Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

Introduction

Part 1 | Foundations

       When human labor was primarily dedicated to agriculture, productivity was measured in the amount of goods that a field could produce. Given conditions x, field y yielded z crops. Any change to x or y that increased z would mean an increase in productivity.

       In the industrial age, human labor could be measured in the amount of goods produced. A factory worker who turned more widgets than another or who was organized in a more efficient manner was more productive.

       In the current age, with the growth of “knowledge work” where the output comes primarily from an act of cognition, there is no good metric to measure the productivity of knowledge workers. Take the following scenario:

       This lack of a viable metric to measure productivity, Cal Newport argues, has led to the rise of Pseudo-Productivity, a method of measuring productivity through outward signs of busyness. If someone responds to emails within 10 minutes, has their day booked with meetings, and has an always open Slack tab on their second monitor they must be a productive member of the company, right?

       In opposition to this, Cal Newport puts forward Slow Productivity to help knowledge workers break free from the demands of Pseudo-Productivity and produce quality, meaningful work.

Part 2 | Principles

Do Fewer Things

       Not to be confused with “accomplish fewer things” (60) This pillar seeks to limit the number of projects in a given period of time in order to spend longer, higher quality time on accomplishing those projects.

1. The same amount of hours of labor is done
2. In scenario two, although fewer projects have been started half of the projects are finished whereas nothing was finished in scenario 1

       Further, Cal Newport posits that switching from one project to another will decrease the overall productivity because you are shifting from one context to another and cannot accomplish as high-quality work. Conversely, if you are working on one project and that is your sole focus you will get more of that project done relative to the person who is continuously distracted by other contexts pushing their way into the brain.

Proposition: Limit the Big

       The goal is to “implement a systemic plan for limiting significant commitments in your professional life” (60). There are three main areas that require limits to be placed on them: missions, projects, & daily goals.

       Missions are overarching goals that direct your career. In limiting missions the less the better, two to three is minimal and manageable. Cal Newport uses the example of his own career just after graduation he had, “two missions: academic research and writing” (69.) Five or more seems unmanageable.

       Projects are tasks that require more than one sitting to finish. In order to limit projects you must be realistic and specific with your rime. Schedule protected time to work on projects like you would a meeting. If somebody attempts to pawn another project onto you, respond respectfully with the amount of time it will take before the project can be started, your current workload, etc. As long as you make this a regular practice and are known as a steady and faithful worker (hopefully) people will reconsider overworking you.

       In order to accomplish the most amount of high-quality work on a project, it is recommended that you work on at most one project per day. Not that this is the only thing you will do in a day, everyone has smaller tasks that can be accomplished in one sitting, but that this is the only project that you will work on for the day.

Proposition: Contain the Small

       Schedule regular time to finish recurring tasks. If you have to review a budget report every month, block off the required time it would take every month instead of waiting until the last minute.

       When dealing with a team, instead of firing off a quick email, or scheduling a meeting, institute office hours. Office hours are regular 30-60 minute time periods where you are totally available to any and all requests. It is also incumbent upon you to broadcast this message to people. If one of your co-workers sends an ambiguous email, instead of engaging in a lengthy asynchronous back-and-forth, just offer that they stop by your next open office hours so you can discuss it quickly in person.

       This advice can also be followed for teams in “docket-clearing meetings” which are weekly meetings where your team runs through tasks that require clarification or collaboration.

       Spread the workload. If someone has a request of you it can be useful to a minimal amount of effort from them for you to be successful. The example used was an office manager who processed travel reimbursements. Instead of doing all of those tasks herself, she has two mail sorters, one for unsigned forms and one for signed forms. It is the team members responsibility to print the forms and fill out the requisite fields. Once a week (say, Thursday mornings) the manager signs the forms and transfers them to the signed forms pile. From there it is the teammate's duty to scan and submit the forms. This process requires minimal amounts of extra work from the team but saves a large amount of time on the office manager's account.

Proposition: Pull Instead of Push

       Task management can be viewed in one of two ways: push or pull. Ordinarily, when work is finished at one stage it is then pushed onward toward the next stage. In knowledge work, it is often the case that more work is pushed onto a worker than can feasibly be completed in an expected amount of time. Instead of having work pushed onto a worker, a pull based system is exactly the opposite. When a worker has finished a project, he will pull in a new project to work on. Unless your organization is reformed to accept a pull-based system, you will not be able to do this as an individual, but Cal Newport has a three-part system to simulate the pull.

1. Create two lists
   1. Holding Tank: list of unbounded size that holds all projects to be completed
   2. Active List: list of at most three projects that are currently being worked on
2. When accepting a new project send an acknowledgement that you will complete the project, then
   1. Request additional details before the project begins
   2. Count existing number of projects
   3. Estimate when you expect to finish the project
3. Once a week clean out your list
   1. Pull in new work
   2. Update any deadlines
   3. Send updates to stakeholders about any delay
   4. Cancel if absolutely necessary
   5. Look for projects that have been made irrelevant or redundant

Work at a Natural Pace

       Humans have spent a much longer time working seasonally than they have working year-round in air-conditioned factories or offices. We are designed to work seasonally, and we work better when we do so.

Proposition: Take Longer

       We are not well equipped to properly estimate the amount of hours it will take to accomplish a cognitive-based task. As a result, one easy way to work more naturally is to double project deadlines. You also ought to simplify your workday. Cut back on the amount of meetings and daily tasks you plan to accomplish.

Proposition: Embrace Seasonality

       It is not strange to work on a seasonal basis. Historically, working eight hours a day, every day is a strange idea. As is possible, attempt to schedule major projects such that they all wrap up around the slower seasons of work and plan to start new ones when the slow seasons end. In the interim have smaller, less cognitively demanding projects during the slow seasons. Just because it is more natural to work seasonally does not mean you are not getting paid to work year-round.

       Small seasonality is a way to shake up your work year by embracing smaller segments of your day, week, or month and slowing down. The examples Cal Newport uses are

• Do not schedule meetings on mondays
• Take an afternoon off once a month and go to the zoo or movies
• Schedule restful projects that you will enjoy doing
• Work in six to eight week cycles

Proposition: Work Poetically

       Embrace rituals as a way to get into particular mindsets to accomplish work.

Obsess Over Quality

       When it comes time to advance in your field only a few key activities matter. “When professors go up for promotion, for example, most of what occupies our day falls away from consideration. The decision comes down to exhaustive confidential letters, solicited from prominent scholars, that discuss and debate the importance and impact of our research on our field. In the end, great research papers are what matter for us. If we haven’t notably advanced our academic speciality, no amount of to-do list martyrdom can save us.” (175) It is vital that we cast off the demands of Pseudo-Productivity in order to invest our time in high-quality skills that will improve our careers.

Proposition: Improve Your Taste

       Developing a skill not in your field can increase your appreciation of the skills that are in your field. Most of the advice and strategies put forward are interesting but seem to mainly apply to those whose careers are entirely creative (artists, authors, the like) who could feasibly become a cinephile and as a result, apply the lessons they learn to further their writing career. Another strategy was to start your own version of The Inklings, a writing club that included the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, and Nevill Coghill. The Inklings met to read and offer advice to the authors within its group.