Cal Newport has become a household name with regard to work, the digital space, and productivity. His book, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, was a timely read for me. I presume you’re probably like me: you need to grow in your commitment and rhythm of not idolizing work (i.e., finding your identity, value, and joy in work). Yep, it’s a struggle for me too! Too often, my email is open, my phone is in my hand, and my head and heart are elsewhere, which is particularly discouraging because the qualifications of being a pastor are first seen in the home long before they make their way to the office (see 1 Timothy 3:1-7).

The premise of Newport’s book is simple: he wants to “rescue knowledge work from its increasingly untenable freneticism and rebuild it into something more sustainable and humane, enabling you to create things you’re proud of without requiring you to grind yourself down along the way” (Newport 2024, p. 9).

So what exactly does Newport propose? He gives three principles.

1. Do fewer things.  
2. Work at a natural pace.
3. Obsess over quality.

Do fewer things. Yep, got it — no problem here! I wish! This is a constant battle. In our church, we regularly discuss the issue of scalability. Is what we’re doing, the frequency, the scope, the involvement, a scalable pace if we were to continue to grow at the rate we are as a church? Most of the time, the answer is unequivocally no. Newport defines “Do Fewer Things” as striving to reduce your obligations to the point where you can easily imagine accomplishing them with time to spare. Leverage this reduced load to more fully embrace and advance the small number of projects that matter most (Newport 2024, p. 53).

Specific action points to see this principle materialize are…

• Self-regulation is key
• Limit the big and contain the small
• Make other people work more
• Minimize distractions
• Simplify your schedule

Work at a natural pace. This was a more difficult principle for me to realize. He writes, “don’t rush your most important work. Allow it instead to unfold along a sustainable timeline, with variations in intensity, in settings conducive to brilliance” (Newport 2024, p. 116). I’ve heard it said you evaluate progress not in seconds but in seasons. Similarly, Newport states that a leader needs to evaluate progress in years, not days or months. I know this, but my commitment to the here and now often prevents me from letting projects or initiatives breathe and take time to develop. “The grand achievement is built on the steady accumulation of modest results over time. The path is long. Pace yourself.” (Newport 2024, p. 132).

Specific action points to see this principle materialize are…

• Take longer
• Double your project timeline
• Simplify your workday
• Forgive yourself  

Obsess over quality. He defines this as “obsess over the quality of what you produce, even if this means missing opportunities in the short term. Leverage the value of these results to gain more and more freedom in your efforts over the long term” (Newport 2024, p. 173). Simply put, quality demands that you slow down. This goes against so much of what is read, seen, and experienced in our world today. And yet, quality is rarely seen if you’re moving frenetically from one project to the next.

Specific action points to see this principle materialize are…

• Announce a schedule
• Be personally accountable
• Display persistence
• Continually learn

Each of the aforementioned principles is helping me to grow as a leader, where I’m experiencing more productivity, being more physically and emotionally present with my fellow leaders and people I serve, as well as experiencing more margin and rest.

It’s a great book. Hope this served to challenge and encourage you.