Let me start by saying I’m a fan of Cal Newport. But I do wonder if there’s a limit to how many times you can write a book about such similar topics and make it unique. In this case, I don’t think this is it.

Slow Productivity interested me because I tend to be one of those overly productive people who struggles to prioritise myself over just being productive all the time.

So let’s just say I had a specific need I hoped the book would help me work through. 

It didn’t.

Cal does a great job of breaking down specific topics via credible stories, but in this case, these stories were so unrelatable I struggled to think my way into them. He’s very self-aware of this and acknowledges their unrealisticness. But as he does so, the alternative solutions he comes up with are also pretty unrealistic and inflexible.

He seemed quite unsure of his own advice. Like the principles in the book weren't as fleshed out or as confident as they were in Deep Work or Digital Minimalism.

Instead of feeling motivated to do less, or be productive in a slow way, I now feel motivated to work more. Which seems counterintuitive. 

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