I am quite an avid listener to podcasts, usually on my walk to and from work and generally on topics relating to creativity, leadership, productivity etc. A couple of days ago I stumbled on a new podcast (for me at least) called Hurry Slowly. This podcast is curated by Jocelyn K. Glei, an author who I have come across through an excellently written and beautifully crafted series of books published under the 99U brand. Glei has now turned her attention towards podcasting and in each episode she interviews an expert/author about a topic related to the podcast theme of ‘[being] more productive, creative and resilient through the simple act of slowing down’. All of which is right up my street.
So far I have listened to two episodes (the first two episodes) from October 2017.
In the first episode (10th October 2017) she talks with Jason Fried, the co-founder and CEO of Basecamp about the scheduling systems he has developed within his business and the strategies to protect time (both work and personal time) that he employs. I was particularly struck by his system of running his business in 6 week sprints during which just a one or two projects requiring the full 6 weeks together with a few small (e.g. 1/2 day) projects were the sole focus of effort. At the end of each sprint everyone takes a week or two to take stock, today up loose ends, recover and decide on the activity for the next sprint. A key part of this technique is that 6 weeks is long enough to provide a substantial amount of time but short enough not to be daunting and seem endless. In addition, the projects chosen have to be complete pieces of work with clearly defined end points and not simply ‘6 weeks work on longer-term project X’. He described this system in the context of his whole company work structure but I found myself thinking about how/whether something similar could work for an individual and, if so, what the optimum time span might be in my case, whether it was necessary for it always to be the same, how it would work in a job like mine that has specific bursts of activity at different times of year. A second thread of the discussion that interested me was on his thoughts about the importance of properly disconnecting from work when at home. I have thought about this before and I am not someone who is glued to my work email all evening but I do still find myself drawn to check up on things when I am at home. Fried gave plenty of convincing arguments against doing this and it is certainly something that I am going to consider some more.
The second episode I listened to (17th October 2017) was an interview with author Florence Williams about the benefits that getting out into nature can have on cognitive performance and general well-being. Again, this was not a new topic to me but the podcast certainly made me think about my activity and I was left wondering whether I could find a way to get myself somewhere where I can see a view more often from my office environment (for example, how quickly I could get myself to Plymouth waterfront to take in some sea air, see some waves etc). It also made me want to explore the idea of bringing the outside into my office using oils from hinoki trees because when Glen and Williams talked about this it really made me want to smell what they were describing.
Hurry Slowly is now (just) up to its 20th episode so I have 18 to catch up on. It is a great feeling, like when you discover a new author and realise there is a whole new body of work to get through over time. I am definitely going to be working my way through the Hurry Slowly podcasts and related to this discovery I am also intended to add a list of podcasts and other websites that I visit for inspiration, to this site.
Tim O'Hare 