The content we consume can consume us, if we are not mindful enough. In this period of information overload and analysis paralysis, The ‘Weekly Highlights’ collects the 3, most valuable pieces of content I have come across during the week, and packages them in a single page, with some notes and key highlights, so to foster mindful and intentional consumption of content, which can truly add value to our life.

Intentional content consumption, in an era in which the amount of content we expose ourselves to can consume us, if we are not mindful enough. 🐘

What Makes Work Meaningful — Or Meaningless

You can click on the title above to read the full article.

We defined meaningful work as arising “when an individual perceives an authentic connection between work and a broader transcendent life purpose beyond the self.” (Bailey and Madden, “Time Reclaimed: Temporality and the Experience.”). “People often found their work to be full of meaning at moments associated with mixed, uncomfortable, or even painful thoughts and feelings, not just a sense of unalloyed joy and happiness. Our research suggests that, contrary to what we may have thought, meaningfulness is not always a positive experience. The experience of coping with these challenging conditions led to a sense of meaningfulness far greater than they would have experienced dealing with straightforward, everyday situations. Meaningfulness was rarely experienced in the moment, but rather in retrospect and on reflection when people were able to see their completed work and make connections between their achievements and a wider sense of life meaning. The challenge lies not only in articulating and conveying a clear message about organizational purpose, but also in not undermining meaningfulness by generating a sense of artificiality and manipulation.”

Why Believe in Others | Viktor Frankl

““If we take man as he really is, we make him worse. But if we overestimate him, we promote him to what he really can be””

— Viktor Frankl

We have to be idealist in a way, because in this way we actually end up being realistic. Presuppose a spark for meaning, and you can help others become what they actually can.

The Joys and Sorrows of Binge Working | Deep Questions with Cal Newport

Listen to this episode from Deep Questions with Cal Newport on Spotify. Below are the topics covered in today's mini-episode (with timestamps). For instructions on submitting your own questions, go to calnewport.com/podcast.- Taming scattered schedules. [3:10]- Phantom part time work in the office. [11:04]- The joys and sorrows of binge working.

Two of the concepts that resonated the most with me include:

the argument for thinking about reading in terms of time spent reading per day (ability to compound) instead of “how many books per month/year”. Focusing on the quality and process of reading makes much more sense to me compared to wanting to reach arbitrary numbers. This also reminds me of this piece by The School of Life.
the idea of mastering our use of time, so that our primary job may become, as a consequence, almost a part time job, as we manage to conclude projects and tasks in advance with respect to the overall organizational machine. The time saved provides opportunity for living the deep life.