Try 'Slow Productivity' to Increase the Quality of Your Work (and Prevent Burnout)

My posts on productivity techniques and methods tend to resonate with readers, which makes me happy because I'm providing something genuinely helpful—but a little sad because it reflects just how desperate we all are to find a way to get even more done.

I'm no stranger to the rat race, but it still sucks to sit back and realize how stressed everyone is all the time. For a few years now, "burnout" has been a cultural buzzword, but the concept isn't new: Working too hard and too fast just isn't sustainable, so while productivity techniques that advise you on how to prioritize multiple tasks in a single day are helpful in the short term, they can't last forever for everybody. I love structured to-do lists and days where everything comes together as much as you do, but in a world where work, school, personal wellness, family, and friends are putting endless demands on us, it's not always possible to get it all done in one morning, even with the most detailed, time-boxed schedule.

If you feel some burnout coming on or want to switch up your routine before you do, consider the concept of "slow productivity," the latest guidance from productivity guru Cal Newport.

What is slow productivity?

Well, first of all, it's the title of Newport's latest book: Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout. He's the guy who gave us the idea of "deep work," or getting into a position to focus completely on a single task without distraction. With this new framework, he advocates for people to do fewer things, work at a natural pace, and "obsess" over the quality of their work. That stands in contrast to how a normal day goes for most of us, trying to do a bunch of different stuff at warp speed, banging out a high quantity of finished tasks with varying levels of quality.

Newport's premise is that work used to be more hands-on, but as manufacturing has given way to "knowledge work," we've started to confuse being busy with being productive. The typical worker now spends days sorting through emails and Slack messages, not necessarily creating anything or ending a shift with something to show for their labor. Spending all day on Zoom and Slack doesn't leave much time for actually working, thinking, writing, or doing much else in the way of deep work.

How to use slow productivity during the work day

To harness slow productivity, you have to rely on those three pillars of doing fewer things, working at a natural pace, and obsessing over quality. Here, start slowly. Building structured schedules and data-driven, prioritized to-do lists is important—I'm not going to suggest that you should give it up altogether, but what if your schedule made time for a single-task day once a week to start?

Look at your to-do list, whatever method you use to structure it. Identify a major task that needs to be completed. One day a week, at least in the beginning, block out your schedule so you're only working on that task. To the best of your ability, don't schedule any meetings (or choose a day where you have none), don't be super available by Slack or email, and fall back on the principles of deep work and productivity. That means take periodic breaks, work with no distractions, and work toward a larger goal—which, in this case, is producing a quality product that furthers your mission, whether it's a personal mission like getting a raise or a company-wide one like increasing sales. Keep notes on how much you got done.

After trying this approach for a few weeks, assess your output. By putting your focus on one task, not rushing, and giving some meaningful attention and care to the quality of what you're doing, you should end up with better work that is actually more productive overall than a bunch of fast, smaller tasks. You can use this framework in other areas of your life, too. When you get home on Tuesdays, for instance, that can be your night to focus only on meal planning for the next week or handling your kids' affairs and schedules. Maybe Wednesdays can be solely devoted to cleaning the house or to seeing and catching up with friends. There's still some scheduling involved, but you're avoiding the buildup of minor tasks and stress, which will help stave off burnout and make the things you do focus on in those time blocks more productive and meaningful.