On slow productivity

I recently started reading Cal Newport's latest book, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout. I'm only a few chapters in but the message is already hitting hard. As we embark on a new academic year and struggle to balance the myriad of projects, meetings, and to do items, it's worth taking a step back and considering the how and ultimately the why of our work.

American culture, bathed in rugged individualism and the pressures of individual accomplishment, has been moving at a frantic pace for decades. ...