Over the years, we have understood success to be that where the most is done in the quickest time possible with maximum possible results attained. This has meant urgency is celebrated over deliberation and quick decisiveness over collaborative consultation.

The urgency culture is so ingrained in our day to day that fast food, express lanes, same day and next day shipping, listening at double speed are commonplace. It is etched in our very being such that it can feel unnatural to not be rushing somewhere or cramming something in.

As a recovering hardworking procrastinator, I am personally familiar with sprinting and marathoning. This is inevitable when you put things off till you can’t anymore or pride yourself on valuing excellence regardless of the cost. This has been my norm until I bumped into slow productivity, even before I knew that what it was called.

When I advocate for normalising productivity, I am urging for us to normalise attaining results whereby work is organised in a sustainable way characterised by doing fewer things very well at a natural pace. In this space, less is more without turning off ambition or without compromising attainment of the highest quality. 

I cannot think of many things worse than overload, distraction, always being switched on, feeling burned out, increased effort within rigid non-person-centred work frames or deriving self-worth from increased output.

To recover from this hustle culture of urgency to do more, be more and earn rest – it takes redefining productivity on your terms; resting without guilt and embracing the notion that work is a meaningful purposeful part of life, but not the entirety of it. You are welcome to read my take on rest in this article.

Slow Productivity is a term I’ve learnt from Cal Newport, from his book by the same title, where he reframes how we approach work and output by being more intentional to achieve more by doing less at a slower pace, focusing deeply and prioritising quality over quantity.

Slow productivity is akin to how some of the greatest creators and thinkers work; they are not glued to their inboxes, WhatsApp or Slack nor juggling numerous projects in one go. Creating space for focus and imagination, slowing down to achieve more of what matters takes planning, communicating your intentions and discarding the pressure of artificial deadlines or unnecessary urgency.

This reframe of how to be productive needs:

• Resting without guilt – rest is not laziness nor a reward for exhaustion. It is deep and necessary self-care. Resting is not stopping progress, rather a recharge to allow for greater future capacity. Guilt free rest will need you to set boundaries, unlearning busy-ness and refusing to pin your value on producing results. It is from that place that creativity is renewed, energy is restored, and emotional balance is gained.

• Placing purpose over performance – much as performance metrics (how many, how long, how much, how often) give an indication of how well our work is yielding results; they also enthrone a performance mindset where we are always proving ourselves. But what if productivity was defined by meaningful work aligned to your values and best capacities? This is how work fits into life on the whole rather than overtaking it, allowing us to lose ourselves in that which lights us up and work from the best expression of our being.

Now, as a person, I can redefine productivity and urge you to do so as well, but real change needs systemic and organisational transformation. Great leadership is that which encourages a culture of slowing down to speed up i.e. deprioritising over availability and overwork in favour of work that supports focus, flexibility, impact and outcomes all the while grounded in ambition and environments that foster collective and individual success.

I relate to this, because as an introvert who thrives in the stillness life has to offer, who works best when she can hear herself think and who draws energy from solitude, the notion of working at pace is gratifying.

I’m not saying sprinting through what needs to be done is wrong, far from it. For I have seen many bottle necks resolved from seasons of throwing everything at the objective at hand. This has its place; but to really draw the nectar from the flower, smell the breeze while you’re at it and have a semblance of vitality at the end of a full working day, there is need for slow intentional work.

If you’re ready to give traditional productivity the boot, here are a few tips that can help you get started:

• Habituate deep focus work by scheduling it. This is especially useful for shared calendars where others need to book time with you.
• Treat guilt free rest as an essential by prioritising it like you would any other meeting.
• Check emails and messages at intermittent intervals; turn off notifications to ease the always switched on feeling. Technology is in your life to serve you and not enslave you.
• Reflect weekly or monthly to get a grip on what energises you, drains you or when are you at your most effective. This will highlight what you need to do more of.

Imagine a world where success does not demand burn out, rest is celebrated, and our work reflects our greatest potential. Sounds like a fantasy, right? Well, it’s a choice that starts with you and me.