I spent a big part of my life trying to become faster and more efficient at everything I did.
I practiced typing faster and faster because I wanted to write everything as quickly as possible.
I learned shortcuts and ways in which to use my software faster so I can finish my work as soon as I possibly could.
Whenever I had to do anything productive that I didn't particularly like, such as cleaning or cooking, I always tried to move as quickly as I could, to walk quickly from one place to another, to move my hands as fast as possible, and so on, in order to finish the work sooner.
The obvious side effect of doing things that way was that sometimes the quality of whatever I was doing was lacking. I was making a lot of mistakes when typing, I would select the wrong tools when using shortcuts or when trying to make selections or add effects, or I would make a bigger mess instead of cleaning, I would screw up my food, and so on.
I always thought that if I moved as fast as I possibly could I would end up finishing my unpleasant work quicker so I can get back to the things I actually like.
Lately however, my opinion changed.
Last year, when I came to Germany to work in the kitchen, I came with my old mentality - that working as fast as I could would be a better idea than not doing it. The people here also promoted that idea and often told me to move faster when I would seem slow to them. And it worked - I was very productive, doing all kind of things, sometimes more than others, and being quite happy and satisfied with my performance.
I did the same this year, when I returned to my job. I put as much effort as I could into moving very quickly, in order to finish more tasks. And it worked - I was quite productive, which made both me and the people I work for happy.
As time went by however I realized a few things.
First, that working as fast as I could requires a lot of physical and mental effort that would leave me exhausted at the end of the day, often with different parts of my body hurting from so much effort.
Second, that working as fast as I could would often help me save just a few minutes that didn't really matter that much. Doing everything slower, at a much more comfortable pace, would eventually result in the task being done in mostly the same amount of time, but with a higher quality.
Third, working slower and paying more attention to what I'm doing makes the task more enjoyable.
All these things are important, but the last one changed the way I feel about work, in a good way, especially cleaning.
Up until this point cleaning has always been, for me, a nuisance. It would take too much time, too much effort, and the results wouldn't always be that drastic to feel good about spending half an hour cleaning something.
However, taking it slower, and paying more attention to the cleaning process, made me notice just how much of a difference cleaning makes. Getting rid of all the stains on a table, or cleaning the oil from many surfaces, cleaning all the dust and small random pieces of food from the floor of the kitchen, all that make a much bigger difference when you take it easy and you notice how your efforts affect the surface you're cleaning.
Peeling potatoes is much more enjoyable, and it helps with the quality as well, because I can focus more on removing small spots that make the potatoes ugly. The same applies with preparing fish, or with making different vegetable side dishes - doing it slowly allows me to pay more attention to how I arrange things, to how well I decorate everything, to how much salt I add, and so on, which not only increases the quality of my work, but makes me feel better about the final result.
Even working on my computer slower makes the entire process more enjoyable and the end result higher in quality. My articles are better. I finish everything as fast as usual, because I make less mistakes that I have to correct. I can integrate different ideas and examples as I go because I have the time to think about them.
I didn't yet try to work like this when coding, or when doing graphic design or 3D modelling, because I don't have enough time for all those things any more, but once I get home and I can do all those activities again, I'll take it easy, work slowly, focus more, and see what difference that makes.
So here's something to try for yourself, either at your job or with your own hobbies - try to work slower, but with more consciousness. Try to be more focused on what you do, and to take your time. Try to do everything well, and see that your end result is as good as possible. You might end up enjoying all of your work more, and have more fun doing the small things that everybody else hates doing.
