[Newport] keeps returning to territory covered in his earlier books, repackaging warmed-over ideas as "revelations" ... By clinging to the same concepts over and again, an author will undoubtedly realize some productivity gains, only for a reader to realize something else: Maybe none of it is really that deep.
While not mind-blowingly original, these are sensible, thoughtful suggestions with demonstrative benefits ... But there is a big problem with Newport’s solutions: they presuppose a level of autonomy over the working day that few office workers possess ... I would like to see Newport attack the office problem on this kind of bigger scale — and not via the illusion of personal autonomy.
Newport acknowledges — without really addressing it — the difficulty of juggling workloads with caring responsibilities ... The most interesting part of Slow Productivity is his discussion of pseudo-productivity.
It’s an exercise, alas, that often contrives to find lessons where none exist, and seldom amounts to more than trite advice-manual truisms ... Still, his optimism that workers will generate “magic” one No-Meeting Monday at a time is energizing—even vital.
