Dan Harris

The Myth of Productivity

Over the past several years, much has been published about returning to a more natural state of existing. For instance, the slow food movement. An idea that became popularized in Italy (that everyone should have access to good, clean, and fair food), has since become a global phenomenon, getting to the root of food and our diets’ relationship to quality of life and most western diseases. To put together a cohesive map of what this slow food movement would look like, groups began to look to more traditional methods of farming, ranching, and food preparation. Just like this movement examined our ideas about how food should be prepared and where it should come from, there’s a new idea out there proposed by author Cal Newport; that of slow productivity.

In his new book Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment without Burnout, Newport examines the root beliefs behind our modern notions of productivity. As it turns out, the idea of being busy all the time maximizing productivity comes from rather old ideas prevalent in both agriculture and factory work. Most of us have jobs or careers that are a far cry from agriculture or factory work. Beyond that, the pressure to stay busy can lead to what he calls pseudo-productivity. So why are we holding onto these ideals?

Newport dives deep into how overload culture can ultimately harm both individuals and businesses. By slowing down, setting boundaries, and taking on less work, we start to see higher productivity in most cases. His three main principles for applying this lifestyle:

  1. Do fewer things: just take on fewer projects, get used to saying no, and backing it up by doing things like tracking your time.

  2. Work at a natural pace: this is where Newport goes back further than modern day agriculture or factory work. He highlights what our ancient ancestor’s days and even seasons looked like, and how survival depended on slowing down.

  3. Obsess over quality: perhaps the most satisfactory of the three principles, this allows everyone to produce much higher quality work.

His book is now available for purchase, and you can find a great interview with Mr. Newport on one of the recent episodes of Dan Harris’s Ten Percent Happier podcast.