Everyone’s sprinting.
Hustle culture.
Move fast and break things.
Ship it yesterday.
Grind until you collapse.
Speed speed speed.
That shit is exhausting.
And you know what all of this generally gets you?
Burnout. Shitty work. Mistakes you have to fix later. And the creeping sensation that you’re running full speed in the wrong direction, which always happens.
The thing is slow wins. But slow doesn’t sell. There’s nothing cute or sexy about it.
Being deliberate and intentional will stop you from turning your brain into day old Oatmeal.
I’m not saying deadlines don’t matter.
I’m not some zen monk telling you to abandon all structure and let projects marinate until the sun explodes.
Deadlines are what separate people who ship from people who talk about shipping. Without them, nothing gets done. Ever.
But there’s a universe of difference between having a deadline and letting that deadline turn you into a panicked rat on a wheel.
(Spend a few hours on LinkedIn for a week and you’ll see EXACTLY what I’m talking about)
Slow means you breathe. You step back. You ask yourself if you’re actually headed in the right direction or if you’re just falling forward because movement feels productive.
Sometimes the most important thing you can do is stop, look around, and make sure you’re not building a ladder against the wrong fucking wall.
(I’ve done a lot of this in 2025 and when you realise you messed up. You just need to course correct…)
Slow means better work. Rushed jobs are shit jobs. Always. You know it, I know it, your client knows it even if they’re too polite to say it.
When someone pressures you to cut corners and deliver fast, what they’re really asking for is mediocre work they’ll regret later.
Don’t give them that. Don’t give yourself that.
Slow means you stay sane.
Slow means saying no to artificial urgency. Most “urgent” shit isn’t actually urgent.
And every time you let someone else’s panic dictate your pace, you’re teaching them that you’ll drop everything and scramble.
Stop teaching people that lesson.
The best work, which is the stuff that actually matters, that lasts, that you’re proud of years later, doesn’t come from white knuckling your way through at breakneck speed.
You need to take it at a pace that you can manage, where you get to think and iterate and to catch the mistakes before they become disasters.
To build something solid instead of something held together with duct tape and desperation.
There’s always gonna be a power move that most of the guru’s are against, however…
Being the person who delivers quality work on time without losing their mind in the process.
Being the one who doesn’t burnout every six months and have to rebuild from scratch.
Being the one who’s still standing and still creating, while everyone else is face down in the dirt wondering where the shit hit the fan, will truly set you apart from the hustle culture weirdos…
Deadlines are your framework. They keep you honest and moving forward.
And slow will keep you sane. It’s what keeps the work good and your brain intact.
Work at the speed of sustainable. Not the speed of panic.
On the plus side. I’d like to be around for a few more years, so I don’t want to kill myself by rushing around while creating shitty work.
Stephen Walker.
P.S. Next time someone tries to rush you into cutting corners or delivering garbage work faster. You just need to remember that their shitty emergency isn’t your obligation.