Introducing Slow Thursdays: an alternative approach to time management

So September is upon us already! I’m looking back with an all-too-familiar sense of frustration on my aspirations for all the books I was going to read over the summer, the articles I was intending to write, and meanwhile I’ve barely managed to catch up with email. I’ve experimented with various time management techniques to help avoid the ‘summer slump’. I tried the pomodoro technique but found that stopping after 25 minutes disrupts my flow; time boxing and time blocking make me acutely aware of the passing of time and anxious that there’s just not enough of it. And perhaps to alleviate my feelings of guilt, I concluded that the problem is not me – but rather it’s our approach to time as a commodity that has to be squeezed and exploited to its maximum potential. Of course, there a place for productivity hacks such as time blocking for smaller, quantifiable tasks, but for academic writing, creative projects and longer-term ventures, we need a more holistic approach. In essence, we need to stop managing our time and give our minds the chance to focus and flourish.

This is where the Slow Movement comes in (for background, I teach an interdisciplinary module on the Slow Movement at the University of Warwick with my wonderful colleague Liz Blagrove from Psychology). The Slow Movement advocates a cultural shift towards a slower pace of life and proposes an antidote to society’s obsession with speed. But Slow doesn’t mean doing everything at a snail’s pace; as Carl Honoré insists, it’s about doing things at the ‘tempo giusto’ - the appropriate pace. Some things need doing quickly, others need slow and quiet incubation – it’s a question of balance, of quality over quantity, of acting with mindful and purposeful intent. Slow is less of an organised movement and more of an umbrella term to describe how these slow principles have been applied to areas such as food, travel, cities, fashion and medicine. There’s even slow beer and slow sex although you might be relieved to know that they are not part of my teaching.

So inspired by the writings of Liz Bywater, Carl Honoré and Cal Newport on the Slow Movement, Slow Leadership and Slow Productivity (yes, I did manage to read a few books over the summer), I have designed ‘Slow Thursdays’ with the aim of putting the pleasure back into productivity:

• Slow Thursdays are one day of the week set aside for meaningful work, deep focus and creativity (e.g. reading, writing, innovative thinking).

• Slow Thursdays are blocked out in the calendar in advance to avoid anyone scheduling meetings into your day.  You can use an out of office response to tell colleagues that you are focusing on research or a specific project on that day.

• Slow Thursdays are a digital detox day on which you avoid emails, internet and screens as much as possible. Rediscover the joys of writing with pen and paper or reading in print form.

• Slow Thursdays are centred on quality: quality work, quality food, quality surroundings, quality company.

  This might involve:  

• Taking an hour-long lunch break with healthy, nourishing food.

• Trying to vary your surroundings by working somewhere other than home or office to promote creative thought (e.g. a nice café or gardens) Using quality tools which make you feel good: e.g. a leather notebook, a fountain pen, a comfy chair  

• Collaborating with colleagues who inspire and motivate you

• And the best bit: Slow Thursdays don’t have to be on a Thursday! If something unavoidable comes up, make sure you block out a different day of the week. For example, next week’s slow Thursday is on a Tuesday! Mondays and Fridays are best avoided: too many things land on a Monday morning and you don’t want to spend the week on the back foot, while it can be more difficult to stay focused and motivated at the end of the week and you run the risk of Fridays becoming an extension of the weekend.

This might need some adjustment during busier periods when I’ll probably end up reducing it to an afternoon. But it’s a start. Does it work? Well, I wrote this on a Slow Thursday, so maybe it does!

Dr Joanne Lee

University of Warwick

Jo is a Reader and Head of Department (job share) Department of Italian, University of Warwick, Her research interests include:

• Travel writing and travel practices
• Writings on Italian emigration and contemporary immigration
• Representations of Italy’s colonial past
• Post-war Italian women writers

PS: If you’d like to read more about the Slow Movement, I highly recommend:

Maggie Berg & Barbara K. Seeber (2016). The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy.

Liz Bywater (2018). Slow Down to Speed Up: Lead, Succeed, and Thrive in a 24/7 World.

Carl Honoré (2004). In Praise of Slow: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed

Carl Honoré (2013). The Slow Fix: Solve Problems, Work Smarter and Live Better in a Fast World.

Cal Newport (2024). Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment without Burnout.