Suzanne O'Keeffe - Maynooth University - Froebel
    Digital tools have increased the amount of work we do so it may be time to embrace slow productivity in the workplace, writes Dr Suzanne O'Keeffe of the Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education.

    Every ring, ding and ping we receive via technology is impacting how we learn and get work done. We’re both digitally distracted, and drowning in knowledge. It feels like we do not have the same time to think and to rationalise as before because technology is doing the thinking for us.

    Algorithms mean that we no longer must figure out, for instance, how to get from here to there. As neuroscientist Mithu Storoni reminds us, it is faster and sometimes easier to ask an app if it is raining outside than it is to step outside. We no longer memorise phone numbers the way many of us did before. We are so reliant on technology that we outsource our memory to an external drive.

    American brain coach Jim Kwik refers to this as digital dementia and an overall mental apocalypse, while others speak of the attention economy. Both raise important questions about whether technology is a tool used by humans, or if humans have become the tool that technology is using. Former Google design ethicist Tristan Harris came up with the phrase: if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product. If you are not paying for the technology you are using, the technology might be using you.

    Technological advances and work

    Technological advances are counter to rhythmic time, which is the overall pace of life set out by nature’s cycles that cannot be altered by humans. Research carried out by HR company HRLocker in 2021 showed that over half of full-time workers in Ireland are experiencing burnout. In 2022, research from Workhuman found that three in 10 employees in Ireland reported being burnt out "very often" or "always", while twice that number said they experienced stress "a lot" during the previous day.

    Technology and the pursuit of productivity raises questions about the pace of knowledge work, which means work that adds value to knowledge using the human brain. Prof Cal Newport playfully suggests you are a knowledge worker if you get annoyed with how much time you spend with emails or if you have mixed feelings about Zoom.

    Digital tools such as email, Zoom and smartphones have increased the amount of work we do and where we do it. Workers are left fighting an internal battle of where professional and personal lives begin and end that is exhausting. Digital tools have also expanded the amount of time we spend talking about work.

    Newport notes that this has allowed work to become more performative. When it is difficult to physically measure outputs, as it is with knowledge work, then activity and being busy become substitutions for productivity measurement. Visible activity is how productivity is demonstrated.

    The speed of activity is important too. This notion of productivity, or what Newport calls pseudo-productivity, is the core problem with knowledge work. The human mind is not designed to work at a steady intensity all year round.

    Storoni also notes this when describing power law patterns. She describes these power laws as our innate patterns of work and rest; a blueprint that compels us to work and behave in bursts. These patterns are aligned with rhythmic patterns. Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud worked in rhythmic bursts with power law undertones.

    3 useful tips for the workplace

    Newport advocates for slow productivity in his books Digital Minimalism and Slow Productivity and suggests three areas to address to achieve this which can be applied to different people in different workplaces, using adaptations if necessary. These three steps, Newport promises, will make your day drastically better.

    Do fewer things

    Most of us have so much on our plate that it works against creativity and criticality. When we do fewer things, it creates breathing room and facilitates reflection, quality and pace. Paul Jarvis, in his book Company of One, offers similar advice for success in the workplace. Instead of scaling up, he recommends going deeper into your current work. This allows you to work less and produce more at a higher quality.

    Work at a natural pace

    Create downcycles that mimic innate power law patterns. Strive to make one day a week quieter than the others by not scheduling meetings for that day. Once a quarter, consider taking the afternoon off, if this is an option. If you use social media professionally, Newport recommends using it like a professional. Access it through a browser on your computer and have a schedule for when you use it.

    Focus on quality

    Allow good enough to win out over perfectionism. Constraints such as time facilitate this. Make something as good as it can be within a certain amount of time.

    This article originally appeared on RTÉ Brainstorm