Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

This book will set your mind and scheduling on the right path to productivity

J'avais adoré "Deep Work" et apprécié les autres livres de Cal Newport. C'est peut-être le problème : quand on connaît les autres livres de cet auteur, "Slow Productivity" ne donne pas assez d'enseignements supplémentaires et s'avère un peu décevant. De plus, j'ai trouvé que les conseils sont pertinents surtout pour les entrepreneurs ou les indépendants, même si j'ai apprécié l'effort de Newport de parler aussi des personnes qui ne sont pas tout à fait libres d'appliquer le paradigme de la productivité lente.Pour conclure, c'est un livre bien écrit et intéressant, mais que je ne conseillerais pas à ceux qui ont déjà lu les autres livres de Cal Newport.

I enjoyed this book and it made me think. Recommended.

It sticks to the typical self-help format- part 1 is the problem, part 2 is the solution- each section is littered with successful examples that are massaged enough to fit the book's conclusion, while no mention is made that, for every one of those cherry-picked examples, there are dozens of successes that don't fit the book's thesisIt's a complete cliché.But if there's one author for whom I'll suspend disbelief and give it a chance, it's Cal Newport. Despite the contrived examples that are a hard sell, I like its thesis, concept, and conclusions. I'm not sure yet as to what extent I'll apply its content: I'll need another read to make this plan.

I've long been a fan of Newport's work. I'm a former lawyer turned stay at home mom. Since leaving the traditional workplace, I've dedicated the majority of my intellectual reserves to creative writing, a pursuit I find both challenging and frustrating for a variety of reasons. I give this context so those who might read my review understand my circumstances. Even though I don't think I'm exactly the type of knowledge worker Newport envisions, some of his tips resonated deeply as the more cluttered the creative mind the more difficult it can be to access the imagination. In that respect, do less and move at a natural pace, Newport's first two tenents of slow productivity, are both useful tips.A few observations/critiques I have relating to Newport's definition of productivity. As a person who works outside the confines of a traditional workplace, I still find the notion of pseudo-productivity to be a plague upon my ability to do meaningful work. I was pleased to see Newport dedicate a section of his book to working parents. In this section he notes that even those who aren't parents may be bogged down by other caretaking responsibilities or life events and, in those cases, "the demand to prove your worth through visible activity produces inner turmoil."I would argue that proving one's worth through visible activity extends beyond the workplace. Many of us have complicated relationships with our to-do lists. Also, there's the notion that we might become physically addicted to tasks defined as "pseudo-productive" because these tasks are dopamine inducing. Think how good it feels to look at an organized closet after only a few hours of effort.On a day where I feel generally agitated due to my inability to move my creative work forward, the feeling of satisfaction of completing a small, fairly meaningless task (e.g., laundry, making beds, vacuuming, etc.) is huge. I wonder if this affects more traditional knowledge workers in the same way it affects someone like me who works from home on creative pursuits. Newport doesn't discuss the dopamine cycle associated with achieving inbox zero etc., but I'd be curious to know how hard it would be to break the cycle of pseudo productivity because of brains itching to tick things off a list.Another section of the book that spoke to me was the discussion of the challenges of working from home. Newport notes that the home is filled with the familiar and this snags our attention and destabilizes the brain space required to think clearly. He cites a neuroscientist in this section, who claims that domestic tasks ensnare our attention because they are embedded in a "thick, stress inducing matrix of underattended household tasks."I also appreciated Newport's acknowledgment that "obsess over quality" can trigger the perfectionist mind. As a merely functioning perfectionist, this resonated with me. All I do is obsess over quality. All the time. It keeps me from finishing my work. His example in this section is The Beatles creating their Sgt. Pepper album. I liked this example, but it's not super relevant to a burgeoning creative who works alone in her home office.Related to this is his discussion of developing taste. Newport cites the Ira Glass notion of "the gap," which I assume most creatives have heard of before. I appreciated Newport's acknowledgement in this section that curating taste is *also* something that takes time...not just closing the gap between your skills and your taste.Actionable takeaways for me:1. attempt to work somewhere other than my house if I'm too overwhelmed by unattended household tasks. It's not just a weakness of focus or issue with discipline. Being distracted by household chores is a function of the human brain.2. buy Scrivener to feel like a 'pro'3. Focus on the acquisition of better taste as a practice in and of itself and try to study other creative disciplines to move my work forward.