How Do I Reclaim My Schedule? (w/ Laura Vanderkam) | Monday Advice

Deep Questions with Cal Newport

Cal Newport

Education, Self-improvement, Technology

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2026

⏱️ 87 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s common to feel like you don’t have enough time in your schedule to build a life that’s both professionally successful and personally deep. But is this true? In today’s episode, Cal interviews time management expert Laura Vanderkam about her new book, BIG TIME, which argues that with the right tweaks and mindset you might be able to start getting more out of your life right away. Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Send an email to podcast@calnewport.com. Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia (0:00) How do I reclaim my schedule? (w/ Laura Vanderkam) (2:00) Eliminating distraction and prioritizing deep work (1:08:18) Batching email responses (1:13:25) Cal’s upcoming books (1:18:51) What Cal is reading (1:24:06) HQ update Books: Grow Healthier as You Grow Older (Kenneth Cooper) The Ride of a Lifetime (Bob Iger) MurderBot (Martha Wells) Links: Sign up for Cal’s newsletter at www.calnewport.com/ideas Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba? Thanks to our Sponsors: https://www.calderalab.com/deep https://www.vanta.com/deepquestions https://www.shipstation.com/deep https://www.drinklmnt.com/deep Thanks to Jesse Miller for mastering and production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Nate Mechler for research and newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	If you ask most people how they feel about their schedule, they'll say their biggest problem
0:04.4	is that they don't have enough time. Business is often cast as the scourge of our current
0:12.6	moment, the villain that is keeping us from cultivating deep lives. But is this time
0:19.8	scarcity narrative correct? Well, today is Monday, which means it's
0:23.5	time for an advice episode of this show, which is the perfect opportunity to take a closer
0:28.3	look at this question. Now, to help me in this exploration, I'll be joined by my friend
0:33.5	Laura Vandercam, who has a new book out titled Big Time, A Simple Path to Time Abundance.
0:41.8	Now, Laura has been making waves recently by arguing that the story we tell ourselves about not
0:46.2	having enough free time is more about mindset than reality, that we actually have more time
0:53.6	to work with than we realize if we can adjust
0:56.0	how we approach our schedules and our expectation for our schedules.
1:01.4	Now, I think there are some incredibly important ideas in here for those who are interested
1:05.2	in seeking depth in an increasingly distracted world.
1:10.0	The very best deterrent to losing yourself and
1:12.7	endless digital distractions has to be to build a life that is more interesting and more
1:16.7	intentional than what's happening on all of those screens. And Laura argues that you can start
1:21.1	cultivating this depth right away without having to make drastic changes to your circumstances
1:26.4	like a major career shift or
1:28.4	moving to the countryside. So if you feel like your life has been slipping out of your control
1:34.6	and you crave something deeper, then you need to listen to this conversation. So let's get into it.
1:41.8	As always, I'm Cal Newport and this is Deep Questions, the show for people seeking depth
1:48.4	in a distracted world.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 16 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Cal Newport, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Cal Newport and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.