I saw two things today that put a spring in my step. They are:
1. an article in New Scientist on why multitasking is not all it’s cracked up to be (subscription required – but The New York Times has also run a piece on it here.) As a professional paid for the volume of my output, I’ve read endless books, articles and studies on how to increase my productivity. It’s such a relief to see solid scientific evidence to support what I’ve already discovered the hard way – hooray! Juggling several things at once leaves me feeling like a headless chicken. And I still can’t even begin to translate until I’ve cleared my mind of every last bit of clutter, so I can focus 100% on the text (I’d hoped this process would get easier with experience, but I’m still waiting 🙂 )
2. a blog post on Slow Leadership about the positive aspects of procrastination. So just because I don’t rush off the first couple of thousand words of a job just as soon as it arrives in my inbox doesn’t make me a lazy disorganised bum, doomed to failure – yipee!! Does this also mean it’s OK if I find myself working long hours the day before a deadline?? I’m not so sure about that one 🙂
All in all, it seems the slow movement is continuing its irrepressible crawl into the world of work. This can only bode well for translation, don’t you think?
