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Cal Newport's Top Book Recommendations

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Want to know what books Cal Newport recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Cal Newport's favorite book recommendations of all time.

1
What if the real key to a richer and more fulfilling career was not to create and scale a new start-up, but rather, to be able to work for yourself, determine your own hours, and become a (highly profitable) and sustainable company of one? Suppose the better—and smarter—solution is simply to remain small? This book explains how to do just that.

Company of One is a refreshingly new approach centered on staying small and avoiding growth, for any size business. Not as a freelancer who only gets paid on a per piece basis, and not as an entrepreneurial start-up that wants...
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Cal NewportJarvis makes a compelling case for making your business better instead of bigger. Company of One is a must-read for any entrepreneur who prioritizes a rich life over riches. (Source)

Ben ChestnutEver since starting MailChimp 18 years ago, I’ve always been told that my way was wrong. My way has never been to “be big.” My way was always to “be useful.” My company has become a global brand with millions of customers, over $525 million in annual revenue, and almost 1000 employees united by a single mission to help companies of one and entrepreneurs. Go figure. There’s not one, right way.... (Source)

David Heinemeier HanssonGrowth has been hacked to simply mean “more”. More revenue, more customers, more employees, more products, more, more, more. That’s a tragically myopic view of growth. Paul Jarvis will help you open your eyes to a broader, wiser definition of growth. One of learning, one of betterment, one of contentment. There’s never been a more opportune time to launch or run companies that embrace having and... (Source)

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2
Now a Wall Street Journal bestseller.

Learn a new talent, stay relevant, reinvent yourself, and adapt to whatever the workplace throws your way. Ultralearning offers nine principles to master hard skills quickly. This is the essential guide to future-proof your career and maximize your competitive advantage through self-education.

In these tumultuous times of economic and technological change, staying ahead depends on continual self-education—a lifelong mastery of fresh ideas, subjects, and skills. If you want to accomplish more...
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Cal NewportUltralearning is like a superpower in our competitive economy. Read this book! It will change your life. (Source)

Chris GuillebeauThis book is an invaluable tool to help you master complicated skills in a short period of time. Read Ultralearning and level up your life! (Source)

Derek SiversA truly great book about learning. Riveting, useful, practical, and applicable to anyone ready to learn something at their own pace. Ultralearning shows you exactly how to learn better than you thought possible. (Source)

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3
A visual exploration of how to embrace emotion at work and become more authentic and fulfilled while staying professional.

When it comes to emotions at work, there's rarely a happy medium. In some offices, your boss might send snaps of her weekend getaway in Vegas, or your coworker might send twenty texts about how Susan ate his clearly labeled lunch...again. Other offices are buttoned-up emotional deserts, where crying is only allowed in the bathroom and you suspect your coworkers might be robots. Either extreme hurts employee health and productivity.

Liz...
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Susan CainA must-read that topples the idea that emotions don't belong in the workplace, No Hard Feelings offers a path towards a future I want to work in: an emotionally expressive, yet respectful (and high-performing!) workplace. (Source)

Cal NewportNo Hard Feelings is one of the most original, insightful, and laugh out loud funny business books I've read in a long time. It will transform the way you think about the role of feelings in the workplace. (Source)

Adam GrantIf you’ve ever thought it’s best to check your emotions at the office door, this book will change your mind. It’s full of lively illustrations and practical examples to show how you can harness emotions to become more creative, collaborative, and productive. (Source)

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4

Off the Clock

Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done

Recommended by Cal Newport, Chris Bailey, and 2 others.

Cal NewportLaura Vanderkam delivers a compelling and evidence-based argument that busyness is overrated in our current culture. Living a full life, at work and at home, is about doing the right things well, and confidently missing out on everything else. (Source)

Chris BaileyFor every minute you spend inside this book, you'll get back ten. Off the Clock will show you how to spend your hours more meaningfully, reclaim vast amounts of wasted time, and live a better life. Picking up this book will be one of the most valuable investments you make in yourself. (Source)

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5
Everyone gets 168 hours a week, but it never feels like enough, does it? Work gobbles up the lion's share--many professionals are working as much as 70 hours a week--leaving less and less for rest, exercise, family, and friends. You know, all those things that make life great.

Most people think productivity is about finding or saving time. But it's not. It's about making our time work for us. Just imagine having free time again. It's not a pipe dream.

In Free to Focus, New York Times bestselling author Michael Hyatt reveals to readers nine proven ways to...
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Tony RobbinsOne reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. No one understands this better than Michael Hyatt, and he's engineered a new, easy-to-follow approach to harness this power in his new book Free to Focus. (Source)

Cal NewportBusyness is meaningless. What matters is consistently executing the work that actually matters. This book shows you how. (Source)

Dave RamseyFree to Focus will push you to use your time well and to become a better version of the person you were created to be. (Source)

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6
A constellation of everyday digital phenomena is rewiring our inner lives, argues Laurence Scott. We are increasingly coaxed from the third-dimensional containment of our pre-digital selves into a wonderful and eerie fourth dimension, a world of ceaseless communication, instant information and global connection.

Our portals to this new world have been wedged open, and the silhouette of a figure is slowly taking shape. But what does it feel like to be four-dimensional? How do digital technologies influence the rhythms of our thoughts, the style and tilt of our consciousness? What...
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Recommended by Cal Newport, and 1 others.

Cal NewportScott’s book [...] is a complicated and interesting work of literary techno-social criticism — which came close to winning the Samuel Johnson Prize two years ago — that I found thought provoking throughout. These are just the number of pages that happened to be relevant to what I’m working on at the moment. (Source)

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7
The Front Nine is a guide by one of the web's leading productivity experts, former Lifehack.org Editor-in-Chief, Mike Vardy, to help you get ready, get set, and go forward with your new year, anytime you want. Taking elements from the game of golf and applying them to productivity and goal-setting, The Front Nine aims to put you in a position to make a fresh start on a project, a goal, or even a deeper desire, whenever you’re ready.

The Front Nine is a resource that is specific in structure and yet fluid in content in that it is accessible to anyone who has an open mind. You don’t...
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Recommended by Cal Newport, and 1 others.

Cal NewportMike is the former editor-in-chief of Lifehack.org — an experience that transformed him into a incisive commentator on what works and what doesn’t in the world of productivity. His new book takes a surprisingly nuanced look at what it (really) takes to get important projects from conception to completion. (Source)

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8
Time management skills that work! Reboot your entire life in three simple steps""You don't just need to manage your time, you need to invest it. This book offers key insights on what it means to live life well by getting things done and enjoying the ride."" -- Marshall Goldsmith, New York Times bestselling author of MOJO and What Got You Here Won't Get You There

""If you lack grit--which most of us do--read this book. Elizabeth's practical insights on how to strengthen good time investment habits can help you develop the focus, discipline, and tenacity you need to achieve...
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Recommended by Cal Newport, and 1 others.

Cal NewportElizabeth runs a successful consulting business that helps people make more meaningful use of their time. If you’re looking to focus less on the unimportant and more on what really matters, this book offers tested advice for achieving this goal. (Source)

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9
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of...
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Cal NewportI recently read an advance copy of James Clear’s new book, Atomic Habits. His thesis is that small but carefully selected habits can, over time, create massively positive results — not just in terms of what you accomplish, but also in terms of the type of person you become. James’s exposition rings true with what’ve I learned hanging around interesting people and high achievers. I recommend you... (Source)

Mark MansonA lot of people email me asking about habits - how to form good ones, how to break bad ones, how to stop doing the dumb shit we always do. I've got a friend named James Clear. He's an accomplished author and business owner and is kind of a "habit guru." He's probably forgotten more habits research than I've ever brought myself to look at. He just launched his first book. It's called Atomic Habits... (Source)

Ryan HolidayThis book is out on Tuesday and it's also very good. An atomic habit is a tiny habit or change that can have an enormous impact on your life. Getting up a little earlier, deleting social media from your phone, automating your savings, developing a system, these are atomic habits. Me personally, I don't feel like I am particularly talented or even that disciplined, but I have a number of atomic... (Source)

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10

Stillness Is the Key

In The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, bestselling author Ryan Holiday made ancient wisdom wildly popular with a new generation of leaders in sports, politics, and technology. In his new book, Stillness Is the Key, Holiday draws on timeless Stoic and Buddhist philosophy to show why slowing down is the secret weapon for those charging ahead.

All great leaders, thinkers, artists, athletes, and visionaries share one indelible quality. It enables them to conquer their tempers. To avoid distraction and discover great insights. To achieve happiness...
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Angela DuckworthRyan Holiday is among the most psychologically wise writers I know. I'm a fan of all of his work, including this new gem, Stillness is the Key. If you struggle—as I do—to find your center in the increasingly noisy and frenetic world we live in, then this book is for you. (Source)

Robert GreeneIn the world today the dangers are many—most notably, the endless distractions and petty battles that make us act without purpose or direction. In this book, through his masterful synthesis of Eastern and Western philosophy, Ryan Holiday teaches us all how to maintain our focus and presence of mind amid the sometimes overwhelming conflicts and troubles of 21st-century life (Source)

Mark MansonIn this age of manufactured outrage and constant distraction, the ability to choose a focused inner stillness is arguably more important than ever before. Ryan Holiday’s book revives ancient wisdom that calls for a quiet life in a noisy and restless world. (Source)

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Don't have time to read Cal Newport's favorite books? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

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  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
11
You sit down at your desk to work on an important project, but a notification on your phone interrupts your morning. Later, as you're about to get back to work, a colleague taps you on the shoulder to chat. At home, screens get in the way of quality time with your family. Another day goes by, and once again, your most important personal and professional goals are put on hold.  

What would be possible if you followed through on your best intentions? What could you accomplish if you could stay focused and overcome distractions? What if you had the power to become...
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Cal NewportIndistractable is a master class in understanding the root cause of distraction. Recommended for anyone looking to do more deep work. (Source)

Arianna HuffingtonThis is such an important book. Indistractable is the best guide I’ve read for reclaiming our attention, our focus, and our lives. (Source)

Mark MansonIndistractable is the most practical and realistic approach to balancing technology with well-being. A must-read for anyone with a smartphone. (Source)

See more recommendations for this book...

Don't have time to read Cal Newport's favorite books? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.