Cal Newport
Shaped my thinking on deep work, digital minimalism, and the value of focused craft over shallow productivity.
2 books reviewed4 quotesCraft
calnewport.com
CalNewport
SamShillace
Belle B.Cooper
JamesClear
MarieKondo
JoelSpolskySeated at Table 6, Work, habits & tools
Seat 1 of 6. Also at the table:
Sam ShillaceMiddle career mentor at Google and his Sunday Letters have been influencing on thinking like a programmer.
Belle B. CooperInspired my interest in thoughtful productivity, mindful technology use, and reflective writing about personal systems.
James ClearGave me a practical, systems-based framework for building better habits and making continuous small improvements.
Marie KondoTaught me that intentional decluttering is a practice of discernment and that tidying your environment reshapes your mind.
Joel SpolskyShaped my understanding of software craftsmanship, developer experience, as well as been a helpful mentor in running a burning man camp.
Their books I’ve reviewed 2
Their words I kept 4
Deep Work4 quotes
“Clarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not.”
“If you don't produce, you won't thrive—no matter how skilled or talented you are.”
“Two Core Abilities for Thriving in the New Economy 1. The ability to quickly master hard things. 2. The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed.”
“If you keep interrupting your evening to check and respond to e-mail, or put aside a few hours after dinner to catch up on an approaching deadline, you're robbing your directed attention centers of the uninterrupted rest they need for restoration. Even if these work dashes consume only a small amount of time, they prevent you from reaching the levels of deeper relaxation in which attention restoration can occur. Only the confidence that you're done with work until the next day can convince your brain to downshift to the level where it can begin to recharge for the next day to follow. Put another way, trying to squeeze a little more work out of your evenings might reduce your effectiveness the next day enough that you end up getting less done than if you had instead respected a shutdown.”