Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

How to Work Less and Get More Done with Alex Pang #118

18 snips

Jun 23, 2020

In this engaging conversation, Alex Pang, an author and former Silicon Valley tech consultant, shares insights on the importance of resting more to work effectively. He argues that taking intentional breaks, or engaging in 'deep play', enhances creativity and productivity. Alex discusses how our technology-driven lives often blur work-life boundaries, and advocates for a four-day work week as a path to better well-being. Moreover, he highlights the irony of achieving higher output through shorter hours and the necessity of redefining work structures for improved mental health.

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ADVICE

Deep Play

Engage in "deep play," or serious hobbies, to enhance creativity and process ideas.
Deep play offers similar pleasures as work but in a different context.

ANECDOTE

London Walks

Alex Pang's evening photography walks in London mirror his childhood walks with his historian father.
This illustrates the autobiographical dimension of deep play, connecting to past experiences.

INSIGHT

Technology's Double-Edged Sword

Technology, meant to improve work-life balance, has blurred boundaries.
Constant availability has become the expectation, turning work into a fine powder settling throughout our days.

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Why is it that we equate long hours with greater effort? Could a four-day working week be the change we need for public health as well as the economy?

My guest on today’s conversation is Alex Pang, an author and former Silicon Valley tech consultant who noticed that, when he went on sabbatical from work, he suddenly got a lot more done. This led him to research and write about resting more and working less.

We begin the podcast by talking about active rest or, as Alex also terms it, ‘deep play’. How taking regular breaks from intense work to do something you love is a means to enhanced creativity and productivity. We talk about how the technologies we thought would give us a better work-life balance have instead robbed us of boundaries and ground our work down into a fine powder that settles on all areas of our life. It works both ways – we check social media or do our online banking while we’re at work, just as we check our work emails when we’re at home.

The solution, says Alex, is to work shorter, more focused hours and balance that with more ‘serious leisure’ time. There are already progressive companies out there who are shortening the working day or week and reaping the surprising rewards of increased profitability and productivity!

At a time when many of us are working in very different ways from normal, Alex’s work seems incredibly prescient. As lockdown slowly lifts and workplaces start to reopen, finding a balance between work, rest and play that promotes productivity and growth alongside employee wellbeing feels like a no-brainer. The same applies to the self-employed and across all industries. Surely this is our window of opportunity to explore what the ‘new normal’ should be? I found this conversation really inspiring and I hope you do too.

Show notes available at: https://drchatterjee.com/118

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