Ep. 395: Should I Try a “Social Media Pause”? episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 9, 2026 · 1H 29M

Ep. 395: Should I Try a “Social Media Pause”?

from Deep Questions with Cal Newport · host Cal Newport

Do you need social media? Which services? For what purposes? These are complicated questions and in today’s episode Cal proposes a simple route to answers: conducting a “social media pause.” To help investigate this strategy, Cal is joined by T.K. Coleman, of The Minimalists, to talk about a social media pause that they tried and the surprising results it generated. Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/3U3sTvo Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia IDEAS SEGMENT: Interview with T.K. Coleman [3:26] INBOX: - Focused work in early modern time [1:00:18] - Tool suggestion from a programmer [1:05:10] - Staring at a painting for three hours [1:13:26] WHAT CAL IS UP TO: - Changes to the show [1:18:44] - What Cal read [1:20:04] - What Cal watched [1:21:34] - Renovation of Maker Lab [1:25:38] The Age of Extraction (Tim Wu) John and Paul (Ian Leslie) Movies: Train Dreams The Hurt Locker Three Days of the Condor Links: Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgMUBMqrE7Mhttps://www.reddit.com/r/ObsidianMD/comments/161jik7/please_share_how_you_use_obsidian_for_task/ Thanks to our Sponsors:https://www.monarch.com (Use code “DEEP”)https://www.factormeals.com/deep50offhttps://www.mybodytutor.comhttps://www.wayfair.com Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you need social media? Which services? For what purposes? These are complicated questions and in today’s episode Cal proposes a simple route to answers: conducting a “social media pause.” To help investigate this strategy, Cal is joined by T.K. Coleman, of The Minimalists, to talk about a social media pause that they tried and the surprising results it generated. Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/3U3sTvo Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia IDEAS SEGMENT: Interview with T.K. Coleman [3:26] INBOX: - Focused work in early modern time [1:00:18] - Tool suggestion from a programmer [1:05:10] - Staring at a painting for three hours [1:13:26] WHAT CAL IS UP TO: - Changes to the show [1:18:44] - What Cal read [1:20:04] - What Cal watched [1:21:34] - Renovation of Maker Lab [1:25:38] The Age of Extraction (Tim Wu) John and Paul (Ian Leslie) Movies: Train Dreams The Hurt Locker Three Days of the Condor Links: Buy Cal’s latest book, “Slow Productivity” at www.calnewport.com/slow Get a signed copy of Cal’s “Slow Productivity” at https://peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/ Cal’s monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgMUBMqrE7Mhttps://www.reddit.com/r/ObsidianMD/comments/161jik7/please_share_how_you_use_obsidian_for_task/ Thanks to our Sponsors:https://www.monarch.com (Use code “DEEP”)https://www.factormeals.com/deep50offhttps://www.mybodytutor.comhttps://www.wayfair.com Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Ep. 395: Should I Try a “Social Media Pause”?

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This episode was published on March 9, 2026.

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Do you need social media? Which services? For what purposes? These are complicated questions and in today’s episode Cal proposes a simple route to answers: conducting a “social media pause.” To help investigate this strategy, Cal is joined by T.K....

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