Creativity and Slow Work
“Patience is the companion of wisdom” (Saint Augustine).
Several years ago, I practiced long-distance running with a friend who was also a strong pacer. Pacing is essential to runners, because it helps them conserve the energy they need to complete long races. One of the strategies of pacing is to avoid going too quickly. In other words, runners are encouraged to go more slowly than they feel is necessary. The idea is that it’s easier to speed up than be forced by fatigue to slow down.
When I began working as a writer, this strategy of pacing became valuable to my creative life. Sometimes, I’d have what I thought was a great idea—but then, I would get stuck when I’d try to develop it. I’d enter creative ruts. I didn’t know why I couldn’t finish what I’d started.
But creativity isn’t like fast food. We can’t order an answer or idea on demand.
Here’s where pacing is helpful for creatives. Many ideas need to emerge slowly. They need time. We need to move more slowly than we think we do.
Creativity Is a Process
I work with a lot of writers, and I see this practice of slowing down as critical to developing strong ideas. Deadlines are important, but if the deadlines are compromising the process of thinking slowly and reflecting carefully, they might need to be reworked to better engage in the creative process.
The need to sit with something, set it aside for a few days, and quietly let an idea grow is counterintuitive to our sense of productivity. How will an idea come about without our will forcing it to the finish line? Our work isn’t only about the ends, though: It’s about the process. If we race through every project, we miss learning experiences, opportunities for reflection, and the opportunity to see what our ideas need in order to grow.
Nurturing Creative Thinking
In giving ourselves time to work slowly, we can nurture our creative thinking and imagination. One way to fuel our imagination is through the arts. Reading a book, watching a movie, going to a museum, and listening to music can help us develop our sense of wonder and lead us to ask good questions.
Another way to stretch our imagination is through boredom. In a world where we are bombarded by the noise of distraction (social media, emails, text messages), we have lost our capacity to experience our surroundings in an attentive way. Wallace Stevens created many of his poems while walking to his full-time job. Without that walk and a distraction-free space, Stevens might never have engaged his imagination as fully.
Slow Work
This idea of slowness has become pervasive—slow food, slow art, and slow work. Each of these movements developed out of a response to the fast pace of our life. One artist who has reimagined the process of art and embraced “slowness” is Makoto Fujimura. David Brooks describes his “slow art” as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time.” It’s also a rebellion against the utilitarian focus on productivity and outcomes. Slow work enables us to find value in the process of creating itself, subordinating quickness for a more sustainable process that contributes to our human flourishing.
Similarly, the slow food movement raises questions like the following: What if we could tie our eating back to tradition? What are the ethical implications of being indifferent to where our food comes from?
I wonder how we can transform the meaning that drives slow art and slow food movements into our own creative processes. We might, for instance, ask questions like, “How does our work serve our primary vocation?” and, “How do we practice a sense of care for ourselves and others through what we create?” Reflecting on these questions might not only transform our work but ourselves in the process.
Consider these three ideas for nurturing slow work:
1. Pray
Bring specific problems in your work to God. Scheduling weekly Adoration helps you to spend time with Jesus and bring your work to Him.
2. Take Breaks
Give yourself a recess or a walk. Research shows that these activities promote creativity.
3. Reflect Deeply on How You Work
Identify areas in your work where you need to slow down. Maybe you need to reimagine the process for that area of work so that you can allow yourself to move more slowly.
When we embrace this slower pace, we work from a perspective that transforms what we create. Our work becomes something for others to ponder—a gift more than a commodity.
Jody C. Benson is a freelance writer and editor and an instructor in Thy Olive Tree’s Fiat Self-Publishing Academy. She is the author of Behold: A Reflection Journal Where Wonder, Creation, and Stewardship Meet. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and children. Learn more at jodycbenson.com and jodycbenson.substack.com.