Science, Stories, and Substack

Embracing Slow Productivity

Today, instead of my usual Friday, I am posting on a Monday. Because it is Earth Day and I am celebrating my two Big Blue Earth picture books, as well as a third in the series that will release in August. Read to the end for a link to a sneak peak of the cover. All the books in the Big Blue Earth series consist of just a single sentence—and it takes a long time to perfect one sentence! I thought it was fitting then, to talk about a book I recently read by Cal Newport on slow productivity.

Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout resonated with me on many levels. Not just how I manage my career as a scientist, but the pace that I go about writing children’s books, and the pace at which I am now publishing on Substack.

The main points of Slow Productivity are to do fewer things, work at a natural pace, and focus on quality.

Do Fewer Things

Doing less is something I’ve talked about before, in terms of trimming to-do lists and whittling down my goals for the year. In my day job, I have some control over what I produce. So, in opposition to the publish-or-perish mentality of research careers, I have been publishing less. I am required to publish two research papers as first author per year. This year, I am doing just that—and no more. If an opportunity to write another paper comes along, I can schedule it for next year, mentor an early career scientist on this new opportunity, or say no.

For my children’s writing, I publish about one book a year. And some years—like 2024—it’s a picture book with less than 100 words. Just one single sentence. I am only working on picture book manuscripts this year and within that category, I am concentrating on rhyming text.

And for those of you who have been following me on Substack for a while, you’ll know that I recently cut back to publishing just one Substack a month. I rarely use the app, I don’t worry about all the new features, I don’t do paid, I don’t worry about followers or likes—but I do enjoy the comments!

Work at a Natural Pace

Doing fewer things helps me achieve Newport’s second piece of advice: working at a natural pace. Newport talks about replacing “jittery busyness” with deep contemplation, which sounds so wonderfully cozy that I want to fall into this world. But in practice, I am subject to my own drive and doubts and sometimes my days are very full. I find that by focusing on fewer things, saying no, planning, and prioritizing, I am able to work at a slower pace more often. This has led to more creative ideas and a happier existence.

I have a regular routine for most of my writing, which is slow and steady. I write each morning, and usually choose between writing a poetic picture book, working on a guest blog, or drafting and editing my Substack newsletter. Working at a natural pace on a picture book can be a challenge. I might have a frantic, lightbulb moment, where I need to stop everything I am doing and write an idea down before I forget or before that moment of inspiration passes me by. Working at a natural pace can mean working in fits and starts. Some ideas also need to stew and I have to remind myself that this ebb and flow to creativity is natural.

Pacing Goals! (Photo by Stephanie LeBlanc on Unsplash)

I am struggling to find my natural pace for writing this Substack. Sometimes I feel it is a sidetrack from children’s writing and I should spend more of my “free” time in the realm of kid lit. I’ve been playing around with the idea of having a seasonality to my writing, as Newport discusses in his book.

Focus on Quality

Doing fewer things and working at a pace that lets ideas flow, allows me to focus on quality. In science, a focus on quality can be at odds with the publish-or-perish model. When the focus is on quantity rather than quality, unreasonable amounts of time are spent frantically trying to write proposals, complete projects, and write papers that cannot be completed in the allotted time. Writing just two academic papers this year as first author has allowed me to add value to those papers. One of these papers was “finished” about a month ago, but I am contemplating the message, discussing the results with colleagues, and changing some things to improve the impact.

In terms of picture books, when there are so few words, they have to count. High quality content is so important for children’s books. Poetry takes more time than prose. I’ve been reading more picture books as “research,” especially those with rhyming text. I have been studying their rhyming patterns—iambic pentameter and anapestic tetrameter are my favorite. I have started reading, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. This book has me thinking how our kids deserve rich materials to read—an alternative to ogling over on the addictive internet.

I have been trying to focus on higher quality content on Substack, too. Part of the reason I came to Substack was because it wasn’t like other social media. Not as much output, higher quality and longer form posts. But now with Notes and the Substack app, I am not so sure. There’s pressure to jump on that bandwagon and post more, like more, share more. But I am resisting and posting less. Are my Substacks getting better? Do I base that on open rate? Clicks? Likes? All but one of those metrics have gone down since I started publishing once a month. The thing that has increased is views—and that is without an equivalent increase in subscribers. But I’m doing fewer things and one of the things I am not doing is worrying about followers, likes, or any of the other anxiety-provoking badges of social media.

The piece of advice from Newport’s book that really resonated was his recommendation for “higher quality” leisure activities. This means spending your time away from the office on more than just mindless scrolling or Netflixing or Substacking. So, I’m off to read some picture books. For those of you who are inspired, here’s a soft announcement of my next book—and a not-so-secret link to pre-purchase. Happy reading and Happy Earth Day!