Slow productivity emphasizes doing fewer things simultaneously, working at a natural pace, and focusing on the quality of work. In knowledge work, the misconception of adding more tasks leads to increased administrative overhead and decreased actual task accomplishment. Fewer tasks at a time increase productivity and quality of work. Negotiating workload with transparency and surfacing available time can lead to a more reasonable distribution of tasks and help in achieving slow productivity.
Cal Newport knows a thing or two about productivity: when he’s not teaching computer science at Georgetown, he’s writing for The New Yorker, hosting a podcast, or authoring New York Times bestsellers like Deep Work and Digital Minimalism. In his new book, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, Cal proposes that we trade current standards of rapid output for slower, higher-quality, and sustainable ways of working. Adam and Cal dig into the data on productivity, debate the benefits and drawbacks of doing fewer things (and spending less time on email and social media), and discuss individual habits and organizational practices for preventing burnout and promoting worthwhile work.
Transcripts for ReThinking are available at go.ted.com/RWAGscripts