Anybody out there like to do big things? Anybody out there feel like your life is so full sometimes you can barely think? Anybody out there wonder if there’s a better way? Yeah … me too. In this much belated episode, I’m asking big questions about how much work is enough and how to make that happen in an ambitious life … because, right now, I’m right I’ve got no way around those questions.

The story of the picnic table comes from Draft No. 4. It was retold in Cal Newport's Slow Productivity where some of the stories in this episode also originated. Research on the relationship between work quantity and quality is summarized in Scott Young's book, Get Better at Anything.

References

Mcphee, J. (2018a). Draft No. 4 : On the Writing Process. Farrar, Straus And Giroux.

Mcphee, J. (2018b). Pine Barrens. Daunt Books.

Newport, C. (2023, April 28). Danielle Steel and the Tragic Appeal of Overwork - Cal Newport. Study Hacks. https://calnewport.com/danielle-steel-and-the-tragic-appeal-of-overwork/

Newport, C. (2024). Slow Productivity. Penguin.

Pema Chödrön. (2018). The wisdom of no escape : and the path of loving-kindness. Shambhala Publications, Inc.

quoteresearch. (2013, September 16). Quote Origin: “To Be Is To Do” “To Do Is To Be” “Do Be Do Be Do” – Quote Investigator®. Quoteinvestigator.com. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/09/16/do-be-do/

Young, S. H. (2024). Get Better at Anything: 12 Maxims for Mastery. HarperCollins UK.