It’s hard to live deeply in a distracted world if you don’t have control over how you spend your time. This goal requires a planning system that both works and can last. Do you have a reasonable planning system in place? If not, don’t worry. Today, Cal is joined by planning expert Sarah Hart-Unger (author of “Best Laid Plans”) to discuss the nitty-gritty details of creating sustainable systems that can help you regain autonomy over your schedule without becoming an over-scheduled drone.

Below are the questions covered in today’s episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo (https://bit.ly/3U3sTvo)

Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia (https://youtube.com/calnewportmedia)

IDEAS SEGMENT:  Interview with Sarah Hart-Unger [2:12]

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK, NOTES, AND CHATTER: 

Dopamine addictions and TV shows [1:05:06]

Watching entire films [1:09:43]

Attention span and movies [1:16:38]

WHAT CAL IS UP TO:

Update on my AI Programmer Project [1:21:12]

Other Updates [1:28:02]

What Cal Consumed [1:29:17]

The Last Kings of Hollywood (Paul Fischer)

Movies:

The Smashing Machine

Song Sung Blue

Links:

Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow (https://www.calnewport.com/slow)

Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ (https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/)

Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba? (https://bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?v=448bf8afad0740d18f6b109b4bd40d51)

vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/07/why-are-movies-sooooo-long-an-investigation (https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/07/why-are-movies-sooooo-long-an-investigation)

science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz9311 (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz9311)

Sarah Hart-Unger online:

Sarah Hart-Unger (MD, if you want to use that but I typically don’t even bother in my creative work!)

practicing pediatric endocrinologist, author, and podcaster

Best Laid Plans Podcast (https://theshubox.com/best-laid-plans-podcast)

Best of Both Worlds Podcast (https://lauravanderkam.com/podcast/) (cohosted with Laura Vanderkam)

Best Laid Plans: A Simple Planning System for Living a Life That You Love (https://www.amazon.com/Best-Laid-Plans-Simple-Planning/dp/1464246335/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3AEMR829UQAH9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.DcXMB_VNOeGyKooemyR90kYxax1st_CM0tGCeveOogqE4Fcq1jlj9BIXIq2KhWizlJzRXzI2jwU9SAI0ReE_ooQkXEn524uoRZKwcWpKnTN7xrHiDDgQ-Unhwd0wki8S.xLZ7cOMzpVXuxqimIeAUv4VflTHRKZ1Qe5tfm2E89B8&dib_tag=se&keywords=best+laid+plans+sarah+hart+unger&qid=1771869969&sprefix=best+laid+palns%2Caps%2C227&sr=8-1), Sourcebooks Dec 2025

Website (since 2004 …): theshubox.com (https://theshubox.com)

Social media: none :) Partially due to your influence, I quit FB in 2016, IG in 2021, and thankfully never got into anything else! I guess I do have minimal Youtube (occasional planner videos + feed of podcast eps) @youtube.com/@BestLaidPlansVideo (https://www.youtube.com/@BestLaidPlansVideo)

Thanks to our Sponsors: 

This show is sponsored by Better Help: 

betterhelp.com/deepquestions (https://www.betterhelp.com/deepquestions)

zapier.com/deep (https://www.zapier.com/deep)

calderalab.com/deep (https://www.calderalab.com/deep)

shopify.com/deep (https://www.shopify.com/deep)

Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering.

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