Book Review: Slow Productivity – By Cal Newport
- Print length: 222 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Random House LLC
- Publication: 2024
Slow Productivity: A counter to Knowledge Worker Productivity Frenzy
In his 1999 paper Peter Drucker labelled knowledge worker productivity as “the biggest challenge”. With the rise of technology the load on knowledge workers has increased exponentially. Everyone is trying to somehow become more productive.
Slow productivity thus stands out as, the word ‘Slow’ and ‘Productivity’ don’t intuitively fit together.
Cal who has written deep work, argues that only slow productivity is the way to achieve great outcomes.
I never knew that Isaac Newton took over 20 years to complete his works. Only when his findings were published in the ‘Principia’, the world came to know of his genius. But the lazy pace at which he worked was forgotten. Cal’s book ‘Slow Productivity’ is filled with such eye opening examples.
Key points in Slow Productivity by Cal Newport
There are 3 essential ideas in the book Slow Productivity by Cal Newport:
Do fewer things:
It is the key to producing great work. Cal suggest we should do fewer things because overload is neither a humane nor pragmatic approach to organising our work.
Work at a natural pace:
Dont rush your most important work. Allow it instead to unfold along a sustainable timeline. Make long term plans for the important goals. Cal argues that humans being are not great at estimating the time required for cognitive endeavours. We are wired to understand the demands of tangible efforts like crafting a hand axe or gathering edible plants. When it come to planning things which lack physical effort, we are mostly guessing. One solution Cal gives is to double the timelines, as our original timelines were never realistic in the first place.
Obsess over quality:
Obsess over quality of what your produce, even if this means missing opportunities in the short term. Leverage the value off these results to gain more and more freedom in your efforts over the long term. Once you commit to doing something well, busyness becomes intolerable.
‘Slow productivity’ by Cal Newport is a nudge for us to slow down
This book is a reminder that we all derive great satisfaction from being good at what we do and produce useful things.
In Cal’s words: “Slow productivity is a plea to step from the frenzied activity of the daily grind. What ultimately matters: is where you end up not the speed at which you get there or the number of people you impress with your busyness along the way”.
The book has many actionable ideas that individuals can implement. Slow Productivity is must read for all, as the times we live in need that we slow down to achieve greatness.
I have read this book the 2nd time with the support and the plan by Aniket Rai as the part of his ReadAR 2.0 Cohort.
Book#: 268
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