Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout is the latest book by Cal Newport. Newport is an MIT-trained computer scientist who is a professor at Georgetown University and a writer for the New Yorker. He has a special gift for identifying the insanity of modern productivity practices and suggesting helpful solutions. I found Newport's previous major books (So Good They Can't Ignore You, Digital Minimalism and Deep Work) to be very helpful, so I was excited to read this one.

If I were to summarize this book in one sentence, it would be this: Take it easy, focus on doing a few important things well, and take your time.

I think it is, and I think it would be helpful for pastors to read it. Newport identifies the problem (the always-on, urgency-addicted nature of modern work) and traces its historical roots through the industrial revolution, 20th-century management theory (mostly meant for factories), the rise of "knowledge work," and the false application of management theory to knowledge work (where it doesn't fit).

The book does a good job of showing how some of the greatest scientific achievements were not, and could not have been, done in a hurry. It also successfully shows how our modern ways of thinking about work are unnatural, historically anomalous, and self-defeating. Finally, and most importantly, the book gives memorable principles and practical tips to take control of your work life and do more important work with less stress.

After identifying the problem, Newport lays out the three principles of slow work:

Much of what we occupy our days with is unnecessary busywork. It is falsely urgent and keeps us from doing what is truly important. Excessive tasks, even if they are easy to accomplish, can weigh us down and keep us from focusing on important work. These phantom tasks leave us feeling vaguely overloaded all the time.

Newport suggests numerous practical strategies for offloading these tasks and freeing up our time, including:

Throughout history, most work was seasonal and gave ample time for rest or at least focus on other things. Humans were not meant to do the same thing every day without a break.

Important work may take years or even decades to accomplish and needs to be allowed to unfold at a sustainable pace, with varying seasons of rest and intensity. It cannot be rushed.

Doing fewer things and working at a natural pace could just be laziness without this third principle: we have to obsess over the quality of what we produce, even if that means doing fewer things in the short term.

When we produce things with exceptional quality, we can leverage that quality to gain more control over our time and thus produce even more quality things.

Quality takes time. When we first start any meaningful endeavor, our taste evolves faster than our ability to produce things that match our taste, and it takes a long time to narrow that gap.

Pastors absolutely fall into the "knowledge worker" category (although our job isn't historically novel like many modern professions), and the ambiguous nature of our job can lead us to overcommitment and burnout. We all tend to overvalue our short-term efforts and undervalue our long-term impact. If you feel stressed and harried and often feel like you are spinning your wheels, the tips in this book may be medicine for your soul and could improve your ministry and your relationship with your family. I would absolutely recommend you read it.