Less is more. Slower is faster.

We can get more and more done in less and less time. So why does it so often feel as though we have less time than ever?

I went on a darkness retreat in Austria’s Waldviertel. Five days in total darkness. Among other things, a thought came to me there that has stayed with me ever since:

Less is more. And slower is faster.

When progress fills the calendar

We develop technologies that are supposed to take work off our hands. Things that used to take hours suddenly take minutes. That should create space. For rest. For relationships. For life beyond our tasks.

But I get the feeling that we immediately fill that space again. With new projects, higher expectations and even more work. Because more is possible, more is expected.

Then progress doesn't make us freer. It simply moves the boundary of what we demand of ourselves.

“Productivity kills Humanity”

That's how I sometimes put this thought into words. Not because I'm against technology. I build digital products and companies myself. I'm excited by what becomes possible.

But when productivity becomes an end in itself, it's easy to lose sight of what makes us human. Our energy. Our relationships. Our own pace. Everything that can't simply be ticked off a to-do list.

Maybe the crucial question isn't: How can we do even more? But: Which of these things really matter to us?

The journey is the game of life

For me, a line from Linkin Park's In the End fits here: “In the end, it doesn't even matter.”

I don't read that as saying nothing matters. More as a reminder not to make my entire life serve a single outcome. Not to put off living until the product is finished, the company is bigger or the next goal is reached.

The journey is the destination. And the journey is also the game of life. How I travel it matters just as much as what I create along the way.

Building without leaving ourselves behind

This is the attitude I want to bring to my work. I help people build products and companies. With attention to the people behind them, not just the next result.

For me, that means finding the next meaningful step. Choosing to leave something out. And moving things forward at a pace that fits us.

Perhaps there's one task today where you could ask: Does this really need to be added — or can the time I've gained simply stay free?

We can be ambitious without constantly pushing ourselves. We can move slowly, at our own pace. I want to trust that it will be fast enough.