TO GET MORE WORK DONE - slow down and procrastinate, ‘Time-saving’ inventions, from the steam engine to the typewriter to the smartphone, have in fact sped up work to unimaginable speeds. Even by missing lunch and making ourselves available 24/7, it is impossible to deal with all the emails and phone calls that just keep coming in, and the never-ending to-do list., But there is a growing movement that takes a different approach., The Slow Movement, which evolved from a protest against the opening of a fast-food restaurant in the historic centre of Rome, believes that in order to be more productive at work, we need to slow down., Try this., The next time you have a question for a colleague on the next floor, don’t just send them a quick email; instead, go and see them. Take your time, have a friendly chat and enjoy the trip., In the short term, the human contact will send you back to your desk with a little more enthusiasm., According to psychologist Dr Karin Wood, ‘Slowing down gives you time to recover from stress and keeps your body’s immune system stronger, making you less likely to burn out early.’, So, how can this help productivity?, Maybe the chat and the change of environment, or even the fact of stopping work for those few minutes, will let you see a problem from a different angle, and trigger a solution. How many good ideas have you had when you are completely away from work, maybe jogging or in the shower?, Most of us would see procrastination as a bad thing., However, Slow Work introduces the concept of ‘planned procrastination' as a tool to boost effective work. The idea is not to make decisions deliberately until the last possible moment, in order to maximise thinking time. Recent research has shown that top tennis players are the best not because they move faster, but because they delay their decisions and make better choices., Slow Workers tell this old story:, A farmworker was working cutting down trees, but every day he cut down fewer. When the farmer asked him why, he said, ‘The axe isn’t sharp any more, but I can’t stop to sharpen it - I’m too busy cutting down trees.’, So give it a try. Slow down. Enjoy your work. Sharpen your axe..

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