Why we need to embrace slow work

For too long, being able to say that you’re busy was treated as a badge of honor. It was a fact of the nonstop hustle culture — or the idea that if you get things done, you’ll eventually see more and more money. But this mindset comes with a cost. Is success really success if every other aspect of your life suffers, including your health and your relationships with loved ones?

While some people may be able to work 20-hour days at full capacity for years without breakdown or burnout, this is unsustainable for the vast majority of people.

According to the Mental Health Foundation, “the cumulative effect of increased working hours [has] an important effect on the lifestyle of a huge number of people, which is likely to prove damaging to their mental well-being.”

But what if you could achieve success without compromising the quality of your work or sacrificing your mental health? Enter the “slow work” movement, which focuses on mindfulness, creativity and a balanced working environment.

Slow work goes against everything we have been taught about being successful. However, applying these principles and taking time to recharge is likely to improve the quality of your work. Here are five benefits of giving yourself a break and deciding to approach work differently in 2022.

Getting off the hamster wheel

When you are trapped in the cycle of constant busyness, it is very difficult to get off the treadmill. The more you are in never-ending motion, the more concerns there are to take up your attention. You can get trapped in thinking about “urgent” over “important” most of the time.

The important things will help you reach your goals in the long term, but they often keep being delayed in the short term so you can address more urgent tasks. The irony is that in allowing yourself space to focus on what’s important, you can reduce the number of urgent things you need to address at work. That’s because you have taken the time to anticipate what needs to be done to help you work more efficiently and to prevent fires from starting.

If you consciously choose to stop the busyness trap, you have space to see how to do things differently.

Putting your efforts into focused work

Focused word results in higher-quality work. There is no such thing as “multi-tasking” (another term people are proud to say they do). Research tells us that we don’t do tasks simultaneously; instead, we switch between separate tasks. This process of switching may only lose you microseconds each time, but the cumulative effect is inefficient and unproductive work patterns that become draining.

The most efficient way of working is to dedicate time to spend on one task (especially where the task is complex or requires creativity). If you work this way, you are likely to work quicker and meet a higher standard.

If you work free from distraction, it also increases the likelihood of entering the “flow state,” a term coined by the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to denote “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”

Leaning into flashes of inspiration

Slow work is also likely to heighten your creativity. Have you ever noticed how your brilliant ideas often come to you while you’re out for a walk or taking a bath? Or the answer to a complex problem you’ve been thinking about for weeks just pops into your head? The reason for this is that when you are relaxed, you tend to enter “alpha brain wave” state, a state in which you are more likely to come up with creative ideas.

This makes a compelling case for taking regular breaks.

When your brain is in beta mode (the usual working state), you tend to get into “rut-thinking” — not too helpful if you are trying to solve a complex problem or innovate. And if you are stressed or anxious as well, this can completely shut down expansive thinking.

Using the Pareto Principle

The Pareto Principle states that 20% of our activities produces 80% of our results. In other words, there may not always be a high correlation between input and output. It depends on whether you are focusing the majority of your time on the “right” activities. Most of us might not even know what those 20% of “right” activities are.

Taking the time to really understand which activities produce the most impact can help you to get out of that hustle mentality and into slow work mode. When you focus on the things that matter in a concentrated way, and either delegate or stop doing less impactful activities, it will free up your time and allow you to work in a more balanced way, while not compromising performance.

Why slow work creates sustainable success

Your career is a marathon, not a sprint. What’s the point in constantly hustling if your health suffers? If your goal is to succeed in the long term, you need to nurture your mind and body to allow yourself the best platform to create success.

Everyone has 24 hours in a day. There is no excuse for not taking some time off to exercise, eat well and sleep. All these things will feed and fuel your brain and allow you to perform at a high level consistently, without sacrificing your own well-being.

If you want sustainable success, you can’t afford to neglect yourself.