Cal Newport is working on his next book titled The Deep Life.

As a fan of Deep Work, I look forward to this next book.

His podcast occasionally covers ideas he is working on for the book and one of those is below.

Five Laws of Less by Cal Newport

  1. Accomplishment is not Additive.
  2. Simultaneous Work Breeds Stress.
  3. Overhead Destroys Originality.
  4. A Slower Pace is Deeply Fulfilling.
  5. None of it works without Discipline & Diligence.

The list was simple.

Putting the concepts into practice will be more difficult.

My Perspective

When I heard the list, all five concepts rang true.

The one that really got me thinking was that overhead destroys originality.

Process trumping creativity.

We are so busy with overhead tasks we lack the time for new ideas.

We have too much structure in our systems leaving no flexibility for alternative thoughts.

I wonder if the growth of a company causes less creativity.

More process and overhead during growth cycles causing a negative impact on ideas.

How could we avoid that?

Your Turn

Which of the five laws got you thinking?

Which do you see showing up in your daily life?

How might you make changes to incorporate these laws?