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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is to work slower. Sometimes doing things at a

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Speaker 1: deliberate pace can lead to better work. It can also

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Speaker 1: lead to you feeling better about your work, which is

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Speaker 1: no small thing. Today's tip, like some others this week,

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Speaker 1: comes from Chris Bailey's new book, How to Calm Your Mind.

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Speaker 1: This book is all about finding presence and productivity in

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Speaker 1: anxious times. Chris notes that the opposite of burnout isn't

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Speaker 1: doing nothing, its engagement. The more engaged we are with

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Speaker 1: our lives, the less anxious and the more productive we

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Speaker 1: will be. While we can certainly build engaging hobbies and

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Speaker 1: activities into our lives, it's even better if we can

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Speaker 1: feel actively engaged in our work. One way to do that,

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Speaker 1: according to Chris, it's working slower. As you turn down

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Speaker 1: the stimulation factor by ending multitasking, you will naturally dive

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Speaker 1: deeper into what you are doing. Chris writes, there is

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Speaker 1: great joy to be found in working with a thoughtful

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Speaker 1: deliberateness on what's important. If you value productivity as I do,

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Speaker 1: don't worry what you'll lose in speed, you'll easily earn

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Speaker 1: back in making progress on what's important. This is a

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Speaker 1: lesson I am continually relearning when it comes to doing

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Speaker 1: deep knowledge work. The more slowly I work, the more

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Speaker 1: impact my work tends to have. Now, Chris's argument here

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Speaker 1: doesn't mean pointlessly delaying things or leaving your coworkers waiting.

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Speaker 1: I think the best image to keep in mind is

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Speaker 1: using the space you would have used for multitasking to

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Speaker 1: actually engage in your work more deeply. Rather than interrupting

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Speaker 1: yourself ten times in an hour to check email as

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Speaker 1: you write a memo, take fifty minutes to write that memo,

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Speaker 1: focusing only on that memo, and then check your email

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Speaker 1: for ten minutes, which do you think will produce a

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Speaker 1: more carefully crafted statement. You are working slower and more deliberately,

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Speaker 1: but the good news is that the task as a

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Speaker 1: whole might not really take any more time. Rather than

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Speaker 1: have a superficial conversation with a colleague as you are

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Speaker 1: both flitting in and out of messages, put the screens

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Speaker 1: away entirely and really talk through a topic. You can

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Speaker 1: end a little early and then check all of your

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Speaker 1: other inputs. But the slow conversation might produce more interesting results.

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Speaker 1: You can also work slower in a way by leaving

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Speaker 1: space to revisit things. I know. I always try to

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Speaker 1: leave time to come back to the things I write.

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Speaker 1: When I write these scripts, for instance, I write them,

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Speaker 1: then I edit them, then I practice speaking them out loud.

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Speaker 1: That way, I can think through the argument and also

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Speaker 1: think if a word choice would be better for material

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Speaker 1: that is meant to be heard rather than read silently.

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Speaker 1: I know I generally work fast, and I make no

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Speaker 1: apologies for that. That's how I get things done in

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Speaker 1: a world where a kid could come home from school sick,

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Speaker 1: or a plumber could show up to deal with the

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Speaker 1: various problems in my home renovation. But all, let's say,

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Speaker 1: a full hour on something with no chosen interruptions can

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Speaker 1: often feel quite leisurely and luxurious. Feeling that work is

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Speaker 1: luxurious is a decadence sensation. Indeed, I enjoy it, and

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Speaker 1: I'm guessing you will too. It will, as Chris puts it,

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Speaker 1: calm your mind, and that makes life feel more doable

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Speaker 1: in the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks for listening, and

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Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.

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Speaker 1: That's b number four then Breakfast Pod. You can also

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Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts. At iHeartMedia

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Speaker 1: dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, should I look forward to

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Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.