What Does It Mean To “Work At A Natural Pace”?
I understand how to do fewer things and how to obsess over quality, but the advice to work at a natural pace really stuck out to me.
In Cal Newport’s Slow Productivity, he offers 3 pieces of advice to achieve the zen state of Slow Productivity; do fewer things, work at a natural pace and obsess over quality.
I understand how to do fewer things and how to obsess over quality, but his advice to work at a natural pace really stuck out to me.
What is a “natural pace” and how can I work at it?
In his book Slow Productivity, he analyzes different scientists who spent their entire lives working on just a few specific problems. He dissects how different scientists would observe, ponder and then experiment over the course of years, only publishing results as the culmination of their life’s work.
Cal eventually draws the conclusion that “timescale matters”. He points out that “when viewed at the fast scale of days and weeks, the efforts of historic thinkers like Copernicus and Newton can seem uneven and delayed. When instead viewed at the slow scale of years, their efforts suddenly seem undeniably and impressively fruitful.”
He also drops this bomb: “The great scientists of past eras would have found our urgency to be self-defeating and frantic… Without a manager looking over their shoulder, or clients pestering them about responding to emails, they didn’t feel pressure to be maximally busy every day. They were instead comfortable taking longer on projects and adopting a more forgiving and variable rhythm to their work.”
Working At A Natural Pace In The Tech World
I find his ideas about working at a natural pace very compelling. I dream of a world where I could work on projects over a long period of time, giving them all of my attention, or none of it, as needed.
The problem, though, is that this idea doesn’t align well with companies focused on growth or profitability goals driven by shareholders. Too often I find my stakeholders pushing to get anything done right now in lieu of getting something incredible done over a longer period of time.
If I’m able to find a 2-3 hour block in a day and sit down without distractions, Deep Work as Cal would call it, then I can pretty comfortably finish what is required of me.
Of course there are always more meetings and alignment syncs to be had, but lately I’ve been focusing on achieving that dream of working at that natural pace, at least on a micro level.
On a macro level, I haven’t figured out what “work at a natural pace” means for me in a fast paced tech world yet.
Unlocking The Potential Of Work At A Natural Pace
I do remember a time when I was starting to tap into the full potential of working at a natural pace: my first year of graduate school.
Starting grad school was incredibly freeing and also very confusing because outside of classes, my schedule was mine, basically for the first time in my adult life. I had assignments that were due, tests to study for and papers to write, but it was at my sole discretion when and how to work on those projects.
I found that I could get more done in a hyper focused 4 hour block than my classmates could in 10 hours of studying. I don’t think I was inherently any smarter than my classmates, in fact I’m quite sure that several of my classmates were much more intelligent than I was, but my ability to focus during those 4 hours was my superpower.
This was my natural pace, and I find this to still be the case for me in many ways. So my current goal remains, figure out how to work at a natural pace on a macro and micro level in a busy tech world.
If you have any ideas or examples of how you’re able to work at a natural pace in a fast paced job, let me know, I love to hear other case studies.