Edsger Dijkstra’s One-Day Workweek
Cal Newport has become a particular kind of hustle culture charlatan, and it&#x27;s been pretty fascinating to watch. I began reading his writing when was focusing on teaching study habits to college students when I myself was a college student. As he grew up, finished his PhD and started his academic career, he began building a brand around offering advice on &quot;deep work&quot;. It sells the idea that you can, and should, only work on meaningful problems with limited distraction, and have a solid work-life balance, filled with &quot;valuable leisure activities&quot;.<p>You can debate the merits of his arguments, and should, as ultimately what he sells is advice, but something truly rubs me the wrong way about how he has continued to market himself. A kind of Andrew Huberman-esque, long form podcast, a thinly veiled advertisement for his courses, books, and products.<p>One would think that if you were truly living a &quot;deep life&quot;, watching a two hour long video podcast every week wouldn&#x27;t exactly fit into your schedule.<p>While I credit his critique of the attention economy to opening my eyes a little bit and changing how I view my time, I can&#x27;t help but feel that as he&#x27;s risen in popularity following his &quot;deep life&quot; work, he&#x27;s continued to become more and more of what he used to decry, just another way to waste your time while feeling like you&#x27;re being productive.