In Slow Productivity, Cal Newport reminds us that meaningful work happens when we stop confusing activity with accomplishment. His three principles—do fewer things, work at a natural pace, and obsess over quality—sound deceptively simple but quietly radical.
The 80/20 Principle
I’ve been chasing that rhythm for a while now, long before Newport gave it a name. In 2020, I was studying Richard Koch’s defining book on the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 Principle, while rereading Seneca’s “On the Shortness of Life.”
On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long if You Know How to Use It
Around that time, I wrote my first letter to Harvey Penick about the same idea: learn what matters most and stop wasting swings on the rest.
That seed became the slow, steady habit that’s carried into my RELEVANCE project—built draft by draft, walk by walk, conversation by conversation.
The Slow Life
From there, I’ve started noticing the same “slow” pattern in other corners of life:
- Slow Food. My son-in-law’s cooking is jazz with a spatula—seasonal, joyful, alive. His “Top Dishes” list reads more like a family album than a recipe book. I love hearing about Kyle’s cooking. Put him in the same kitchen with Cathy, my wife; look out! The result is either master dishes or fireworks. Both are fun to watch, and to eat!
- Slow Cities. Cathy and I walk everywhere now—groceries on foot, not by car. I think back to our Nashville days—Halloween nights when everyone knew every kid’s name because of sidewalks and front porches in close proximiity. Connection used to be within arm’s reach.
- Slow Medicine. Between the NHS, our private AXA Health policy, and practitioners like Jenny Glasshagel at Restoration Health in Austin, I’ve learned that good care listens first, diagnoses later.
- Slow Cinema. Boogie on the Bones at the Omnibus in Clapham—tiny stage, huge rebellion. Our friend Arseniy Cassidy played the doctor who dared to carve jazz into X-rays, proof that art finds a way. (See video below.)
- Slow Sports. Golf, tennis, maybe even table tennis next. The goal isn’t speed—it’s staying in the game.
- Slow Productivity. Relevance is finding its rhythm. Sunday’s ‘Roll-up’ paired me with a palaeontologist-turned-PhD and a retiring NHS leader—two reminders that purpose takes its time.
Stay slow, stay whole.
