In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed

Workplace stress is not all bad. In limited doses, it can concentrate the mind and boost productivity. But too much of it can be a one-way ticket to physical and mental breakdown.

Keibo Oiwa, the author of Slow Is Beautiful.

Of course, Slow Thinking on its own is just indulgence without the rigours of Fast Thinking. We have to be able to seize, analyze and evaluate the ideas that surface from the subconscious—and often we must do so quickly.

Being Slow means never rushing, never striving to save time just for the sake of it. It means remaining calm and unflustered even when circumstances force us to speed up.

Companies also pay a heavy price for imposing a long-hours culture. Productivity is notoriously hard to measure, but academics agree that overwork eventually hits the bottom line.

A surefire way to slow down is to work less.

Slow Thinking is intuitive, woolly and creative.

Technology, meanwhile, has allowed work to seep into every corner of life.

Russell, Bertrand. In Praise of Idleness. London: Routledge, 2001.