Slow to the Speed Things Take
Let demanding activities take their real time instead of forcing speed
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 97%
Drawing on therapist Stephanie Brown's idea of an addiction to urgency, Burkeman describes a spiral: life speeds up, overwhelm rises, and going faster seems like the answer, but greater speed accelerates the system again. The counter-practice is to slow down to the speed an activity actually takes. Choose a task that rewards attention, remove the option to rush through it, and remain through the initial discomfort of not controlling the pace. Burkeman cites an art-history exercise in which students look at one painting for three hours; after the difficult first period, they notice details missed earlier. Applied to reading, creative work, or business thinking, patience can support deeper engagement and potentially better decisions. He distinguishes patience from failing to act urgently when urgency is genuinely needed.
Origin
Burkeman draws the urgency framing from therapist Stephanie Brown and the painting exercise from a Harvard art historian. Extracted from The Diary of a CEO.
Core principles
- 01Faster tools can increase impatience rather than create calm
- 02Some activities lose depth when rushed
- 03Initial slowness can feel uncomfortable because control is reduced
- 04Patience can reveal details and decisions that speed misses
How to run it
- 1
Choose a depth task
Select an activity that becomes better through sustained attention rather than rapid throughput.
Pro tip Start with reading, looking, writing, or a decision that deserves thought.
- 2
Accept its real duration
Set aside the time the activity requires instead of demanding that it fit an artificially compressed slot.
Watch out Do not confuse slow practice with delaying necessary action.
- 3
Remove the escape hatch
Create a boundary that prevents immediately switching tasks when the pace begins to feel uncomfortable.
Pro tip For an observation exercise, remain seated and take notes rather than leaving.
- 4
Stay through discomfort
Expect the first phase to feel frustrating as the habit of racing loses control of the session.
- 5
Capture deeper observations
Notice and record the details, ideas, or judgements that emerged only after sustained attention.
- 6
Transfer the pace
Apply the same willingness to let things take time in creative work, business, or relationships where speed is reducing quality.
Pro tip Give a difficult idea a few more days when that is what sound thinking requires.
In the wild
Burkeman describes an exercise in which students choose one painting and look at it for three hours without getting up, though they may take notes. He says the first hour is highly uncomfortable, but details become visible that were missed in the first 45 minutes.
→ Sustained attention reveals observations that rapid viewing did not.
Common mistakes
Making slowness performative
The purpose is deeper engagement with a chosen activity, not moving slowly when speed is harmless or necessary.
Quitting at the discomfort threshold
The exercise depends on remaining after the initial urge to race away, when further details may begin to emerge.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for reading, creative work, art, thinking, and decisions where depth matters more than throughput.
Not ideal for
It is not an argument against genuine urgency or moving quickly when safety and circumstances require it.
From the transcript
“slow down to the speed that things take”
“patience is really a kind of a superpower”
From the episode
How To Finally Stop Procrastinating: Oliver Burkeman