Slow productivity: what if you did less?

From the moment you wake up until you fall asleep, you face an endless stream of choices, tasks, and interruptions.

Most likely, as soon as you wake up, you touch your cell phone screen first and take it to the bathroom because looking at the ingrown hair on your leg is no longer enough. Please note, this is not a criticism of you or your ability to sit on the toilet in peace.

It is a criticism of the context in which we live.

In recent decades, we have become used to living surrounded by noise, urgency and stimulation. We call it productivity, but it has another name: addiction.

There’s always one more email to respond to, one more task to do, one more video to watch. The more you try to keep up with this pace, the more exhausted and overwhelmed you become.

It reminds me of a conversation between two krill in the movie Happy Feet 2 (krill are tiny creatures that whales feed on and that swarm in the millions). At a certain point, one of them decides to stop swimming and says to his friend:

— I want to be free, Bill.

— Free? That doesn’t exist. Come on, less thinking and more swimming with others.

— I’m tired of swimming with others. We spend our whole lives doing this. What do you think is beyond the swarm, Bill?

— More swarm.

— And then?

— More swarm.

— And then?

Maybe each one of us needs a Will for our Bill. A side of us that stops and asks if what we are experiencing really makes sense.

Slow Productivity

In a culture where success seems synonymous with being busy, the solution isn’t to do more or faster. It’s to stop reacting. Cal Newport calls this Slow Productivity, and it’s based on three principles:

• Do less. Someone who does three things well gets further than someone who does twelve mediocrely.
• Work at a natural pace. You’re not a machine. You’re a biological being, with rhythms, seasons, and limits.
• Focus on quality. Quality requires limits, and limits require the courage to say no sometimes.

Ultimately, slow productivity invites you to step back in the chaos and ask: what the heck are we doing, and does it even make sense?

And tomorrow morning, leave your cell phone outside the bathroom. Your hair will thank you for the attention.