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The Penguin books that shaped our everyday lives

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Reading lists

Books to help improve your focus and attention span

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Books to help you cut down on screen time

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Books with ideas that could change your life

Surprising Secrets for Success from Top Students

How to Win at College

75 simple steps to help you excel - so you can focus on what matters most 
 
College can be a time of independence, lifelong friendships and personal growth - but it can also bring intense pressure to stand out and succeed. 
 
In How to Win at College, Cal Newport - bestselling author and Professor at Georgetown University - interviews extraordinary students and distilling what he learns into 75 counterintuitive rules for a calmer, smarter path to college success. 
 
These include:<ul><li>Don’t do all your reading</li><li>Never pull an all-nighter</li><li>Take three days to write a paper</li><li>Always be working on a “grand project”</li><li>Do one thing better than anyone else you know</li></ul>Whether you want to graduate with honours, build an impressive CV, and unlock exciting opportunities, this is your guide to making the most of every minute of university - and setting yourself up for what comes next.

Cal Newport is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller, Digital Minimalism, The Time-Block Planner, Deep Work and So Good They Can't Ignore You and is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University. You won't find him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram but you can often find him at home with his family in Washington DC or writing essays for his popular website calnewport.com.

College can be a time of independence, lifelong friendships and personal growth - but it can also bring intense pressure to stand out and succeed. 
 
In How to Win at College, Cal Newport - bestselling author and Professor at Georgetown University - interviews extraordinary students and distilling what he learns into 75 counterintuitive rules for a calmer, smarter path to college success. 
 
These include:<ul><li>Don’t do all your reading</li><li>Never pull an all-nighter</li><li>Take three days to write a paper</li><li>Always be working on a “grand project”</li><li>Do one thing better than anyone else you know</li></ul>Whether you want to graduate with honours, build an impressive CV, and unlock exciting opportunities, this is your guide to making the most of every minute of university - and setting yourself up for what comes next.

The Unconventional Strategies Real Students Use to Score High While Studying Less

How to Become a Straight-A Student

Better grades - without burnout 
 
 
Most students believe that top grades are the result of endless cramming, stress, pressure and exhausting all-nighters. But Cal Newport - internationally bestselling author and Professor at Georgetown University - shows that real academic success comes from a different approach: studying smarter, not harder. 
In How to Become a Straight-A Student, Newport reveals practical, proven strategies for mastering every aspect of academic life, from quizzes and mock tests to final exams, essays, coursework and papers, without anxiety. 
Drawing on the habits of top students, this book distils their methods into a clear, effective system that anyone can follow. The result is a smarter, calmer, more efficient way to study - helping you achieve your best possible results while still having time to enjoy life with your friends and relax.

Most students believe that top grades are the result of endless cramming, stress, pressure and exhausting all-nighters. But Cal Newport - internationally bestselling author and Professor at Georgetown University - shows that real academic success comes from a different approach: studying smarter, not harder. 
 
In How to Become a Straight-A Student, Newport reveals practical, proven strategies for mastering every aspect of academic life, from quizzes and mock tests to final exams, essays, coursework and papers, without anxiety. 
Drawing on the habits of top students, this book distils their methods into a clear, effective system that anyone can follow. The result is a smarter, calmer, more efficient way to study - helping you achieve your best possible results while still having time to enjoy life with your friends and relax.

The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

Slow Productivity

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER and Best Book of 2024 for the Economist, Independent, and NPR 
 
'Brilliant and timely' - Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks 
 
From the New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and one of the world's top productivity experts, a groundbreaking philosophy for creating great work at a sustainable pace. 
 
Hustle culture. Burnout. Quiet quitting. Today we're either sacrificing ourselves on the altar of success or we're rejecting the idea of ambition entirely. But it doesn't have to be all or nothing. There is a way to create meaningful work as part of a balanced life, and it's called 'slow productivity'. 
 
Coined by Cal Newport, the bestselling author of Deep Work and Digital Minimalism, slow productivity is a revolutionary philosophy based on three simple principles: 
 
 1. Do fewer things.2. Work at a natural pace.3. Obsess over quality. 
 
Examining the stories and habits of ancient and modern scientists, philosophers, artists and scholars who worked in this way, Newport reveals just how transformative the slow productivity approach can be to producing a meaningful body of work. 
 
From managing your energy according to the season, to identifying which projects to pursue and which to set aside, to building a schedule that yields maximum output with minimum stress, this timely and essential book will revolutionise how you work, helping you to accomplish great things at a more humane pace. 
 
'Intriguing and intelligent' - The Times 
 
The US Amazon Editors' #1 pick in Business and Leadership

[Newport is] a sage of the post-pandemic workplace

Cal Newport's call to arms against pseudo-productivity is a must read

The Independent (Best Non-Fiction Books of 2024)

If you breathlessly ricochet from task to task yet never get enough real work done. Stop. Take a deep breath. Then read Slow Productivity

This brilliant and timely book is for all of us who've grown disillusioned with conventional productivity advice, yet still yearn to get plenty of meaningful things done. With his trademark blend of philosophical depth and realistic, implementable techniques, Newport outlines an approach that's both more human and vastly more effective in the long run.

Oliver Burkeman, New York Times bestselling author of Four Thousand Weeks

Here is a book with not one but three powerful ideas about how to live a deeper, less frenetic life while achieving more of what matters. I would say that I couldn't put it down - except that I was constantly putting it down to scribble notes to myself. Cal Newport has made me think - and made me change.

Tim Harford, author of How To Make The World Add Up and The Undercover Economist

Calm, evidence-based and inspiring. For anyone who wants individual advice on how to be more productive, there’s nobody better than Cal Newport.

This book is an absolute banger. I took away so many insights that I've already started to apply in my work and my life. Cal's mix of storytelling and practical advice makes this a super engaging read that you'll want to revisit repeatedly.

Ali Abdaal, author of Feel-Good Productivity

If you are stretched thin and having trouble getting everything done, you need to speed up, right? Wrong. In Slow Productivity, Cal Newport does what he does best, delivering the counterintuitive secrets that just might save your career and sanity.

Arthur C. Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of Strength to Strength and Build the Life You Want

Cal Newport is one of today’s most thoughtful observers of how we live and work. With profound insights backed by research, analysis, and examples from the lives of scientists, artists, and others, he explores a better way to work—one that promises more calm, clarity, and creativity.

Gretchen Rubin, New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Life in Five Senses

In Slow Productivity, Cal Newport effectively charts the birth and growth of productivity culture, and explains how it led to the removal deep focus, and deliberate care in our work. His book is an opportunity to understand why we so often feel frustrated with the demands of the world we live in—and what we can accomplish if we choose to turn inward, once again.

Meera Lee Patel, New York Times bestselling author of Start Where You Are and How It Feels to Find Yourself

[Cal's] ideas are not of the self-optimising wake-up-before-you-go-to-bed life-hack brigade but rather to encourage deep focus, away from the noise of social media and performative busyness.

Slow Productivity is a call to arms to reject the performative busyness of the modern workplace

Hustle culture. Burnout. Quiet quitting. Today we're either sacrificing ourselves on the altar of success or we're rejecting the idea of ambition entirely. But it doesn't have to be all or nothing. There is a way to create meaningful work as part of a balanced life, and it's called 'slow productivity'. 
 
Coined by Cal Newport, the bestselling author of Deep Work and Digital Minimalism, slow productivity is a revolutionary philosophy based on simple principles. From managing your energy according to the season, to identifying which projects to pursue and which to set aside, to building a schedule that yields maximum output with minimum stress, this timely and essential book will revolutionise how you work, helping you to accomplish great things at a more humane pace.

Abridged Edition

Penguin Readers Level 7: Digital Minimalism (ELT Graded Reader)

Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition also includes instructions to access supporting material online. 
 
Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. 
 
The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary. 
 
Digital Minimalism, a Level 7 Reader, is B2 in the CEFR framework. The longer text is made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing future perfect simple, mixed conditionals, past perfect continuous, mixed conditionals, more complex passive forms and modals for deduction in the past. 
 
 
Cal Newport is a professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University in the USA. He has written a number of books on computers and technology. 
 
 
 
This book is useful for anyone who is worried about the amount of time they are spending online and shows them how to use less technology in their life. 
 
 
Visit the Penguin Readers website 
Exclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys.

With carefully adapted text, new illustrations, language practise activities and additional online resources, the Penguin Readers series introduces language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction. 
 
Digital Minimalism, a Level 7 Reader, is B2 in the CEFR framework. The longer text is made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing future perfect simple, mixed conditionals, past perfect continuous, mixed conditionals, more complex passive forms and modals for deduction in the past. 
 
 
Cal Newport is a professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University in the USA. He has written a number of books on computers and technology. 
 
 
 
This book is useful for anyone who is worried about the amount of time they are spending online and shows them how to use less technology in their life.

Find Focus and Transform the Way You Work Forever (from the NYT bestselling productivity expert)

A World Without Email

***NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*** 
 
Feel like you're always drowning in email? How much more would you achieve without them - and how much happier would you be? 
 
 'A World Without Email crystallizes what so many of us feel intuitively but haven't been able to explain: the way we're working isn't working.' Drew Houston, co-founder and CEO of Dropbox 
 ________________­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ 
 
 Emails are an integral part of work today. But the 'kind regards', forwards and attachments we check every 5.4 minutes are making us unproductive, stressed and costing businesses millions in untapped potential. 
 
 Bestselling author of Deep Work and Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport, is here to offer a radical new vision - a world without email. Drawing on sociology, behavioural economics and fascinating case studies of thriving email-free companies, Newport explains how this modern tool doesn't work for our ancient brains and provides solutions you can implement today to transform your workday into one without constant, distracting pings. 
 
 Revolutionary and practical, A World Without Email will liberate you to do your most profound, fulfilling and creative work - and be happier too. 
 ________________ 
 
 'If you are currently drowning in endless email and not sure where to start: read this book' Emma Gannon, author of The Multi-Hyphen Method 
 
 'Read this superb book. It might just change your life; it's changing mine' Tim Harford, author of How To Make The World Add Up 
 
 'This is a bold, visionary, almost prophetic book that challenges the status quo' Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism

Cal Newport has proved himself as the most essential writer around, yet again making a compelling case for us to renegotiate our relationship with technology

Bruce Daisley, author of Sunday Times #1 Bestseller The Joy of Work

Life is full of interruptions, but when a Cal Newport book appears, I drop everything and read. Newport is making an outrageous claim here: not just that email is annoying and overwhelming, but that we can and we will do much, much better. But with evidence and examples from the cutting edge of programming to the factory floors of a century ago, he makes a compelling argument. Read this superb book. It might just change your life; it's changing mine

Tim Harford, author of 'How To Make The World Add Up'

This is the book I didn't know I desperately needed. If you are currently drowning in endless email and not sure where to start: read this book

Emma Gannon, author of Sunday Times bestseller The Multi-Hyphen Method and host of award-winning podcast Ctrl Alt Delete

A World Without Email crystallizes what so many of us feel intuitively but haven't been able to explain: the way we're working isn't working. Cal Newport charts a path back to sanity, offering a variety of road-tested practices to help us escape the tyranny of our inboxes and achieve a calmer, more intentional, and more productive working life

Drew Houston, co-founder and CEO of Dropbox

The future of work demands new tools of collaboration. Cal Newport is on a quest to uncover better ways for knowledge workers to collaborate. Out of this will come the new work space

This new work from Cal Newport goes beyond hacking at the branches of the email problem and strikes right at the root of it. This is a bold, visionary, almost prophetic book that challenges the status quo. If you want to peer into what the future of work could look like, read this book now

Greg McKeown, New York Times bestselling author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

This book is a call to action. Newport suggests that now is the time to reimagine work with the specific goal of optimizing our brain's ability to sustainably add value. Don't let your teams and organizations lose out any further - read this book to help you get started

Leslie Perlow, author of Sleeping with Your Smartphone and Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School

Cal Newport is an essential worker in today's hyperactive workplace, and his commitment to waking the digital sleepwalker should be applauded

Damian Bradfield, co-founder of WeTransfer and author of The Trust Manifesto

Newport has defined the scale of a problem too few of us knew existed

A World Without Email delves into the history of communications and management, arguing that knowledge work processes need a radical rethink, just as production lines transformed manufacturing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Practical and fascinating.

A book forthose who feel racked with guilt and anxiety about their overflowing email inboxes, Cal Newport explains why this modern way of working needs a radical rethink. Practical and interesting, Newport examines how we can change this and find focus in 'the age of overload'.

The Times, 12 Best Business Books of 2021

Constant communication has become part of the way we work as we check our emails every 5.4 minutes. But at what expense? 
 
Bestselling author Cal Newport argues that this steady flow of distractions disrupts us from achieving any meaningful work, causes us undue stress and is costing businesses millions in the form of untapped potential. 
 
 
In this visionary book, he reveals how to reimagine and redesign work without the constant pings of email distracting us. Drawing on a fascinating array of case studies and offering practical solutions, Newport shows us how a world without email will liberate people to do their most profound, fulfilling and creative work - and much more of it too.

A Daily Method for Deep Work

The Time-Block Planner

How do highly-successful people like Elon Musk and Bill Gates get so much done? The answer is time blocking; a time-management method that Cal Newport, productivity expert and bestselling author of Digital Minimalism, has been using for fifteen years. 
 
For the first time, this game-changing system has been captured in a daily planner that makes it easy for you to prioritise tasks and focus on the things that really matter. Using the time-block method you'll no longer be distracted by your inbox, social media and other peoples' demands for your time. The Time-Block Planner will help you push aside distractions and focus on the work that will make the difference to you.

How do highly-successful people like Elon Musk and Bill Gates get so much done? The answer is time blocking; a time-management method that Cal Newport, productivity expert and bestselling author of Digital Minimalism, has been using for fifteen years. 
 
For the first time, this game-changing system has been captured in a daily planner that makes it easy for you to prioritise tasks and focus on the things that really matter. Using the time-block method you'll no longer be distracted by your inbox, social media and other peoples' demands for your time. The Time-Block Planner will help you push aside distractions and focus on the work that will make the difference to you.

Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

Digital Minimalism

Learn how to switch off and find calm - from the New York Times bestselling author of A World Without Email 
 
 'Digital Minimalism is the Marie Kondo of technology' Evening Standard 
 
 'An eloquent, powerful and enjoyably practical guide to cutting back on screen time' The Times 
 
 'An urgent call to action for anyone serious about being in command of their own life' Ryan Holiday 
 
 'What a timely and useful book' Naomi Alderman, author of The Power 
 
 
 Do you find yourself endlessly scrolling through social media or the news while your anxiety rises? Are you feeling frazzled after a long day of endless video calls? 
 
 In this timely book, professor Cal Newport shows us how to pair back digital distractions and live a more meaningful life with less technology. 
 
 By following a 'digital declutter' process, you'll learn to: 
 
 · Rethink your relationship with social media 
 · Prioritize 'high bandwidth' conversations over low quality text chains 
 · Rediscover the pleasures of the offline world 
 
 Take back control from your devices and find calm amongst the chaos with Digital Minimalism.

A compelling case for cultivating intense focus, and offers immediately actionable steps for infusing more of it into our lives

Adam Grant, author of Originals on Deep Work

A wonderfully entangled, intertwined, and erudite series of strategies, philosophies, disciplines, and techniques to sharpen your focus and dive deep into your work

As a presence on the page, Newport is exceptional in the realm of self-help authors

Cal Newport speaks human truth to digital power. He calls out our enslavement to modern devices and calmly presents a better way to live and work

This book is an urgent call to action for anyone serious about being in command of their own life

Cal Newport has discovered a cure for the techno-exhaustion that plagues our always-on, digitally caffeinated culture

Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism is the best book I've read in some time about our fraught relationship with technology. If you're looking for a blueprint to guide you as you liberate yourself from the shackles of email, social networks, smartphones, and screens, let this book be your guide

You're not the user, you're the product. Hang up, log off, and tune in to a different way to be in the world. Bravo, Cal, smart advice for good people

I hope that everyone who owns a mobile phone and has been wondering where their time goes gets a chance to absorb the ideas in this book. It's amazing how the same strategy can work for both financial success and mental well-being: Put more energy into what makes you happy, and ruthlessly strip away the things that don't

I challenge you not to devour this wonderful book in one sitting. I certainly did and I started applying Cal's ideas to my own life immediately

Cal Newport's book is a refreshing antidote to the poisonous cycle of what's new? - what's new? that this digital, hyperconnected decade has seduced us into. Building on the economics of Henry David Thoreau, Cal's call for calmer waters, for meaningful and engaged interactions, is just what the world needs right now

Digital Minimalism is the Marie Kondo of mobile phones

Willpower, tips, and vague resolutions are not sufficient by themselves to tame the ability of new technologies to invade your cognitive landscape

What a timely and useful book! It's neither hysterical nor complacent - a workable guide to being thoughtful about digital media. It's already made me rethink some of my media use in a considered way

Minimalism is the art of knowing how much is just enough. Digital minimalism applies this idea to our personal technology. It's the key to living a better and more focused life. 
 
In this timely and enlightening book, the bestselling author of Deep Work introduces a philosophy for technology use that has already improved countless lives. Digital minimalists are all around us. They're the calm, happy people who can hold long conversations without furtive glances at their phones. They can have fun without feeling the obsessive urge to document the experience. They stay informed about the news of the day but don't feel overwhelmed by it. They don't experience 'fear of missing out' because they already know which activities provide them with meaning and satisfaction. 
 
Now, Newport gives us a name for this quiet movement, and makes a persuasive case for its urgency in our tech-saturated world. Turning off notifications and observing a digital Sabbath doesn't go far enough in helping us take back control, and attempts to unplug completely are complicated by the demands of family, friends and work. What we need is a thoughtful method to decide what tools to use, for what purposes and under what conditions. 
 
Drawing on a diverse array of real-life examples, Newport identifies the common practices of digital minimalists and shows how they are rethinking their relationship to social media, rediscovering the pleasures of the offline world and reconnecting with their selves through regular periods of solitude. He then shares strategies for integrating these practices into your life, starting with a thirty-day 'digital declutter' process that has already helped thousands of people feel less overwhelmed and more in control. 
 
Technology is neither intrinsically good nor bad. The key is using it to support your goals and values, rather than letting it use you. This book shows the way.

Most of us know that we're addicted to texting, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter not because we're stupid or shallow, but because they provide real value in the form of connection, community, affirmation and information. But these tools can also disrupt our ability to focus on meaningful work and live fully in the present. 
 
In Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport outlines a practical philosophy and plan for a mindful, intentional use of technology that maximises its benefits while minimizing its drain on our attention, focus and time. Demonstrating how to implement a 30-day digital detox, this book will help you identify which uses of technology are actually helping you reach your goals, and which are holding you back.

A Structured Approach to the Search for Meaning

The Deep Life

You don't need to blow up your life to transform it. You need a step-by-step system for change.In our current moment, more people than ever before feel adrift, as if they’re just going through the motions, disconnected from traditional sources of value and increasingly numbed by digital diversions. They yearn for a more intentional existence, but how do they make this happen? In The Deep Life, Cal Newport argues that the solution is not to pursue a singular radical change, like moving to an exotic location or impulsively changing careers. Instead, he proposes a simple, actionable framework, built around the life you already have, that asks you to:<ul> <li>Discover what resonates</li> <li>Create a compelling vision</li> <li>Execute a systematic plan</li> </ul> 
True depth, he demonstrates, is cultivated piece by intentional piece: by noticing what brings you energy, joy and awe, by developing a clear picture of what you really want in your relationships, career, health and living situation, and by making small, deliberate shifts that add up to something remarkable. Cultivating a deep life means identifying what really matters - and then beginning to make room for it, one deliberate choice at a time.

In our current moment, more people than ever before feel adrift, as if they’re just going through the motions, disconnected from traditional sources of value and increasingly numbed by digital diversions. They yearn for a more intentional existence, but how do they make this happen? 
 
In The Deep Life, Cal Newport argues that the solution is not to pursue a singular radical change, like moving to an exotic location or impulsively changing careers. Instead, he proposes a simple, actionable framework, built around the life you already have, that asks you to: 
<ul><li>Discover what resonates</li><li>Create a compelling vision</li><li>Execute a systematic plan</li></ul>True depth, he demonstrates, is cultivated piece by intentional piece: by noticing what brings you energy, joy and awe, by developing a clear picture of what you really want in your relationships, career, health and living situation, and by making small, deliberate shifts that add up to something remarkable. 
 
Newport demonstrates the power of this approach through the stories of artists, innovators, writers, athletes, entrepreneurs, and working professionals who created richer lives not by dropping everything to “follow their passion”, uprooting their families, or escaping their responsibilities, but through thoughtful adjustments to their current situation. Whether they ultimately found depth through honing a craft, or through embracing family, community or faith, their narratives are unified by the decision to stop drifting and begin living on purpose. 
 
Cultivating a deep life means identifying what really matters - and then beginning to make room for it, one deliberate choice at a time.

Cal Newport

A Revolutionary Guide to Get Ahead by Standing Out (Without Burning Out)

Getting into higher education can feel overwhelming. The pressure to achieve top grades, join endless activities and stand out in every way can quickly lead to stress and burnout. 
 
In How to Be a High School Superstar, Cal Newport - bestselling author and Professor at Georgetown University - shows why this ‘do everything’ approach doesn’t work. Instead, he offers a smarter, research-backed path to success - one that delivers results without sacrificing your sanity or social life. 
 
Drawing on real student success stories and expert insight, Newport reveals how to stand out by focusing on what truly matters. 
 
Through his relaxed superstar approach, you’ll learn how to: 
<ul><li>Free up your time and escape overscheduling</li><li>Focus on a few meaningful pursuits</li><li>Build original projects that set you apart. Be interesting, not just busy</li></ul> 
The result? A more balanced, accomplished life and a powerful edge in university admissions and beyond.

Cal Newport

Books by Cal Newport

Articles featuring Cal Newport

The Penguin books that shaped our everyday lives

Books to help improve your focus and attention span

Books to help you cut down on screen time

Books with ideas that could change your life

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