Can Slowness and Productivity Go Together?
“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset” (St. Frances de Sales).
Since my daughter was born (really, since she was conceived) I’ve learned that there are many paradoxes in motherhood. One is that time slows down and speeds up at the same time. “The days are long, but the years are short,” as they say. I don’t know where the last few years have gone.
At the same time, becoming a mother has taught me to move more slowly through time. During the precious time I have to work, I prioritize ruthlessly and try to get as much accomplished as I can. During the precious time I have with my daughter, I try to savor every moment, inspired by her toddlerhood to pay more attention to the little things.
It was with interest, then, that I saw the title of Cal Newport’s new book. Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout should especially appeal to harried working parents. On the other hand, though, who does not feel too busy these days? For most people who aren’t parents, there’s still a list of to-dos a mile long. “Hustle culture” demands that we are always working, always striving, always accomplishing—but we have not been given any more time for that work.
Another new book, Private Equity, addresses some of the same questions—but in memoir form. The author, Carrie Sun, worked for a hedge fund (she uses pseudonyms for both the company and the people involved) for a couple of years before burning out and quitting. Unfortunately, I wasn’t totally surprised by much of what she writes, but I think it’s an important story to tell, and I hope many, many executives read it.
These books pack a one-two punch for anyone interested in dismantling hustle culture, one step at a time.
The Need to Slow Down
Newport begins Slow Productivity with an evaluation of where we are and how we got here. Most of us see some signs in our own workplace or the workplaces of people we care about: too many meetings, performative productivity, and completing more busywork than meaningful work—not to mention the stress, the fatigue, the lack of time for faith or family or anything other than work, the burnout … I’m sure you know that I could go on.
Sun tells a compelling story with pretty much every sign there is of burnout and a dehumanizing work culture. She describes physical health issues, an injury caused by reading work emails while working out, disorganized eating, misalignment between her work and her values, and no time to pursue her passion for writing (which she’d quit a demanding job at Fidelity in part to pursue).
A Solution
For Sun, the answer was to quit. She was an executive assistant without much power, despite the fact that her boss claimed to value her contributions. After unsuccessfully trying to negotiate for a better work life, she left the job. Since then, she’s earned a master of fine arts in creative writing, published a memoir, and gotten married—all presumably contributing to a much better quality of life.
Slow Productivity proposes a different solution, albeit one that is only feasible “for those who engage in skilled labor with significant amounts of autonomy,” as Newport writes early in the book. That solution is “slow productivity,” which he defines as “a philosophy for organizing knowledge work efforts in a sustainable and meaningful manner, based on the following three principles: 1. Do fewer things. 2. Work at a natural pace. 3. Obsess over quality.”
For professionals who have the ability to be more flexible with the amount and type of work they do, Newport argues persuasively that this approach will result in less time spent on work—and higher quality work. Following his approach (and the book is full of tips and strategies on how to do so), he says, will mean that the work you do is only the work that meaningfully contributes to your business or career.
I was pretty sold, and I think this book will be helpful for many entrepreneurs or people at high levels of organizations. Unfortunately, for the rest of the workforce, including people for whom Private Equity rings all too familiar, it may be a frustrating read without much help.
People of power, I beg you: Read Private Equity and follow it up with Slow Productivity. You don’t have to treat your people (and yourself) like automatons to have a successful business. It’s possible to have a good life—and just enough of a salary to pay for it.
Taryn DeLong is a Catholic wife and mother in North Carolina who serves as co-president and editor-in-chief of Catholic Women in Business. Her first book, written with her co-president Elise Crawford Gallagher, will be out in fall 2024 from Ave Maria Press. Connect with Taryn: Instagram • Facebook • LinkedIn • Blog • Substack