How To Do the Work That Sustains You

It’s a mindset shift for all writers that’s easier to pull off than you think.

I’m a big fan of Cal Newport’s work, his books and pieces in The New Yorker. He went on Tim Ferriss’ podcast recently and talked about how to actually see through your most ambitious projects.

This is also the focus of a couple of Newport’s books: How to be productive. My favorite is Deep Work, which argues the only way to work well is to honor it. Turn off your notifications, in fact put away your phone. Physically distance it from you while you do your creative work. I took Newport’s advice after finishing Deep Work and not having my phone in my pocket as I write has made me a better writer. Full stop. I get deeper into the work. I stay in a flow state longer. If you’re not doing it, you should put your phone in the other room the next time you write.

But that’s not the point of this piece. The point is to think about THE MEANING OF IT ALL. Yes, I’m all-capping that idea because in Newport’s discussions of productivity he hits on something profound. How to do the work that sustains you. This is different from working. You can work at anything. Even within the passion of longform writing, there is work that pays the bills, work adjacent to the stuff that truly matters. Newport, in the podcast, wants to talk about the stuff that truly matters. The work…