Calvin C. Newport is an American nonfiction author and full-time professor of computer science at Georgetown University. He is known for his writings about attention management in the digital age.
Background and education Calvin Newport grew up in Pennington, New Jersey. His grandfather, John Newport, was a Baptist minister and theologian.
Calvin graduated from Hopewell Valley Central High School in 2000."College-Bound Dot-coms", U.S. 1 (newspaper), May 23, 2000. Accessed February 1, 2025. "Cal Newport is headed to Dartmouth.... Newport and his friend Michael Simmons, both seniors at Hopewell Valley High School, started the firm last year." He completed his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College in 2004 and, in 2009, received a Ph.D. in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under Nancy Lynch.Newport, Calvin. Curriculum Vitae. https://people.csail.mit.edu/cnewport/pubs/CalvinNewportCV.pdf He was a post-doctoral associate in the MIT computer science department from 2009 to 2011.
Career Newport joined Georgetown University as an assistant professor of computer science in 2011, was granted tenure in 2017, and was promoted to full professorship in 2024. His work focuses on distributed algorithms in challenging networking scenarios and incorporates the study of communications systems in nature. Newport is the author of eight books.
Attention management
Newport started the Study Hacks blog in 2007 where he writes about "how to perform productive, valuable and meaningful work in an increasingly distracted digital age".
Newport used the term deep work, previously used in a psychological Ecker, Bruce. "Overt statements for deep work in grief therapy." Techniques of Grief Therapy. Routledge, 2012. 152–154. or religious sense,Douglas, Scott M. "Developing leaders for pastoral ministry." Journal of Applied Christian Leadership 8.2 (2014): 84–90. in his book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (2016). Newport uses it to refer to studying or working for focused chunks of time on intellectually skilful tasks without distractions such as email and social media. He challenges the belief that participation in social media is important for career capital.
In 2017, he began advocating for "digital minimalism." In 2021, he began referring to the role email and chat play in what he calls "the hyperactive hive mind".
In addition to his blog and newsletter, he is the creator of a regular podcast about productivity and knowledge working.
In 2019, Newport released his book Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. During a 2019 interview with GQ magazine, Newport suggested that our smartphones are like cigarettes and stated, "You're gonna look at allowing a 13-year-old to have a smartphone the same way that you would look at allowing your 13-year-old to smoke a cigarette."
Books How to Win at College (Crown, 2005) How to Become a Straight-A Student (Crown, 2006) How to Be a High-School Superstar (Crown, 2010) So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion In The Quest For Work You Love (Grand Central Publishing, 2012) Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (Grand Central Publishing, 2016) Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World (Portfolio, 2019) The Time-Block Planner (2020) 2nd ed. (Portfolio, 2023) A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload (Portfolio, 2021) Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout (Portfolio, 2024)
References