The Benefits of Slowing Down.

If I were to ask you, “How do I build more muscle mass,” you would probably say, “Lift weights regularly.” That answer is true, but it’s also incomplete. Resistance training simply breaks down your muscle fibers. Rest and recovery are actually the catalysts for muscle growth, hence bodybuilders consuming protein-heavy diets and taking 1-2 rest days per week. Everything they do while not working out amplifies the results of working out.

Writing is similar.

Yes, you have to sit down and put words on the page if you want to write, but if you want the writing to be any good, you also have to give yourself some time to breathe. You need to let inputs churn and marinate in your brain so they’re ready to be displayed on the page. After writing, you have to step away for a bit so you can revise the work with fresh eyes, or the edits will be useless.

It’s been a few weeks since I published a new blog post. That was intentional, after having the busiest few months of my life. Since March, I took a new job writing for Sherwood News, I finished up business school, I’ve been working on a book proposal, and, of course, I was still writing Young Money.

Between all of those projects and responsibilities, I hardly had time to think. I would work on blogs in class, then head to a study room to work on a column, then revise the book proposal when I got home, and the cycle repeated for two months. It was suffocating.

So, last week, I spent eight days in Spain and France, and for the first time in three years, I decided that I wouldn’t write a word. I took off work, I didn’t touch Young Money, I didn’t write a travel blog, I didn’t look at the book proposal, and to be honest, I’m not even sure that I tweeted.

It was the best decision I could have made.

In previous trips abroad, I was still editing Exec Sum, or writing Young Money, or updating my travel blog, or working on some side project. Not this time. I enjoyed Madrid, San Sebastian, and Bordeaux without a care in the world, and it was much needed. Since returning, my writing has improved, I finished up my proposal, and I have a backlog of dozens of blog ideas, and work has been much, much smoother.

The best thing for my work was taking a step away from my work.

As a society, we have never had more tools at our disposal to track “activity.” 40% of workers claim that their time spent active on their computers is monitored, and 31% are subject to real-time monitoring. But activity is not synonymous with productivity, and too much activity can actually hinder productivity. We think that the solution to every problem is to simply spend more time on it, or work harder, but exhaustive effort has diminishing returns. Often, the most effective choice is simply stepping away for a bit.

Thinking is a critical part of the writing process, and if you’re just writing, and writing, and writing, with no time to think, the writing will fall flat. If you’re trying to solve a difficult client problem, the solution will likely hit you while you’re walking around town, not while you are staring at your monitor. 90 minutes of free-thinking and 30 minutes of focused work is often more potent than two hours of grinding away. Don’t underestimate the value of stepping away from time to time.

- Jack