Announcements

• I’m hosting co-working this coming Saturday December 20th for premium newsletter subscribers and Success & Accountability Coaching clients. You can learn more here!

• If you’re curious about Success & Accountability Coaching, I am still accepting clients for 2026. I would love to support folks who are working on academic and/or writing projects with deadlines in 2026 and 2027 (dissertations, books, preparation for tenure, etc.). You can learn more and sign up for a free Discovery Call here.

I’m working on a longer piece about burnout and workaholism that I want to give some additional time to simmer before I share it, so I decided to use today’s newsletter to remind myself of slow productivity practices.

The end of the year is a time when I feel the urge to optimize! I rarely take time off of work (hence the simmering newsletter on burnout and workaholism), and I’ve already enlisted my spouse Kris to help me actually rest in the week I’ve blocked off at the end of the year.

When I was first learning how to live with chronic illness in 2017, I leaned into slow living as a way to slow down, practice noticing, take things off my plate, and do less. Then in 2019, I started to approach productivity through this lens in order to claim a more sustainable, accessible route to getting things done that didn’t overwhelm me.

I admit that I’ve gone through seasons when I’ve really been in touch with slow living, and other times when I hustled and burned myself out. Like slow living writer Brooke McAlary says, it’s normal to tilt from one aspect of our life into another from time to time, putting more or less energy into rest or into work or into creativity, etc.

While I’m considering what I need to help recover from the tilts I made into burnout this year, I’m turning back to slow productivity. Here’s what I shared about Slow Productivity two years ago in my newsletter “Slow Productivity In Real Life”…

My most popular Instagram post is this version of a pie chart where I attempted to summarize my personal approach to Slow Productivity in eight quadrants. Over time I’m sure that the pie pieces will shift, and some may resonate with you more than others, so I welcome you to take what works and leave the rest.

I practice Slow Productivity through…

• Setting actionable (I know what to do) and achievable (it’s accessible to me) goals

• Establishing boundaries around my availability

• Bringing intention to my decision-making (for example, checking in with myself before I say “yes” to an opportunity)

• Paying attention to my personal resources (time, energy, focus, etc.) and using spoon theory

• Reserving blank space in my day to rest between meetings

• Scheduling time for reflection

• Valuing prep time and thinking work (or as I’d call it, invisible or behind-the-scenes labor) as real work

• Giving myself permission to do “good enough” instead of aiming for perfect

When I look at this list in December 2025, I think I’m doing an okay job at most of them. Nothing stands out as a glaring challenge, but I am having more trouble with setting actionable and achievable goals, bringing intention to decision-making, and determining when it’s okay to do a “good enough” job instead of aiming for perfection.

I normally host an end-of-year workshop to walk others through my new year’s reflection and planning process, but this time, I’m giving myself permission to focus on myself and invite you into what feels true for me right now.

If you’re feeling more exhausted than freshly excited going into 2026, know that I’m right there alongside you. May we give ourselves time over the next few weeks to reflect on what’s working, what’s not working, and what shifts will help us settle into a slower relationship with work.

Curiosities

• I came up with another name for a dog! Crumbs. Feel free to use it for your new dog!

• Pippi Kessler is running a Career Group in January that looks great. She’s an Organizational Psychologist and co-creator of the Have a Nice Life podcast (with Hadassah Damien, who is also awesome). I’ve worked with Pippi as a coach in the past and love her approach to work.

• Kris and I are watching Pluribus on Apple TV and I’m liking it. I prefer to binge a show instead of watching a new episode each week, so we’ve been letting three or four episodes build up before we watch a few in one go. I’ve really enjoyed the tone shift in the last couple of episodes!

Take care and talk soon,

Dr. Kate

Email: kate@katehenry.com

Website: katehenry.com

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