Dear friends,
Does it feel like spring yet? I’m writing this on yet another cold and rainy day, cheering myself up with a cup of tea and wildflower daydreams. I hope April brings sunshine to all of us!
I recently read Cal Newport’s latest book, Slow Productivity, and it really has me thinking differently. It is worth a read for its combination of interesting framing and practical suggestions. Newport asks the question, “what does productivity mean in knowledge work?” and finds that there is no consensus.
I have to admit, I’ve thought a lot about how to be more productive without ever directly articulating what productivity means to me. A broad definition, like using one’s time well, becomes hard to apply to day-to-day activities. After mulling it over, I decided that for me, work productivity is doing and disseminating science. I then realized that a lot of activities necessary for doing science do not feel productive in the moment. I definitely don’t feel productive at the end of a long day of project meetings while the emails and to-do’s pile up, but those meetings are doing science. Imagine planning and executing a randomized trial without meetings!
Mentoring is also part of being productive, and sometimes mentoring looks like stopping for a ten-minute hallway conversation or interrupting my own work to reply to an email, so that the person I am mentoring can keep the work moving. If I look at one day or one week, mentoring might look like it’s taking away from my productivity, but if I look over a longer time period, I can see that my mentees have become priceless collaborators without whom I cannot imagine this career.
That leads to Newport’s other point about the definition of productivity: the timescale. What is a productive year? Or five-year span? And if we think about our long-term productivity, how does that affect our day-to-day decisions? Newport argues that taking a longer view leads us to slow down and give ourselves time to think.
What would make it a productive year for you? For me, it would be a productive year if we got our study interventions up and running as planned. I find it very freeing to remember that as much as I have on my plate, there are only a handful of items that can make or break my year.
If productivity means attending to the most important work, then perhaps we don’t need a frantic pace to get there. If you are so inclined, reach out and share what a productive year looks like for you. As always, please share widely and, if you are so inclined, sign up for the blog here. Keep in touch and do share good news so I can amplify your successes!
Warmly,
Urmimala