Why Racing, Burning And Drowning At Work Is Out

And how slow work is in, and slowly making its way into the brains of leaders

Hello out there - in a rushed world,

Here comes your weekly permission slip to Un-rush and Slow Down.

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Interesting INSIGHTS I found

Curated stories on the topic of slowing down and living better

After the article in this post, you will find a brief description and links to the following curated stories:

• Several ways to take your book-reading experience to the next level

• Gardening can provide people with a sense of meaning and purpose

• The fascinating connection between your gut and your brain – for your health and well-being

• Italy’s Liguria in 48 hours – stay or just play?

• Being in nature is transformative – Finding joy and healing with hiking while packing light

• The Power of Time Off

IMPULSE

Why Racing, Burning And Drowning At Work Is Out

And how slow work is in, and slowly making its way into the brains of leaders

Our working and business world today is obsessed with productivity, and efficiency, and wants to relentlessly push forward. There is this constant notion at work that we need to move forward quickly and be faster than the competition.

But speed is not a solution. It’s a problem.

From CEO to manager to staff, everybody is exhausted and stressed. Luckily, the awareness of mental health and well-being at the workplace has been growing, slow work is becoming a thing.

Slow work is a thoughtful approach to work that includes a more natural and human way of working, personal development for all involved, and a positive impact on the world.

I consider the idea of slow work very similar to the ideas behind mindful business.

To see how slow work is in, and slowly making its way into the brains of leaders and workplaces, we will look at:

• Speed at work and in business

• What is slow work?

• Slow work also means sustainable work

• Opinions in favor and against

• Working slow means working better

• Benefits of slow work

• Future of work

• TikTok’s CorporateTok

• 4 Examples of companies with a Slow Work mentality

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Speed at work and in business

The idea of slowing down to speed up isn’t new and we understand that our brains work better when we are not rushing all the time. Yet, the idea of slow work is still being stigmatized.

But it turns out that faster is not always better. Even though that’s what many companies and businesses think. We have come to a point where we take “hustle culture” as normal, instead of recognizing the unhealthy expectations in the working world. The overly ambitious rise-and-grind mentality normalizes work and speed addiction. That needs to change. (Bearing in mind that there are economic sectors where slow work style solutions cannot easily apply, nevertheless, there are always new ways possible to manage stress and set boundaries.)

Speed at work and in business leads to:

• Superficiality

• Little to no quality control

• Hasty decisions

• Frustrated employees

• Increased errors

• Enhanced stress and burnout

• Little space for creativity (and innovation)

• No deep work, no deep conversations, no deep thinking

What is slow work?

We can move forward without racing. Slow work is a mindful and productive approach to work that focuses on individual tasks, breaks, and boundaries.  

Slow work means to work and live at our own pace, a means to take care of employees, partners, and communities, and to protect recharging and leisure time.

Slow work is all about: