Podcasts / Deep Questions with Cal Newport

Ep. 397: Why Do “Productivity Technologies” Make My Job Worse?

Mar 23, 2026 · 1h 9m · YouTube

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EP · Deep Questions with Cal Newport · Ep. 397: Why Do “Productivity Technologies” Make My Job Worse?1:09:19

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At	Brand	Type	Placement	Promo code	URL	Found by
12:56–14:25	Cozy Earth	host readaudio + YouTube	mid-roll	DEEP	cozyearth.com	trigger
14:19–14:42	Caldera Lab	host readaudio + YouTube	mid-roll			trigger
15:17–15:43	Caldera Lab	host readaudio + YouTube	mid-roll	DEEP	lab.com/deep	trigger
33:24–34:38	Grammarly	host readaudio + YouTube	mid-roll		grammarly.com	trigger
34:36–35:33	AG1	host readaudio + YouTube	mid-roll			trigger
35:35–35:59	AG1	host readaudio + YouTube	mid-roll		drinkag1.com/deep	trigger
36:01–36:11	show promo	self promoaudio + YouTube	mid-roll		calnewport.com	trigger

Transcript

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0:00A new research study recently caught my attention.

0:04It came from a software company called Avatrak, which analyzed the digital activity of 164,000 workers spread across more than 1,000 different employers.

0:16And what they wanted to do was measure the impact of new AI tools.

0:22So what did they find?

0:23Here's a summary of their results from a Wall Street Journal article that came out last week.

0:28Avitrack found AI intensified activity across nearly every activity category.

0:34The time they spent on email, messaging, and chat apps more than doubled, while their use of business management tools such as human resources or accounting software rose 94%.

0:44Meanwhile, the amount of time AI users devoted to focused, uninterrupted work, the kind of concentration often required for figuring out complex problems, writing formulas, creating, and strategizing, fell 9% compared with nearly no change for non-users.

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