Slow Down and Shift to a Lower Gear – ‘Slow Work’ is in Trend

It seems that more and more people believe that there is much more to life than work, so many are trying to find a balance between work and personal life. Few are willing to sacrifice their personal time for work, and there are more and more who would prefer to complete their tasks within working hours, be well compensated for it, and leave for their personal lives by four or five in the afternoon.

Especially since the pandemic, people are increasingly insisting on benefits, shorter or at least more flexible working hours, and avoiding potential burnout. Recent research has shown that workers are increasingly discussing burnout, reports Metro.co.uk, and to prevent this, more people support the idea advocating for slower and less work – slow work.

Slow work movement is the antithesis of the hustle and overload of work. This movement encourages workers to redefine what productivity is and what their goals are. 'Slow Work' actually refers to slowing down the pace at work and leading a calmer lifestyle. The idea is that we should work smarter, not harder, and proponents of 'slow work' believe that better results can be achieved by working less.

TikTok Has Sparked Another Trend

Of course, rarely does anything today thrive without social media, and so slow work can thank TikTok for becoming a trend. Members of Generation Z have popularized hashtag #CorporateTok on TikTok, criticizing traditional workplace practices. Additionally, hashtags related to the word 'corporation' have 3.5 billion views, while those related to 'work' have 67.7 billion views, according to the Financial Times.

Behind all these hashtags are posts from young employees criticizing 'outdated' business norms, returning to the office, in-person meetings… and advocating for 'slow work'. Thus, content mocking personal sacrifice for work has flooded TikTok.

Moreover, TikTokers creating such content are experiencing incredible popularity growth, including Laura Whaley with her videos titled 'Colleague Who Doesn’t Understand Boundaries', who has gained over 2 million followers. Similar TikTokers are opposing unhealthy expectations and the normalization of workaholism with similar video content, and the movement has spread to platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter.

Shift to a Lower Gear

The key to understanding this movement is that it does not advocate neglecting work but rather creating a better balance between work and personal life. Ambition and quality in work are not lost by taking days off or respecting personal time, they believe. On the contrary. Although rest sounds counterproductive, taking breaks and finding time to relax can actually increase productivity and work quality.

Among the components of 'slow work' is leaving work at the office and within working hours. Many lack a boundary that would prevent them from, for example, checking work emails in the evening, and because of this, they feel that work is taking away their personal time. Among other things, as slow workers say, there is more to life than work – which is why free days should be used for enjoyment and fulfilling personal desires.

Additionally, one of the main concepts of slow work is the idea that the workload should remain at a sustainable level. Being overwhelmed with various tasks is among the top issues that slow workers fight against because slow work practice suggests that employees should not take on too many new smaller projects, but instead should spend more time on larger projects for which they are already responsible.

The Slow Movement from the Last Century

Some realized that it is necessary to shift to a lower gear as early as the last century, so the movement emphasizing slowing down the pace in business life did not appear out of nowhere. Slow movement, which can be translated as the movement of slowness, has its roots back in 1986 when it emerged in Italy, generally emphasizing the need for a cultural change that promotes a fast lifestyle because we live too quickly and expect a rapid cultural pace. In fact, the slow movement in Italy emerged as a critique of McDonald’s and similar fast food.

Then, a related movement called slow travel emerged, which focused on slowing down travel because a fast travel pace misses important details.

The movement even gained support in 1999 with the establishment of the 'World Institute of Slowness', which supported a richer life through slow movement. The institute also promoted cultural slowing down of life in cities, originally throughout Italy, reports CulturalWorld.

Proponents of slow movement do not want a return to the past but rather a slowing down of life in the modern world. They advocate for increasing the quality of food, work, retail, and life by reducing speed, which they believe would improve the quality of life in every sense.