‘Slow Productivity’ by Cal Newport: When less means more

IN 1959, Jack Kerouac was asked how long it took him to write On the Road. “Three weeks,” replied the voice of the Beat Generation.

This does not seem an obvious example of a man taking his time. Yet Kerouac is cited in Slow Productivity, the latest book by productivity guru Cal Newport, because his work highlights the reality beneath the self-mythology. Kerouac may have written his first draft in a burst of activity, but he then spent another six years on it.

This redrafting and polishing is key to Newport’s argument that “knowledge workers” – a loose band of creatives and lawyers – need to slow down. His philosophy is based on three principles: do fewer things; work at a natural pace; and obsess over quality.