🎧 Listen to the podcast version of this email here.
The world isn’t getting worse at thinking.
It’s getting faster.
And that’s a problem.
People are naturally lazy looking out for shortcuts: Minimum input, maximum output.
I’m no anthropologist, but I'm pretty sure people have always tried to find easier ways to get things done.
The difference is, we didn’t always have the tools.
When my parents were running their family business in the 80s, the day just… stopped at some point. Work ended. The world slowed down.
Sure, you could watch TV, which was probably the most mind-numbing thing available at the time, but beyond that, people read, spoke to each other, did things that required a bit more presence.
You were almost forced into slower thinking.
Now we’ve gone completely the other way.
Our need for productivity, combined with technology, has created a world where everything is fast. Faster than we could have imagined.
And every time we think we’ve reached the limit, it speeds up again.
So we adapt.
We become more reactive. More distracted. We jump from one thing to the next, constantly pulled by whatever is loudest, newest, most urgent.
And honestly, is it any surprise?
We live in a world of constant stimulus. Notifications, feeds, messages, updates. Something is always pulling at your attention.
More and more people now describe themselves as having ADHD.
And for some, that’s real.
But put anyone in an environment like this, and of course their attention gets fragmented.
When everything is designed to interrupt you, focus starts to feel like a problem… instead of a skill.
It can feel like we’re being led all the time. By whatever happens to be in front of us.
But the kind of work people actually pay you for doesn’t live there.
Critical thinking doesn’t happen at that speed.
It requires you to slow down. To take a step back. To look at the full picture before forming an opinion. To test assumptions instead of jumping to conclusions.
And when you’re a professional, that slower thinking is where your value sits.
Listening properly and understanding what’s actually being said, not just what’s obvious.
Spotting patterns without rushing to lock them in. Asking a different question. Trying a different route. Sitting with something a bit longer than feels comfortable.
That’s real thinking.
This is also why one of the easiest ways to stand out is to look at what everyone else is doing and do the opposite.
Remember
"When they zig, you zag."
But that’s only half true.
If something is working, there’s usually a reason. People respond to things that solve real problems, that meet a real need, that make something clearer or easier.
Ignore that, and you risk being different… but irrelevant.
At the same time, when everyone starts doing the same thing, quality drops. It becomes predictable. Commoditised. You’ve seen it. The same hooks, the same formats, the same recycled ideas.
That’s where zagging makes sense.
Not for the sake of being different, but to add something that’s missing.
Perhaps depth. Nuance. Or original thought.
And right now, most of what you see online is optimised for speed.
Quick takes. Simple answers. Frameworks that look neat and easy to apply. With AI, it’s even faster. You can generate a model, a process, a strategy in seconds.
But that’s not the hard part; using it well is.
Taking something simple and applying it to a messy, human situation. Knowing when it fits and when it doesn’t. Adjusting it. Challenging it. Sometimes ignoring it completely.
That doesn’t come from fast thinking.
You don’t get paid for having an answer.
You get paid for zooming in and out to make sense of things.
For seeing what others don’t. For connecting dots that aren’t obvious. For helping people move forward when the situation isn’t clear.
And that requires you to slow down.
Because the world might reward fast thinking…
…but your work depends on slow thinking.
And if you don’t create space for that kind of thinking, you start sounding like everyone else.
So what do you do with this?
If your work depends on slow thinking, you need to protect space for it.
A few simple ways to start:
- Stop reacting to everything
If you’re constantly consuming, you’re not thinking. Pick one idea and sit with it longer than feels natural.
- Use speed for drafts, not decisions
AI, notes, quick thoughts are great for getting something down. But don’t publish or decide straight away. Come back to it later with a clearer head.
- Ask one better question before you act
Instead of “what’s the answer?”, ask
“what’s actually going on here?” or
“what am I missing?”
That’s where your real value sits.
Make it a great day.
