My notes on Make Haste Slowly

One of the most popular (and widely forgotten) slogans of the ancient world was Festina Lente, or, "Make Haste Slowly." In this episode, Cal looks deeper at what this phrase meant and in doing so uncovers an ancient version of slow productivity.

Notes

Notes start from 5:26 and end at 12:08:

• Interpretive translation: Work slowly but relentlessly on what matters.
• Slowly
  • Don't go fast.
  • Don't be too rash in your decision making.
  • Don't let busyness and frenetic activity distract you from what actually matters.
  • It can be reassuring in the moment to do things.
  • You feel like the activity is action and action is better than inaction but Festina Lente is saying slow down don't act hastily.
  • The cost in the modern context is that you're going to lose time, you're going to get distracted, your energy is going to be redirected from the types of activities that might have been most important for what it is you're trying to get done.
  • We can think of this call to slowness as a call to craft. Slow down, focus on what matters, and work on your craft.
• Relentlessly
  • Don't delay or procrastinate.
  • Don't over analyze.
  • Don't act hastily but act.
  • Make the right moves when they need to be done.
  • Once you realize the right thing to do, because you slowed down, do it and do it well.
  • And when you're doing it be relentless (steady, persistent).
  • The constant activity done intentionally and with care aggregates to really big results.
  • Working slowly but relentlessly builds up. And if you do that long enough you do end up with really interesting results even if in the moment it looks slow, if you don't stop, if you keep making progress, you keep putting out one podcast after another, very carefully trying to improve each episode from the last, you keep putting down another page of the book you're working on and maybe it takes you longer than someone else but you give enough time, you have a book that you're really proud of. This work relentlessly, don't stop, keep making progress, is the key counterbalance to the slow.
• Matters
  • Make sure you're focused on the right things, i.e. you're aimed in the right direction.
• There seems to be something in this idea that fits well with human nature.

Links

• Why Working Fast Makes You Less Productive: Work Slowly But Relentlessly Instead
• Ep. 260: Make Haste Slowly
• Festina lente: A Roman emperor’s guide to getting stuff done
• Festina lente