Review: Slow productivity by Cal Newport

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished: Lao Tzu

What I learnt from slow productivity book

Recently I have been juggling with a lot of multiple tasks and succeeding in none, which is not the usual me. I used to work on my tasks at an optimum pace and never rushed, but the last few months made me deviate from my usual pattern of doing things. Then the book, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout got published in March, last month, which helped me refresh my mind on how to come out of the non-terminating loop of work which had made me burn out. Many of the things explained in the book were new to me while some I had come across in Cal Newport’s previous books and podcast.

The knowledge work sector borrowed the way of measuring the efficiency of workers by the quantity of work done and the hours worked from the manufacturing sector, where this had been introduced during the industrial revolution. But this is not a suitable method for measuring the productivity or efficiency with respect to knowledge workers.

How to instigate slow productivity in our jobs?

Use the pull strategy to plan your project and tasks rather than haphazardly throwing yourself into all the projects that come in the way. Pull in new tasks only when the old one gets completed. Here listing out the tasks into two categories: one in hold and the other in progress, will help. The optimum number for active tasks should be generally three, which may vary depending on the project.

Assess the frequency and time that would be required for overhead activities like communication over mail and call other than the actual time to be invested for completing the project. This must be given as much importance as considering the difficulty of a task or the timeline of a project. Prioritize the option that take less overhead time.

Spend money when required, so as to reduce the size of the task list. Subscribing to essential software, hiring specialists or other service providers to reduce the administrative tasks cancels out worrying over small commitments.

NOTE:

Projects are any work-related initiative that cannot be completed in a single session.

Every time before starting with a project, ask your source to give any additional information required. This eliminates the not so important tasks running freely into your schedule as it creates a friction by putting more efforts to the source. If the task is absolutely essential, and you get the additional information, estimate the time required to complete this work based on the current projects you are working on. Usually, it is better to allocate double the timeframe we estimate to a particular project. It is because we usually tend to be overambitious while planning. It is important to communicate this timeframe with the source and keep them informed about the update. Also, in case of delay the communication must be done and transparency maintained to reduce any confusion and back & forth messaging.

It is important to review your task list and clean it up once a week. The tasks that get frequently postponed could be analyzed again and communicate politely to the source whether you will be able to take it up as agreed earlier or not.

Work at a natural pace. The most important work should be carried out at normal pace and let it unfold along the way. Long term plans must be made to accept the slower developments that we make at natural pace. This longer timeline can be broken down into simpler tasks with medium and smaller time frames. This would help us look at the project one task at a time and help us in visualizing our progress each day. The smaller timelines of each day at times can consist of period of intense busyness too, but never let it become your normal routine. Amidst all this make sure you do not give yourself unlimited time to finish a task.

Forgive yourself if you are taking longer time than usual in completing your goals and not getting everything right every time.

Take time off each year by assigning yourself light projects during a particular period each year.

Obsess over quality of your project result and not on the number and pace at which you complete. Also, slow productivity promotes sacrificing a small increase in income or responsibilities/post so as to reduce the overhead burden and pursue a quality life.

Mingling with like-minded professionals helps in improving the quality of our work and sometimes investing in high quality tools makes us bring out the best in us.

Progress is what matters. Not perfection.