4 ms·

I like a lot of ideas from Cal Newport but there is something wrong with our work culture when working on the weekend is now seen as a productivity hack.

UncleOxidant 4y ago
I didn't realize this is where Newport was going. Most of what I've read of him in the past advocates for getting off of social media to gain control over your time - which I think is good advice. I'd recommend Oliver Burkeman's Four Thousand Weeks: Time management for mortals as it's very different from the productivity-oriented time management books that tend to dominate the genre.
- DoughnutHole 4y ago
  It's always worth remembering that Cal is an academic - a culture in which it is considered virtuous for your work to be your life, or at the very least the defining element of it. This is a source of a lot of the ongoing exploitive or outright abusive behaviours and treatments of those on the lower rungs of the academic totem pole that are frankly endemic in most institutions.
  - phist_mcgee 4y ago
    Academia is feudalism with an intellectual veneer. Source: Academic for 5 years.
  - cjpearson 4y ago
    He is an academic, but in Deep Work he argues that excessive working hours are not necessary for success in the field, using himself and a few other academics as examples of successful academics who've achieved both a work-life balance and tenure. I assume that the weekdays which Elizabeth spends caring for her children are not spent working at the same time. She has an unusual schedule, but I doubt she works excessive hours. A big part of Deep Work is quality over quantity.
skadamat 4y ago
Eh, if you listen to his podcast episode you'll see that's not quite what he's advocating. He's advocating for intentionality and to design your life with work as a part of it. For some people that could mean that doing a creative work project on a Saturday is the best way to do that. His points are way more nuanced than "work on weekends". I think he mentions Laura's story as a case study in intentionality, not in "work life balance" etc
ok_dad 4y ago
I actually work half days during the week often, and then work part of the day on Saturday and/or Sunday. This allows me to work with my head down on a weekend day without co-workers messaging me, and the same for working early in the mornings on weekends when my family is still asleep. This actually allows me, personally, more flexibility on weekdays to go out with my family when there aren't as many people out and about, and go with my wife to our son's medical appointments and other important things like that. I wouldn't advocate everyone can or should do this, but I think that the "don't work outside working hours"/"must work during working hours" status quo can hurt flexibility a lot. Personally, weekends to me are just another day of the week, and I want to try normalize that wherever I go.
- DoingIsLearning 4y ago
  > This allows me to work with my head down on a weekend day without co-workers messaging me I appreciate that this works for you but to me this comes across more as an issue with work boundaries more than the benefits of weekend work. Advocate for 'no-meeting days' multiple times in the week. Advocate for blocks of half-days in the work week where the whole team goes radio silence. We implemented this in both the team I am working in now and in my previous gig. Managers will absolutely defend the team's time like this if you pitch it constructively and the team delivers results to back it up.
  - wombat-man 4y ago
    If you can go offline for half a day then I would think that you could block out "focus time" on your schedule. Some of my coworkers do this, and I do too from time to time.
  - ok_dad 4y ago
    I really don’t care about weekend days, though, and I don’t work any more than usual. I prefer it this way. Like I said, it’s but for everyone but it’s not like I’m some company tool working all the time haha.
jonas21 4y ago
She's working partial days on Mon, Tues, and Fri, full days (and perhaps a bit more) on Wed and Thurs, and a 4-hour block on the weekend. It sounds like our work culture is doing a pretty good job at giving her the flexibility to schedule work around the rest of her life.

UncleOxidant 4y ago

I didn't realize this is where Newport was going. Most of what I've read of him in the past advocates for getting off of social media to gain control over your time - which I think is good advice. I'd recommend Oliver Burkeman's Four Thousand Weeks: Time management for mortals as it's very different from the productivity-oriented time management books that tend to dominate the genre.

DoughnutHole 4y ago
It's always worth remembering that Cal is an academic - a culture in which it is considered virtuous for your work to be your life, or at the very least the defining element of it. This is a source of a lot of the ongoing exploitive or outright abusive behaviours and treatments of those on the lower rungs of the academic totem pole that are frankly endemic in most institutions.
- phist_mcgee 4y ago
  Academia is feudalism with an intellectual veneer. Source: Academic for 5 years.
- cjpearson 4y ago
  He is an academic, but in Deep Work he argues that excessive working hours are not necessary for success in the field, using himself and a few other academics as examples of successful academics who've achieved both a work-life balance and tenure. I assume that the weekdays which Elizabeth spends caring for her children are not spent working at the same time. She has an unusual schedule, but I doubt she works excessive hours. A big part of Deep Work is quality over quantity.

skadamat 4y ago

Eh, if you listen to his podcast episode you'll see that's not quite what he's advocating. He's advocating for intentionality and to design your life with work as a part of it. For some people that could mean that doing a creative work project on a Saturday is the best way to do that. His points are way more nuanced than "work on weekends". I think he mentions Laura's story as a case study in intentionality, not in "work life balance" etc

ok_dad 4y ago

I actually work half days during the week often, and then work part of the day on Saturday and/or Sunday. This allows me to work with my head down on a weekend day without co-workers messaging me, and the same for working early in the mornings on weekends when my family is still asleep. This actually allows me, personally, more flexibility on weekdays to go out with my family when there aren't as many people out and about, and go with my wife to our son's medical appointments and other important things like that. I wouldn't advocate everyone can or should do this, but I think that the "don't work outside working hours"/"must work during working hours" status quo can hurt flexibility a lot. Personally, weekends to me are just another day of the week, and I want to try normalize that wherever I go.

DoingIsLearning 4y ago
> This allows me to work with my head down on a weekend day without co-workers messaging me I appreciate that this works for you but to me this comes across more as an issue with work boundaries more than the benefits of weekend work. Advocate for 'no-meeting days' multiple times in the week. Advocate for blocks of half-days in the work week where the whole team goes radio silence. We implemented this in both the team I am working in now and in my previous gig. Managers will absolutely defend the team's time like this if you pitch it constructively and the team delivers results to back it up.
- wombat-man 4y ago
  If you can go offline for half a day then I would think that you could block out "focus time" on your schedule. Some of my coworkers do this, and I do too from time to time.
- ok_dad 4y ago
  I really don’t care about weekend days, though, and I don’t work any more than usual. I prefer it this way. Like I said, it’s but for everyone but it’s not like I’m some company tool working all the time haha.

jonas21 4y ago

She's working partial days on Mon, Tues, and Fri, full days (and perhaps a bit more) on Wed and Thurs, and a 4-hour block on the weekend. It sounds like our work culture is doing a pretty good job at giving her the flexibility to schedule work around the rest of her life.