shrinking attention spans and what to do about it. Can't be passive about this anymore. While companies are actively trying to get you to think less, you have to actively chose to get on the brain-treadmill.
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/16209733-why-attention-span-trash
#attention #intention #deepwork #calnewport #thinking #tiktok #instagram #algorithm #meta #facebook #twitter
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A very informative look at our shrinking attention spans and what to do about it. Can't be passive about this anymore. While companies are actively trying to get you to think less, you have to actively chose to get on the brain-treadmill.
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/16209733-why-attention-span-trash
#attention #intention #deepwork #calnewport #thinking #tiktok #instagram #algorithm #meta #facebook #twitter
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Excellent rundown by #CalNewport of the "AI civilizations" BS narrative:
The Truth About OpenAI's "Secret AI Civilizations"
Sept. 3, 2026 -
Excellent rundown by #CalNewport of the "AI civilizations" BS narrative:
The Truth About OpenAI's "Secret AI Civilizations"
Sept. 3, 2026 -
Excellent rundown by #CalNewport of the "AI civilizations" BS narrative:
The Truth About OpenAI's "Secret AI Civilizations"
Sept. 3, 2026 -
Excellent rundown by #CalNewport of the "AI civilizations" BS narrative:
The Truth About OpenAI's "Secret AI Civilizations"
Sept. 3, 2026 -
What skill have you developed in the last five years?
Ask most knowledge workers what skills they've developed in the last five years, and the honest answer is "email, instant messaging, and meetings." Not exactly skills you can sell. And AI is making it worse.https://nathans.blog/2026/05/15/what-skill-have-you-developed-in-the-last-five-years/
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What skill have you developed in the last five years?
Ask most knowledge workers what skills they've developed in the last five years, and the honest answer is "email, instant messaging, and meetings." Not exactly skills you can sell. And AI is making it worse.https://nathans.blog/2026/05/15/what-skill-have-you-developed-in-the-last-five-years/
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What skill have you developed in the last five years?
Ask most knowledge workers what skills they've developed in the last five years, and the honest answer is "email, instant messaging, and meetings." Not exactly skills you can sell. And AI is making it worse.https://nathans.blog/2026/05/15/what-skill-have-you-developed-in-the-last-five-years/
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What skill have you developed in the last five years?
Ask most knowledge workers what skills they've developed in the last five years, and the honest answer is "email, instant messaging, and meetings." Not exactly skills you can sell. And AI is making it worse.https://nathans.blog/2026/05/15/what-skill-have-you-developed-in-the-last-five-years/
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https://calnewport.com/on-bottlenecks-and-productivity/
“Something I’ve long written about is the reality that many digital productivity tools paradoxically make us busier, rather than better at our jobs. Goldratt’s theory helps explain why.” #calnewport
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In Defense of Thinking, by #CalNewport
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In Defense of Thinking, by #CalNewport
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In Defense of Thinking, by #CalNewport
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In Defense of Thinking, by #CalNewport
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https://calnewport.com/in-defense-of-thinking-2/
“the larger spirit of revolution. “I’m done ceding my brain — the core of all that makes me who I am — to the financial interests of a small number of technology billionaires or the shortsighted conveniences of hyperactive communication styles,””
#calnewport -
https://calnewport.com/in-defense-of-thinking-2/
“Distractions in the workplace intensified over the past decade with the addition of instant messaging tools like Slack and low-friction digital meeting programs like Zoom. Outside of work, social media, which was generally still admired when Deep Work came out, has morphed into an addictive TikTok-ified slurry of optimized brain rot.”
#calnewport -
https://calnewport.com/in-defense-of-thinking-2/
“I saw myself as articulating something like Moneyball for the cubicle class. I also firmly believed that the act of thinking was at the core of the post-Paleolithic human experience; the source of our greatest ideas, satisfactions, and even moments of transcendence.” #calnewport
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It's so funny that every few months or so there is a new wave of people discovering Cal Newport (directly or his ideas).
Every time it happens, there are a bunch of new videos/shorts/posts titled something like "why following your passion is not good for you" or "what is digital minimalism and why you need it".
And I'm feeling smug, thinking "I see you've read the books, huh?"At the same time, I've done it too.
And I will do it again!
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It's so funny that every few months or so there is a new wave of people discovering Cal Newport (directly or his ideas).
Every time it happens, there are a bunch of new videos/shorts/posts titled something like "why following your passion is not good for you" or "what is digital minimalism and why you need it".
And I'm feeling smug, thinking "I see you've read the books, huh?"At the same time, I've done it too.
And I will do it again!
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It's so funny that every few months or so there is a new wave of people discovering Cal Newport (directly or his ideas).
Every time it happens, there are a bunch of new videos/shorts/posts titled something like "why following your passion is not good for you" or "what is digital minimalism and why you need it".
And I'm feeling smug, thinking "I see you've read the books, huh?"At the same time, I've done it too.
And I will do it again!
-
It's so funny that every few months or so there is a new wave of people discovering Cal Newport (directly or his ideas).
Every time it happens, there are a bunch of new videos/shorts/posts titled something like "why following your passion is not good for you" or "what is digital minimalism and why you need it".
And I'm feeling smug, thinking "I see you've read the books, huh?"At the same time, I've done it too.
And I will do it again!
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https://calnewport.com/why-hasnt-ai-made-work-easier/
“when email first arrived. It was undeniably true that sending emails was more efficient than wrangling fax machines and voicemail. But once workers gained access to low-friction communication, they transformed their days into a furious flurry of back-and-forth messaging that felt “productive”” #calnewport -
https://calnewport.com/why-hasnt-ai-made-work-easier/
“This is a worst-case scenario: you work faster and harder, but mainly on shallow, mentally taxing tasks (because of all the context shifting they require) that only indirectly help the bottom line compared to harder efforts.It’s not quite clear why AI tools are having this impact.”
#calnewport -
https://www.europesays.com/ie/367503/ How tiny daily shifts can transform life and mindset #CalNewport #DigitalMinimalism #Éire #Exercise #Fitness #Habits #Health #IE #Ireland #LiveSmarter #LouiseJanovsky #neuroplasticity #ScreenTime
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https://www.europesays.com/uk/801577/ How tiny daily shifts can transform life and mindset #CalNewport #DigitalMinimalism #exercise #Fitness #habits #Health #LiveSmarter #LouiseJanovsky #neuroplasticity #ScreenTime #UK #UnitedKingdom
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https://www.europesays.com/ie/365787/ How tiny daily shifts can transform life and mindset #CalNewport #DigitalMinimalism #Éire #Exercise #Fitness #Habits #Health #IE #Ireland #LiveSmarter #LouiseJanovsky #neuroplasticity #ScreenTime
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Better Offline’s “Hater Season” - an ongoing roundtable with tech’s greatest haters - continues as Ed talks with computer science professor and writer Cal Newport about the ways in which the media fails to report the truth about AI. (1 h 6 min)
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Better Offline’s “Hater Season” - an ongoing roundtable with tech’s greatest haters - continues as Ed talks with computer science professor and writer Cal Newport about the ways in which the media fails to report the truth about AI. (1 h 6 min)
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Better Offline’s “Hater Season” - an ongoing roundtable with tech’s greatest haters - continues as Ed talks with computer science professor and writer Cal Newport about the ways in which the media fails to report the truth about AI. (1 h 6 min)
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Better Offline’s “Hater Season” - an ongoing roundtable with tech’s greatest haters - continues as Ed talks with computer science professor and writer Cal Newport about the ways in which the media fails to report the truth about AI. (1 h 6 min)
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The Energy Matrix
Not all hours are equal.
High energy → Deep work, creative tasks
Medium energy → Meetings, collaboration
Low energy → Admin, emails, routineMatch the task to the energy. Stop forcing it.
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The Energy Matrix
Not all hours are equal.
High energy → Deep work, creative tasks
Medium energy → Meetings, collaboration
Low energy → Admin, emails, routineMatch the task to the energy. Stop forcing it.
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The Energy Matrix
Not all hours are equal.
High energy → Deep work, creative tasks
Medium energy → Meetings, collaboration
Low energy → Admin, emails, routineMatch the task to the energy. Stop forcing it.
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Be Wary of Digital Deskilling - #CalNewport
https://calnewport.com/be-wary-of-digital-deskilling/ -
Be Wary of Digital Deskilling - #CalNewport
https://calnewport.com/be-wary-of-digital-deskilling/ -
Be Wary of Digital Deskilling - #CalNewport
https://calnewport.com/be-wary-of-digital-deskilling/ -
Be Wary of Digital Deskilling - #CalNewport
https://calnewport.com/be-wary-of-digital-deskilling/ -
About notebooks
The problem facing knowledge work in our current moment is not that we’re lacking sufficiently powerful technologies. It’s instead that we’re already distracted by so many digital tools that there’s no time left to really open the throttle on our brains.
Cal Newport, from https://calnewport.com/forget-chatbots-you-need-a-notebook/This is something I’ve been thinking about for a few months. I recently went back to my lab notebook habit from 30+ years ago. It’s like discovering a bicycle for your mind: It multiplies the power of what my mind is good at. But not too much. (like a car where you’re completely cut off from the world.) Using a notebook I can hold thoughts outside my mind, return to them, and see them.
There’s also the magic that happens when you hold onto a thought long enough to write it down. That’s much longer than we usually hold on to any thought.
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#CalNewport #Notebooks -
Cette réflexion de Cal Newport nous rappelle combien il est essentiel de reprendre le contrôle de notre vie numérique : choisir nos outils en conscience, comprendre leurs usages et poser nos propres limites💡
#VieNumérique #SouverainetéNumérique #Technologie #Réflexion #CalNewport -
Cette réflexion de Cal Newport nous rappelle combien il est essentiel de reprendre le contrôle de notre vie numérique : choisir nos outils en conscience, comprendre leurs usages et poser nos propres limites💡
#VieNumérique #SouverainetéNumérique #Technologie #Réflexion #CalNewport -
Cette réflexion de Cal Newport nous rappelle combien il est essentiel de reprendre le contrôle de notre vie numérique : choisir nos outils en conscience, comprendre leurs usages et poser nos propres limites💡
#VieNumérique #SouverainetéNumérique #Technologie #Réflexion #CalNewport -
Cette réflexion de Cal Newport nous rappelle combien il est essentiel de reprendre le contrôle de notre vie numérique : choisir nos outils en conscience, comprendre leurs usages et poser nos propres limites💡
#VieNumérique #SouverainetéNumérique #Technologie #Réflexion #CalNewport -
Ever waste your energy trying to decide what to do?
Something I've been trialling with creative pursuits is having a focus for each day. Wednesday and Saturday I sew, Thursday and Sunday I practice drawing, and Tuesday and Friday I tackle complex knits. (Monday is my day of rest, and every day is a day for general knitting.)
Due to fatigue, I may only manage 30 minutes, or 10, or none at all, but at least my limited energy doesn't all go on dithering about what project to tackle today.
I'm finding the strategy very helpful, and look forward to using it in my writing work (drafting a new book, recording & editing audiobooks, formatting ebooks...) when health permits.
I got the idea from Slow Productivity by Cal Newport - a book well worth a read, even if (like me) you have to wait half a year in a library queue.
#SlowProductivity #CalNewport #knitting #sewing #drawing #ChronicIllness #spoons #LifeHack -
Ever waste your energy trying to decide what to do?
Something I've been trialling with creative pursuits is having a focus for each day. Wednesday and Saturday I sew, Thursday and Sunday I practice drawing, and Tuesday and Friday I tackle complex knits. (Monday is my day of rest, and every day is a day for general knitting.)
Due to fatigue, I may only manage 30 minutes, or 10, or none at all, but at least my limited energy doesn't all go on dithering about what project to tackle today.
I'm finding the strategy very helpful, and look forward to using it in my writing work (drafting a new book, recording & editing audiobooks, formatting ebooks...) when health permits.
I got the idea from Slow Productivity by Cal Newport - a book well worth a read, even if (like me) you have to wait half a year in a library queue.
#SlowProductivity #CalNewport #knitting #sewing #drawing #ChronicIllness #spoons #LifeHack -
We spend hours on social media.
Are we stressing too much about what it does to us?
Cal Newport has a fresh take worth reading.
https://calnewport.com/are-we-too-concerned-about-social-media/#more-16578
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WRITING IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL DISTRACTION: 7 ways to beat clickbait and focus on work
Career Authors
Digital distraction is every 21st century writer's worst enemy. Here are seven ways to beat digital distraction--and get your writing done, come hell or email.
https://careerauthors.com/writing-in-the-age-of-digital-distraction-7-ways-to-beat-clickbait-and-focus-on-work/#Craft #Life #ATOMICHABITS #CalNewport #clickbait
@indieauthors -
WRITING IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL DISTRACTION: 7 ways to beat clickbait and focus on work
Career Authors
Digital distraction is every 21st century writer's worst enemy. Here are seven ways to beat digital distraction--and get your writing done, come hell or email.
https://careerauthors.com/writing-in-the-age-of-digital-distraction-7-ways-to-beat-clickbait-and-focus-on-work/#Craft #Life #ATOMICHABITS #CalNewport #clickbait
@indieauthors -
WRITING IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL DISTRACTION: 7 ways to beat clickbait and focus on work
Career Authors
Digital distraction is every 21st century writer's worst enemy. Here are seven ways to beat digital distraction--and get your writing done, come hell or email.
https://careerauthors.com/writing-in-the-age-of-digital-distraction-7-ways-to-beat-clickbait-and-focus-on-work/#Craft #Life #ATOMICHABITS #CalNewport #clickbait
@indieauthors -
What is the actual thing?
As someone who writes a lot about knowledge work in the digital age, I’m fascinated by this model of cooking, which I define as follows: a workflow designed to enable someone with a high-return skill to spend most of their time applying that skill, without distraction.
~ Cal Newport, from Let Brandon Cookslip:4ucale1.
For a decade I’ve been aware of this point. I’m, basically, a one-person creative process. If one leans into this way of thinking, then you immediately want to start figuring out how to not do all the other things. Which is fine if I were a one-person business process. But I am not. I’m not only a creator of valuable (in some sense other than money) work. I’m also the person who is nourished, enabling said creative work, by the random other parts. Whichever way you think of it though, Newport makes interesting points.
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#CalNewport #Creativity #Focus -
All of Cal Newport's pontification summarized in a short blog post. This was the perfect reading to chew on before the new year begins. It is just a 5 minute read.
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All of Cal Newport's pontification summarized in a short blog post. This was the perfect reading to chew on before the new year begins. It is just a 5 minute read.
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All of Cal Newport's pontification summarized in a short blog post. This was the perfect reading to chew on before the new year begins. It is just a 5 minute read.