#Dispatch 005: slow productivity

Doing less, more slowly, increasing quality

I find it hard to deviate from the mentality of cramming as much work as possible into a given period of time.

I think this stems from having spent many years working in busy corporate jobs, where I often had a to do list as long as my arm.

Image by Ricarda Mölck from Pixabay

🏃But doing too much is not good for us.

A 2022 survey of 15,000 workers across 15 countries by McKinsey found that a quarter of employees experienced burnout symptoms.

And Deloitte have found that nearly half of millenials have quit a job specifically because they felt burned out.

🚶‍♀️There is a better way…

In his book Slow Productivity, Cal Newport puts forward 3 things to focus on in order to be more productive:

1. focus on fewer things

2. work at a natural pace

3. obsess over quality

Doing so will safeguard our mental health and well-being, and decrease our stress levels, creating the perfect conditions for us to do our best work.