We’ve confused motion with progress, busy with productive.
The cult of busyness tells us that if we’re not constantly moving, constantly doing, constantly optimizing, we’re falling behind. But this franticism often leads us away from the work that actually matters.
Slow work isn’t about working slowly—it’s about working deliberately. It’s the difference between checking email every five minutes and checking it twice a day. Between jumping between tasks and giving focused attention to one thing at a time.
The principles of slow work:
- Depth over breadth: Better to do three things excellently than ten things adequately
- Intention over reaction: Choose what deserves your attention rather than responding to whatever screams loudest
- Quality over quantity: Measure output by impact, not activity
- Presence over productivity: Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is think
In a world that rewards the appearance of productivity, slow work is radical. It requires confidence to move at your own pace, to say no to the urgent in service of the important.
The paradox? When you slow down enough to work deliberately, you often accomplish more than when you’re running frantically toward everything at once.