Friday Feature: Slow Work

One Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago, too tired to read one more paper, I declared myself in need of a break. 

What did I do? I'll let my tweet do the talking: 

You know you love organizing when you decide you need a break because the task you're working on is making you cranky... and the break you choose is sorting through a box of files. #organizing

Little did I know that I was slow working. I couldn't have known, because I'd never heard of it.

Then, last week, I was trying to gain some traction on cleaning out my work inbox, and I found an article in Fast Company on -- you guessed it -- slow working. 

Slow working acknowledges our need for breaks not just for self-care, but also for the productivity we crave. But, it focuses on truly breaking away from the task we're spending time on in order to do something hands-on that engages us in a different way.

It only makes sense that when we take a break, we should do something different, but how many times do we step away from the computer only to pick up our phones? It could be argued that we've switched from work to leisure, but is doing more of the same really a break just because we label it differently?

Recently, I realized that I love to organize because I love to problem-solve but, until I read the article, I hadn't really considered how it contributes to my ability to solve other kinds of problems as well. I've long recognized that my sketch noting and silly non-verbal games on my iPad are good for my creative process, but looking at it through a slow working lens adds a whole new dimension to it.

At my house, we're making Christmas lists and finding that none of us really needs a whole lot of anything. Maybe this is the Christmas to put arts and crafts and puzzles on our list and reconnect with our non-digital side.

If nothing else, our eyes will probably thank us.