Sloww | Slow Living in a Fast World | Design a Lighter Life

Why Busyness is the Current Status Symbol, According to Research

by // Leave a Comment

Sloww Busyness Status Symbol

Yesterday’s post summarized an important piece of busyness research: “Conspicuous Consumption of Time: When Busyness and Lack of Leisure Time Become a Status Symbol”

Today, I’ll distill the research a bit further and also include some additional color commentary from one of the research authors, Silvia Bellezza (Columbia Business School).

Acknowledging that we are busy is one thing. Developing an awareness and understanding as to why we are busy gets to the root causes of busyness.

 

Why Busyness is a Status Symbol—Quick Summary of Busyness Research Conspicuous Consumption of Time

Sloww Busyness Status Symbol Infographic

 

What countries actually get work-life balance right?

The original research study looked at Americans and Italians. Silvia says:

  • “I actually think that the two cultures we picked, neither actually gets the formula right in terms of happiness while also having an economy that’s functional and working well. (Americans) Working all the time is dysfunctional and becoming a workaholic society is not healthy. On the other hand, it’s also true that if you see how seriously Italians take their holidays, the country’s basically paralyzed for two months…I don’t think that’s healthy either. As I worked on this paper I actually became more and more convinced that the countries that have the formula the most right in terms of balancing work and leisure are probably Denmark or the Netherlands, because those countries have a very high number of paid holidays and people really care about what they do, where they go in the summer, but on the other hand, their productivity per hour is very high. It’s probably a mix of the legal system protecting the right to holidays and an attitude toward work which is very healthy.”¹

I’ll be taking a closer look at Denmark and the Netherlands more in the future. These countries also consistently rank near the top of the World Happiness Report. I’d like to better understand the universal and cultural (likely non-geographic) things that we can all apply to better our lives no matter where we live.

 

How did status signaling shift from things to time?

Silvia explains further:

  • “When I say I’m busy, I convey status not through what I’m wearing but by signaling that I’m something that’s very scarce. I’m communicating that I’m high status because of the intrinsic value of myself and my human capital. It’s a more sophisticated and nuanced strategy than signaling through products. It’s about our intelligence and our inner-characteristics.”²

As people have become wealthier, access to luxury things has increased—that means they can’t signal status as effectively these days:

  • “(Thorstein) Veblen (in 1899) was the first to say that spending a lot of money on products should operate as a signal of status. But I think generally the reason why we observe the rise of these alternative signals of status has to do with the fact that on the one hand, the population is wealthier, so there’s more access to luxury goods. And on the other hand, there’s mass production of these goods, so compared to when Veblen was writing, many more people have access, say, to Louis Vuitton bags or Rolex watches. This increased access should mean that these signals of status cannot operate as strongly as they did in the past. So something else has to come up and become a different signal. Basically I’m very interested in the question: What is this new thing that comes up?”¹

 

If busyness is the current status symbol, what’s the next status symbol in the future?

Busyness as a status symbol isn’t just affecting work. It’s creeping into life as well—think of people opting for experiences over things and FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). They are cramming every moment of their free time with as many experiences as possible:

  • “The consumption of free time is increasingly ‘harried’ and characterized by an acceleration of the pace at which leisure is enjoyed.”³

The health impacts of 24/7 busyness are starting to catch up with us as well:

  • “It is interesting that people find the busy lifestyle so aspirational and associate it with status given that the downsides of this lifestyle are often acknowledged and discussed (e.g., the negative impact on happiness, wellbeing, and health).”

The glorification of busy will (hopefully) come to an end when people get “sick and tired of being sick and tired” and/or busyness becomes so common that it’s no longer aspirational. The latter is already starting:

  • “Of course, the more people brag about how busy they are, the more common it becomes, and as that happens, particularly in workaholic cultures, status symbols, just like fashions, are likely to change…It becomes mainstream…For signals of status to operate, they need to be visible and they need to be costly. And visibility is compromised if everyone else is doing it too.”4
  • “In Silicon Valley, apparently, I’ve heard that actually it’s not very fashionable to show that you’re working all the time, even if you are. So maybe there, just because they’re entrepreneurs working all the time, it’s taken for granted that you’re working all the time. It’s actually that if you have time to go for a hike or on a bike ride, you’re cooler.¹

 

Here’s to the next status symbol! Wouldn’t it be great if it was slowing down, simple living, contentment…

 

Sources:

  1. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/03/busyness-status-symbol/518178/
  2. https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/node/2331
  3. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/454d/041ddb0eacd1e8fa94460c11d8311154f17d.pdf
  4. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2016/12/20/how-busyness-became-a-bona-fide-status-symbol/?utm_term=.c2da2efb13fa

“Conspicuous Consumption of Time: When Busyness and Lack of Leisure Time Become a Status Symbol” (Research Summary)

by // Leave a Comment

Sloww Conspicuous Consumption Time Research

When it comes to busyness, there’s plenty of info online that states the what (we’re all busy) and gives you tips about how to unbusy your work and life. But, they often leave out why we are so busy.

A fascinating piece of busyness research attempts to answer why. The report was published in 2016 and is titled Conspicuous Consumption of Time: When Busyness and Lack of Leisure Time Become a Status Symbol (Free PDF).

The research was conducted by professors at three different universities: Silvia Bellezza (Columbia Business School), Neeru Paharia (McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University), and Anat Keinan (Harvard Business School).

While there’s a ton of research that looks at how people spend money on things to signal status, this research investigates “conspicuous consumption in relation to time.”

The report states:

In contemporary American culture, complaining about being busy and working all the time has become an increasingly widespread phenomenon…To explain this phenomenon, we uncover an alternative kind of conspicuous consumption that operates by shifting the focus from the preciousness and scarcity of goods to the preciousness and scarcity of individuals.

 

The Big Research Conclusion from Conspicuous Consumption of Time

A busy and overworked lifestyle, rather than a leisurely lifestyle, has become an aspirational status symbol in America.

 

Why is busyness a status symbol in America?

  • “A series of studies shows that the positive inferences of status in response to busyness and lack of leisure time are driven by the perceptions that a busy person possesses desired human capital characteristics (e.g., competence and ambition) and is scarce and in demand in the job market.”

 

How did Americans come to believe that a busy person possesses things like competence and ambition?

  • “The shift of status attribution based on time expenditure may be linked to the development of knowledge-intensive economies, characterized by structured employment markets and demand for human capital.”
  • “In advanced economies, the market for human resources is typically highly specialized both on the supply side, with individuals investing in their human capital, and on the demand side, with a large body of companies, institutions, and head hunters competing to hire the best talent.”
  • “We propose that in advanced economies, long hours of work and busyness may operate as a signal that one possesses desirable human capital capabilities and is therefore in high demand and scarce in the job market, leading to elevated status attributions.”
  • “Just as items that are scarce may be afforded more status and value, so might a person who is scarce.”

 

Perceptions of busyness in the United States vs Italy

This was one of the most interesting studies the researchers conducted.

They created a short description of a 35-year-old named Jeff (or Giovanni for Italians). They then randomly assigned participants to one of two conditions—working busy lifestyle or non-working leisurely lifestyle:

  • Participants in the working busy lifestyle condition read, “Imagine Jeff, he is 35 years old. Jeff works long hours and his calendar is always full.”
  • Participants in the non-working leisurely lifestyle condition read, “Imagine Jeff, he is 35 years old. Jeff does not work and has a leisurely lifestyle.”

Can you guess the results?

  • “While busyness at work is associated with higher status among Americans, the effect is reversed for Italians.”
  • “Americans granted greater status to the working individual conducting a busy lifestyle than to the nonworking individual conducting a leisurely lifestyle. In contrast, we obtained the opposite pattern of results from Italian respondents, who granted less overall status to the working, busy individual than to the nonworking, leisure individual.”

This is a pretty major cultural difference. If you’re in the U.S. like me, can you imagine hopping over the Atlantic and finding a completely different approach to work and life? No more glorification of busy??

What’s the cause behind the different cultural beliefs? Short answer: Perceived social mobility.

  • “In the United States earned status has a larger influence on overall status perceptions. Americans believe that they live in a mobile society, where individual effort can move people up and down the status ladder, while Europeans believe that they live in less mobile societies, where people are ‘stuck’ in their native social strata. Based on these varying beliefs in social mobility, Americans view work as a priority and idealize busyness and long hours of work, whereas Europeans feel their leisure time is as important as, or even more important than, work time.”

In a future post, we’ll tackle social mobility. From what I’ve read to date, the perception of social mobility in America—aka “the American dream”—is very different from the reality of social mobility in America (spoiler: we have much less social mobility in the U.S. than we think we do).

 

Our busyness and desire to “have it all” is spilling over into all aspects of our lives

  • “Analyses of leisure time in contemporary society suggest that the consumption of free time is increasingly ‘harried’ and characterized by an acceleration of the pace at which leisure is enjoyed.”
  • “We predict that observers will attribute even higher status to those people who, besides being busy, are also able to enjoy and live their lives to the maximum (i.e., ‘work hard and play hard’). Since today’s consumers are striving to ‘have it all’ and aspire for achievements in multiple domains even when engaging in leisure activities, the ‘work hard and play hard’ lifestyle—embodying both hard work and a propensity to enjoy life—should represent the most aspirational and highly regarded model.”

 

What was the most surprising part of the research for you? Let me know in the comments. Personally, I found it encouraging to know that busyness is cultural and that status symbols don’t stick around forever. That makes me think this busyness is a phase that we’re going through until we begin status signaling with something else—hopefully it’s a return to appreciating leisure time!

Thought Experiment: What if You Only Had a 15-Hour Workweek?

by // Leave a Comment

Sloww 15 Hour Workweek

To see the definition of a thought experiment along with an example, check out this previous post: Experiences vs Things: A Thought Experiment on Spending Money.

Lately, I’ve been going deep into research on busyness and asking questions like:

  • How did we get to this point today?
  • What did leading thinkers of the past predict by this time?
  • Why hasn’t technology helped us with busyness?
  • Why are we still working so much?
  • Are we really as busy as we think, or do we just feel busy?

I’ve stumbled across a couple historical references and predictions that are so interesting I think they warrant their own post and thought experiment.

 

Workweek Predictions from Past to Present

1930: Arguably the most famous workweek prediction came from John Maynard Keynes in his essay Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren (Essay Summary) where he predicts “three-hour shifts or a fifteen-hour week.” As The Atlantic notes, he was actually on track for awhile:

In 1930 the average workweek was 47 hours. By 1970 it had fallen to slightly less than 39. But then something changed. Instead of continuing to decline, the duration of the workweek stayed put; it’s hovered just below 40 hours for nearly five decades.¹

1950s: Brigid Schulte, author of the 2014 book  Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time, describes the 1950s:

The post-World War II boom in productivity, along with rising incomes and standards of living, led economists and politicians to predict that by 1990, Americans would work 22 hours a week, six months a year, and retire before age 40. While accepting the Republican Party’s nomination for president in 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower envisioned a world where ‘leisure . . . will be abundant, so that all can develop the life of the spirit, of reflection, of religion, of the arts, of the full realization of the good things of the world.’²

1967: Sebastian de Grazia, a political scientist, predicts a 21-31 hour workweek by 2000 and a 16-26 hour workweek by 2020. Also this year, Walter Cronkite says Americans will have 30-hour work weeks and month-long vacations by 2000.³

1975: American sociologist, Max Kaplan, says:

… in the United States the normal extension of automation has reduced weekly work hours roughly from 70 to 37 in the past century, almost four hours per week less each decade; thus an additional reduction of 12 hours by the year 2000 – an oversimplified projection, to be sure – is so intensified that with the help of computerization, the additional time off could be five hours in the 1970s, six in the 1980s, and seven in the 1990s. The result could be a workweek of 20 hours at century’s end.4

2009: Tim Ferriss publishes his original book The 4-Hour Workweek. But, the book title was never meant to be taken literally.

2017: Jack Ma, billionaire founder of Alibaba, predicts a 16-hour workweek by 2047:

I think in the next 30 years, people only work four hours a day and maybe four days a week. My grandfather worked 16 hours a day in the farmland and (thought he was) very busy. We work eight hours, five days a week and think we are very busy.5

 

Thought Experiment: What would you do with your free time if you only had a 15-hour workweek?

Although none of the above predictions have played out yet, it’s interesting to think about a future where shorter workweeks may actually be a reality.

What would you do with your new free time?

Would you remove as much stress as possible from your life?

Would you spend all the extra time with family and friends?

Would you start a business? Would you spend your time being creative?

Would you travel? Would you spend more time outside?

Would you read a lot? Grow spiritually?

Exercise more? Take more naps?

Would you live a simpler life? Would you slow down? Would you be content?

Would you want to continue to learn, or just express yourself?

Would you want to help the world, or just enjoy your time?

How would you define your purpose?

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas in the comments!

 

Sources:

  1. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/01/inequality-work-hours/422775/
  2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-being-too-busy-makes-us-feel-so-good/2014/03/14/c098f6c8-9e81-11e3-a050-dc3322a94fa7_story.html?utm_term=.138407e94416
  3. http://paleofuture.com/blog/2009/11/4/16-hour-work-week-by-year-2020-1967.html / https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/3d-tv-automated-cooking-and-robot-housemaids-walter-c-512622506
  4. https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/19821/1/lstwp9.pdf
  5. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/21/alibabas-jack-ma-says-people-will-work-four-hours-a-day-in-30-years.html

“Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren” by John Maynard Keynes (Essay Summary)

by // Leave a Comment

Sloww Keynes Economic Possibilities

John Maynard Keynes is widely regarded as one of the most influential economists of the 20th century.

In 1930, he wrote Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren (free PDF). 

Now 88 years later, it’s fascinating to look at what predictions he got right and where he missed the mark.

 

Intro to Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren by John Maynard Keynes

Keynes makes it clear that his purpose of the essay is to make long-term predictions—specifically 100 years into the future.

  • “What can we reasonably expect the level of our economic life to be a hundred years hence? What are the economic possibilities for our grandchildren?”
  • “From the earliest times of which we have record—back, say, to two thousand years before Christ—down to the beginning of the eighteenth century, there was no very great change in the standard of life of the average man living in the civilised centres of the earth.”
  • “This slow rate of progress, or lack of progress, was due to two reasons—to the remarkable absence of important technical improvements and to the failure of capital to accumulate.”
  • “The modern age opened; I think, with the accumulation of capital which began in the sixteenth century.”
  • “From the sixteenth century, with a cumulative crescendo after the eighteenth, the great age of science and technical inventions began, which since the beginning of the nineteenth century has been in full flood.”

He even mentions “technological unemployment” in 1930:

  • “We are being afflicted with a new disease of which some readers may not yet have heard the name, but of which they will hear a great deal in the years to come—namely, technological unemployment. This means unemployment due to our discovery of means of economising the use of labour outrunning the pace at which we can find new uses for labour.”

 

What Keynes Got Right: Economics & Money

It’s now 88 years later, and he’s nailed this one:

  • “Mankind is solving its economic problem. I would predict that the standard of life in progressive countries one hundred years hence will be between four and eight times as high as it is today.”

Keynes is right on the mark. From sources I’ve read, modern economists say the actual number is four or five today and could reach eight by 2030. Keynes goes on to theorize:

  • “This means that the economic problem is not—if we look into the future—the permanent problem of the human race.”
  • “Why, you may ask, is this so startling? It is startling because—if, instead of looking into the future, we look into the past—we find that the economic problem, the struggle for subsistence, always has been hitherto the primary, most pressing problem of the human race—not only of the human race, but of the whole of the biological kingdom from the beginnings of life in its most primitive forms.”

 

Where Keynes Missed the Mark: Work & Leisure Time

His expert prediction on the economic/money side is juxtaposed with a complete miss on his work/leisure prediction.

His predictions here describe what life could be like assuming economic concerns are a thing of the past:

  • “When the accumulation of wealth is no longer of high social importance, there will be great changes in the code of morals. We shall be able to rid ourselves of many of the pseudo-moral principles which have hag-ridden us for two hundred years, by which we have exalted some of the most distasteful of human qualities into the position of the highest virtues.”
  • “We shall once more value ends above means and prefer the good to the useful. We shall honour those who can teach us how to pluck the hour and the day virtuously and well, the delightful people who are capable of taking direct enjoyment in things.”
  • “Thus for the first time since his creation man will be faced with his real, his permanent problem—how to use his freedom from pressing economic cares, how to occupy the leisure, which science and compound interest will have won for him, to live wisely and agreeably and well.”

These are fascinating predictions: reverting to better morals that aren’t based on wealth, honoring people who can teach you how to live a good life of virtue, and learning how to positively use your time on this planet when it isn’t all spent just trying to get by and survive. It sure sounds nice, but the vision of the future he paints gets even better. Since the economic problem has been solved, people don’t have to work as much to meet their needs.

Keynes is often referenced for predicting “three-hour shifts or a fifteen-hour week.”

Now, I don’t need to tell you or rub it in, but this obviously hasn’t happened (yet). So, where did his thought process go awry?

Perhaps he put too much optimism in human beings in developed nations being able to properly prioritize their needs:

  • “Now it is true that the needs of human beings may seem to be insatiable. But they fall into two classes—those needs which are absolute in the sense that we feel them whatever the situation of our fellow human beings may be, and those which are relative in the sense that we feel them only if their satisfaction lifts us above, makes us feel superior to, our fellows. Needs of the second class, those which satisfy the desire for superiority, may indeed be insatiable; for the higher the general level, the higher still are they. But this is not so true of the absolute needs—a point may soon be reached, much sooner perhaps than we are all of us aware of, when these needs are satisfied in the sense that we prefer to devote our further energies to non-economic purposes.”

What Keynes likely failed to predict was the modern prioritization of those two types of needs. You would think that the absolute needs would be the priority since they fall on the lowest levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, but those “insatiable” second class of needs that “satisfy the desire for superiority” (e.g. keeping up with the Joneses, lifestyle inflation, etc) are very alive and well today. Pervasive digital connection and social media addiction have taken social comparison to new levels. And, at least in the US, people are choosing to work more for more money and more consumption instead of work less for less money and more leisure time.

Another way to look at this choice is a great quote by Peter Drucker (1909-2005), a founder of modern management:

  • “In a few hundred years, when the history of our time will be written from a long-term perspective, it is likely that the most important event historians will see is not technology, not the Internet, not e-commerce. It is an unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time—literally—substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices. For the first time, they will have to manage themselves. And society is totally unprepared for it.” — Peter Drucker

Keynes realizes the power of habit. He acknowledges that this shift will not exactly be easy because we’ve been trained to not enjoy:

  • “Yet there is no country and no people, I think, who can look forward to the age of leisure and of abundance without a dread. For we have been trained too long to strive and not to enjoy.”

What would life be like in this future of less working hours?

His predictions could still happen. Other modern day experts like Duane Elgin believe that a path of simplicity will lead to humanity’s evolution. Keynes final thoughts are in line with that thinking:

  • “I look forward, therefore, in days not so very remote, to the greatest change which has ever occurred in the material environment of life for human beings in the aggregate.”
  • “Meanwhile there will be no harm in making mild preparations for our destiny, in encouraging, and experimenting in, the arts of life as well as the activities of purpose.”
  • “It will be those peoples, who can keep alive, and cultivate into a fuller perfection, the art of life itself and do not sell themselves for the means of life, who will be able to enjoy the abundance when it comes.”

 

Closing Thoughts

If you’ve made it this far, think about what you are prioritizing in your life. Are you prioritizing accumulation (wealth, stuff, etc) which requires evermore work? Or, are you actively thinking about the point at which you have enough (wealth, stuff, etc) so that you can take back your time, work less, and use your newfound leisure time any way you want? Even though the work and leisure predictions of Keynes aren’t yet here on a mass scale, you can choose to take steps in your own life to make them a reality today.

7 Unbusy Tips for the Daily Work Grind (Reader Q&A)

by // Leave a Comment

Sloww Unbusy Tips

After my previous post, Good Busyness? A Full Life vs A Busy Life, I received a reader email with some thoughts and questions. With the reader’s permission (let’s call her Sue), I thought this would be an interesting and insightful look into the realities of day-to-day life and work.

Sue says:

Dear Sloww,

Really enjoy your blog. Do you ever take questions from readers on how to help with some of their daily tasks? As I read some of these posts, I find a lot of meaning in them, but it’s hard for me to always apply the Sloww principles to my daily life.

For example, I really do enjoy my corporate job, and really want to be better at ‘choosing (or not choosing) busy’ every day. Most days, I’m running from meeting to meeting, trying to keep my head above water in my inbox, or unintentionally multitasking by doing email and IM while in meetings (which is horrible, because multitasking is directly correlated to a decrease in productivity and focus). The pace of work changes daily, and some days are ‘crazy busy’ and others are just ‘crazy.’ When work is demanding, and while I also enjoy the challenge, how can I consciously ‘choose’ Sloww principles when my calendar is jam packed the whole day, with minimal time to take a walk or meaningful break? Looking forward to your reply!

 

7 Unbusy Tips for the Daily Work Grind

Thank you for taking the time to send a note, Sue!

I’ve been there and understand how you must feel. First of all, it’s fantastic that you have a challenging job that you love.

Let’s tackle some of the daily struggles you mentioned one by one. After all, we only get 24 hours each day, and many people likely face the same challenges you’ve mentioned.

 

1. How to be Better at Choosing to (NOT) be Busy Every Day

I would start by distinguishing between what’s in your control and what’s not. Focus on the things in your control—as well as the things outside of your control that you may be able to influence (e.g. can you work with your manager on workload/deadlines, etc).

Ask yourself why you are so busy. See if you can identify the root cause of your busyness. This cause can be different for all of us:

  • Busy as job security to show signs of productivity and company loyalty
  • Busy as a badge of honor, or the glorification of busy
  • Busy due to always being connected and unable to disconnect even when not working
  • Busy as a status symbol of self-worth, value, or importance
  • Busy as escapism from facing tough questions in life (e.g. “What is important to me?” “What is my real purpose?”)

Once you have the awareness around why you are so busy, you can begin to recognize it in the moment and also begin to make changes to stop it from happening in the first place.

Awareness is the greatest agent for change. — Eckhart Tolle

Spend some time thinking about what is most important to you in your life. Once you have clarity around that, it becomes much easier to say “no” to the things that aren’t aligned. Check out this book summary of Essentialism that I think will be very helpful for you.

 

2. How to (NOT) Run from Meeting to Meeting

The most important thing is to make sure meetings start and end on time. If you are able to lead or influence that, that will save a lot of headaches and rushing around. This alone will make you feel less busy, even if your meeting schedule doesn’t necessarily change.

To really stop rushing from meeting to meeting, try proposing new meeting guidelines. I’ve worked at two companies where we implemented the following:

  • A 60 minute meeting becomes a 50 minute meeting
  • A 30 minute meeting becomes a 25 minute meeting

This allows people to mentally reset between meetings, grab some water or a snack, go to the restroom, check email, etc.

Other than that, you can proactively block time on your calendar as padding between meetings. I often did this to protect my time so I could get some real, focused work knocked out each day. This stops last-minute and day-of meetings from being added to your calendar.

 

3. How to Keep Your Head Above Water in Your Email Inbox

There are a lot of great tips online about how to better manage your email inbox. Here are the things that have worked best for me:

  • First, turn all email notifications off (on your computer and your phone). This includes the sounds and pop-up/push notifications. Being alerted of new emails is a guaranteed way to always be distracted.
  • My personal favorite email tip is to only check your email at certain times during the day. These times become dedicated email management time. Maybe you dedicate three times during the day to checking email: the beginning of the day, before or after lunch, and sometime in the late afternoon.
  • When you aren’t actively and intentionally checking and responding to email, don’t have it open. If you always have your email open, you will always be distracted with email. Which leads to your next point…

 

4. How to Stop Unintentionally Multitasking

You’re right that multitasking results in a decrease in productivity and focus. Multitasking is probably one of the biggest work myths of our time. There’s a lot of new research on the benefits of single-tasking vs. multitasking. You may be able to juggle tasks or projects, but your brain can’t focus on more than one thing at a time:

What we can’t do is concentrate on two things at the same time. When I talk about being present, I’m not talking about doing only one thing at a time. I’m talking about being focused on one thing at a time. Multitasking itself is not the enemy of Essentialism; pretending we can ‘multifocus’ is. — Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism

The other thing to keep in mind is the high cost of task switching while multitasking:

Even brief mental blocks created by shifting between tasks can cost as much as 40 percent of someone’s productive time.¹

Eliminate distractions at all costs! Log out of IM and close email during meetings. If you can log out of IM completely, that would save a lot of interruptions. IM is like the work equivalent of a text message. Every time one pops up, it’s going to take you that much longer to switch tasks and get back in the zone. At my last job, I intentionally decided I would no longer use IM. I didn’t miss it, saved time, and people that needed to reach me found other ways to do so.

 

5. How to Handle a Different Pace of Work Daily

There’s a big difference between a 40-hour workweek where you have time to breathe and think deeply and a 40-hour workweek that’s a rollercoaster of busyness.

My best tip here is to plan ahead. I would spend a few minutes the night before each day looking at my upcoming calendar and to-dos. This helps me plan better and mentally prepare for the day ahead.

 

6. How to Consciously Slow Down when your Calendar is Jam-Packed with Minimal Free Time

Consciously slowing down is a mix of planning ahead and in-the-moment awareness and choices. To plan ahead, I recommend time blocking your calendar.

To plan ahead, as mentioned in #2, try blocking some time on your calendar to provide space and margin in your day.

As for in-the-moment slowing down, this takes practice. Recognize and acknowledge yourself becoming busy, anxious, or stressed out. Then make a conscious choice to pause for a moment. Even just a few seconds of deep breathing can help.

 

7. How to Make Time for Meaningful Breaks

New research shows that breaks are incredibly important. Check out this summary of Daniel Pink’s new book, When, for some tips on taking breaks and the different kind of breaks (e.g. vigilance breaks, restorative breaks).

If you’re looking for the ideal of a restorative break…consider a short walk outside with a friend during which you discuss something other than work. — Daniel Pink

He recommends taking 3 breaks per day. How can you do that? Schedule them:

What gets scheduled gets done. — Daniel Pink

 

I hope this gives you at least a few practical and actionable tips to get started! Don’t worry about trying to implement them all at once. Start with one or two that you think you’ll be able to stick with over time. For extra inspiration, I’ve compiled a resource of busyness quotes when the going gets tough.

Sloww Eckhart Tolle Quote

Sources:

  1. http://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask.aspx 

Explore

Blog // Archives

About // Contact

Challenges // Quotes // Videos

Slow Living Hacks // Book Summaries

Forums & Communities

Disclaimer

Sloww earns a small referral commission for purchases made through Amazon book links on this site (at no extra cost to you). This greatly helps fund the costs to support the site, and we are grateful for you!