It was serendipitous that Slow Productivity came to my attention when it did. I have been in the midst of finalizing my latest book, a collection of memoirs and essays, but at the same time have been juggling numerous other creative and income-sustaining projects. I came to the realization that I was trying to do too much, too fast, and that as a result the book’s overall quality might suffer. I decided to pare down my tasks, to put some of them on the back burner, so that I could take the time to make the book the best it could possibly be. When I began to read Slow Productivity, I acquired reinforcement and justification.

As Newport explains, the title places modern day hyper-fast productivity in the context of the slow revolution, which was initiated by the concept of Slow Food. The arrival of a McDonald’s fast food restaurant at the Piazza di Spagna near the Spanish Steps in Rome prompted a journalist named Carlo Petrini to launch the Slow Food movement as a rebellion against fast food and a celebration of quality cooking and longer, more communal meals. This gave rise to other movements such as Slow Cities, Slow Medicine, Slow Schooling, Slow Media, and Slow Cinema. Newport applies slow principles to productivity, particularly that of knowledge workers, a category that includes businesspeople, tech workers, writers, artists, teachers, and others.

Newport breaks down his philosophy of slow productivity into three principles: do fewer things, work at a natural pace, and obsess over quality. He states that “this philosophy rejects busyness, seeing overload as an obstacle to producing results that matter,” and that the new standard should be “accomplishment without burnout.” He is committed to “rethinking the very notion of productivity itself.” This mindset is particularly valuable for workers who are able to organize their own time.

Once Newport has defined his philosophy, he plunges into each of the three principles in depth, with examples of people who have successfully implemented them and practical suggestions of how to make them work. Not all of the suggestions are for everyone, of course; you have to fit the principles to your own situation and see how they apply. Some advice is better fitted for those who work in organized businesses and companies, while other advice better suits freelancers. The point is that everyone can benefit from switching to slow productivity instead of maintaining the frenetic pseudo-accomplishment of always appearing to be busy but actually getting very little work of real significance done.

One stark example I appreciated was that of the Beatles. They were at the height of their fame when they got fed up with touring and decided to stop. Instead, they holed up in a studio for over four months – far longer than they had ever spent on an album before – and emerged with the masterpiece Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which drastically altered the modern music scene. Newport cautions, though, about the fine line between progress and perfectionism. It is important to keep moving forward and not to get bogged down in an effort to make everything perfect.

Some of the practical advice in Slow Productivity I can take or leave, but in its definitions of general principles of artistic behavior, the book couldn’t have come at a better time. And it is important to point out that slow productivity does not mean less productivity. In fact, if you focus on key projects instead of scattering your attention all over the place, take the time to think and plan and work at a pace that is natural for you, and strive for quality in whatever you do, you will most likely accomplish far more than you used to when you might have appeared busy but in fact were futilely spinning your wheels.

As I mentioned earlier, I had already set out on a similar path when I came across this book, but it served as terrific positive reinforcement in my resolve to improve my schedule and in turn my work. Highly recommended.