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/lit/ - Literature

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17681358 No.17681358 [Reply] [Original]

There's far too much attention on Jordan B Peterson's new book. Let's instead discuss another book released today, Cal Newport's A World Without Email.

I know so many of you humanities graduates are working admin/management jobs, so this should be about as important to you as a new Pynchon book.

The basic premise is that a lot of work is done via unstructured, ad hoc messaging and it's not very productive because it encourages a "hyper active hivemid" style workflow that impedes one's ability to perform Deep Work™

I'm about 1/4 of the way through and my mind is blown. I can't wait to finish and approach my boss about implement some of these strategies and ideas.

>> No.17681381

>>17681358
>I'm about 1/4 of the way through and my mind is blown. I can't wait to finish and approach my boss about implement some of these strategies and ideas.
kek

>> No.17681927

Cal Newport is my favourite author

>> No.17682003

>>17681358
I'll buy a copy for my dad and see what he thinks of it.

>> No.17682011

>>17682003
good approach

>> No.17682020

> I'm about 1/4 of the way through and my mind is blown. I can't wait to finish and approach my boss about implement some of these strategies and ideas.
I guarantee you’ve never had a job in your life

>> No.17682080

Read Bullshit Jobs next.

>> No.17682258

>>17682020
why do you say that??

>> No.17682274

>>17681358
This guy’s books seem worthless.
> email is bad
> jobs or bullshit
Yeah. This isn’t a fix. There’s a deeper root of problems that he’s not even close to.
>
dude, just do deep work
Isn’t a solution, let alone a practical one.

>> No.17682299

Complaining about email seems to be a meme, but I don't understand why. I've never spent more than five minutes a day dealing with email at work.

>> No.17682460

>>17682274
>here’s a deeper root of problems that he’s not even close to

like what? I've had this thought as well, but im curious as to what you actually think. he seems like an honest guy, based on what ive read and the way he comes across on his podcast. he even had been reading some anti-productivity stuff recently (How to do Nothing). so i think he's getting close to realizing something deeper...desu I would love to see him grapple with Ellul and McLuhan and see how he comes out of that without questioning his entire shtick.

>> No.17682477

>>17682460
>like what?
What is the condition that’s given rise to a world where we feel it okay to force people to work such impersonal, mechanistic jobs and communicate in a way that’s totally opposite of human nature? I don’t know the exact answer to that question but whatever it is, it seems to me unlikely that some sort of prescription like “Oh, just do this work and not that work” is basically ineffective and nonsensical. People like this don’t grapple with guys like Ellul or if they do, it’s some really, I mean really, low end analysis that’s floating around the University system or something.

>> No.17682508

>>17682274
Uncle ted enthusiast?

>> No.17682546
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17682546

>I can't wait to finish and approach my boss about implement some of these strategies and ideas.

>> No.17682586
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17682586

>Cal Newport writes also for magazines like the NewYorker and Wired.

>> No.17682612

>>17682477
I like it but my work emails are just fill in the blank work orders or 2 sentence questions.
I don't really feel existential dread from not seeing who I'm talking to. Might be a cultural divide thing as well.

>> No.17682653

>>17682586
Those are the last two magazines I respect. At least Wired was pretty good in the 90s.

>> No.17682840

>>17681358
I haven’t read this book, but I’m a big fan of his book “Digital Minimalism.” It sounds memey, but he actually changed the way I relate to my tech. If you want the gist of his ideas without buying the book, check out his interviews and speeches on YouTube. Some of what he says is obvious, but it needs to be said.

>> No.17682844
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17682844

>>17681358
Sounds like bullshit for overmanaged workplaces. When I started working remotely emails just overtook normal conversations I'd have with colleagues

>hey X can you do Y
>yeah sure
>cool thanks

>> No.17683212

>>17682477
>What is the condition that’s given rise to a world where we feel it okay to force people to work such impersonal, mechanistic jobs and communicate in a way that’s totally opposite of human nature?

yes i imagine he would dismiss such questions easily. very often people will ask questions that clearly get at something a bit deeper and basically he says to just buckle down and DO IT.

One thing that really makes me realize that he hasn't deeply thought about these things is that he believes in "optimal use" of tools (emails, social media, etc) that are inherently (by design) distracting. For example, if someone asks "Hey, how can I avoid being distracted by twitter -- i need it for work but end up spending 2 hours scrolling." he just says something about optimizing your use... or going on an elimination diet but with technologies.

It reminds me of that chapter in isaif where he says "you can't separate the good parts of tech from the bad"

>> No.17683298

>>17681358
>The basic premise is that a lot of work is done via unstructured, ad hoc messaging and it's not very productive because it encourages a "hyper active hivemid" style workflow that impedes one's ability to perform Deep Work™
Did he just rehash his other book?

>> No.17683491

>>17681358
how can i work harder for my neoliberal masters the book

>> No.17684251

>>17681358
Cal Newport is such a gay ass nigger that likes to state the obvious.

"Don't get distracted, do deep work"
"Don't answer emails too much!"

Fuck that little gay white faggot.

>> No.17684507

>>17682844
This, e-mail is great. If you use a mail client with a threaded view, it's basically perfect, one task is one thread. Also, disable notifications. Read mails between tasks, every few hours.

Of course Stacey fucks it all over when she doesn't reply properly, adds a bunch of HTML trash and a US letter long mail signature filled with advertising and virtue signaling.