I took it as a sign that this book fell off the shelf.
Last week, I was at a bookstore in New York, perusing the new titles as you do, and this book inched itself off the shelf and fell onto the floor. It’s called Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout. Here’s a picture:
This has only happened to me once before, a long time ago in the Nashville airport, when a copy of Eat Pray Love fell down in front of me. I promptly bought it, devoured it in the plane, and decided to immediately break up with my boyfriend. (I mean, books are affecting, yo!)
So when this productivity book about doing fewer things with higher quality at a natural pace tumbled forward, how was I to avoid buying it, reading it and changing my life?!
Slow Productivity blew my mind. It’s a fascinating look at the knowledge worker, how we equate productivity with visually looking busy (email replies, Slack activity, whatever makes us LOOK productive in a remote world). But despite moving many, tiny tasks forward, we are not accomplishing innovative work. Our productivity is really… thin.
A few of my take-aways:
– Do fewer things. I quit several responsibilities ASAP and it feels great.
– As a solopreneur who must rebuild her own paycheck every year, it is hella tempting to run hard and try to beat last year’s salary. I realized that maybe that shouldn’t always be the goal. (SHOCKING IDEA.)
– Reduce noise. This book really revealed how much my brain is multitasking all day. I sweep through a room, make note of what to buy at the grocery store, note dirty socks for laundry, remember an email to send to a client, see that the dog needs food, get a text confirming an appointment, see that it’s raining and plan to take an umbrella. ALL WITHIN ABOUT 15 FEET. This is too many things.
If you’ve read it, let me know what you think. And if you haven’t, consider checking it out. As you emerge from winter hibernation season, this book might be arriving at the exact right time…
5 Ways to Prep for a Daunting Meeting
A new post on the Plucky blog:
The good news is that difficult meetings are like anything else: the more you practice, the more muscle you’ll build. Take a breath, remember your wisest self and head in. There’s no cooler power move than acting like you’ve been looking forward to this meeting all along…
Last of all…
As I was reading Slow Productivity, many of my clients were preparing for end-of-Q1 performance reviews and awaiting their rating verdicts. They will not all get “exceeds expectations” because, ideally, expectations at a company are delightfully appropriate. Ideally, “meeting expectations” shows that you are doing solid, yet imperfect, work. There is room to grow.
An assumption that one will always exceed expectations is a big flag that something, somewhere is misaligned. If you are continuously exceeding what’s agreed-upon quarter after quarter, your job description is outdated or you’re on the burn-out train.
I guess what I’m trying to say is: I hope you have seasons where you are exceeding expectations but I also hope that you know when to do solid, expected work. I hope you know that you can’t be 200% visually productive all the time.
I hope you know when to slow down.
Yours in chilling out,
xo Jen
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