ASAP: As SLOW as Possible
When to Take the Long Road in a Shortcut World
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to basket failed.
Please try again later
Add to Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Remove from Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Premium Plus 30-day free trial
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
ASAP: As SLOW as Possible
Pre-order for $22.23
-
Narrated by:
-
By:
-
Ann Handley
Summary
You already know how to go fast. What nobody taught you is when not to.
In ASAP: As SLOW As Possible, Ann Handley rebels against the false urgency baked into modern work and life—and shows you how to recognize Slowments: the moments when slowing down is not weakness, hesitation, or delay. It's the smarter move.
Because when everyone has access to the same shortcuts, the real edge is knowing when not to take them.
With research, brain science, vivid storytelling, and Handley’s signature wit, ASAP: As SLOW As Possible reveals the hidden speed traps that weaken our judgment, creativity, and original thinking—especially in an age when AI makes the fastest path feel like the smartest one—and gives you a practical way to know when speed is serving you and when it’s taking you farther from what matters.
You'll discover:
- The Hasty Progress Illusion—why motion can feel like mastery, even when nothing lasting is taking hold
- The ASAP Matrix—how to know exactly when to autopilot, when to pause, and when a moment deserves more of you
- The six Slowments in life and in work—the pivotal moments when slowing down changes what happens next
- How to protect your judgment in a world eager to outsource it
- When choosing analog leads to sharper ideas, wiser decisions, more creative approaches, stronger relationships, and meaningful work
- How to stop confusing speed with progress—and start choosing the pace the moment actually requires
ASAP: As SLOW As Possible reveals slowness as a generative force and for the first time gives you a way to harness life’s most important slow moments. Not by doing less, opting out, or becoming the kind of person who ferments things in a shed. But by knowing when speed helps—and when it hollows out the very thing you hoped it would serve.
It’s time to choose the long road when the shortcut costs too much.
Critic Reviews
“ASAP is warm, funny, and wildly practical—a guide to knowing when speed serves you and when it quietly costs you the very thing you wanted.”—Chris Guillebeau, New York Times bestselling author of Time Anxiety and The $100 Startup
“Take a moment to embrace the profound insight in this groundbreaking book: Better is possible, but it often requires slowing down. Not to hide, but to lead.”—Seth Godin, author of The Knot
“We’ve become so obsessed with doing things faster that we rarely stop to ask whether speed is actually helping us get what we want. In ASAP, Ann Handley makes a compelling case for slowing down when it matters most, showing how a little more patience, attention, and even friction can lead to better decisions, stronger relationships, and more meaningful work. . . . A timely and practical reminder that the fastest way forward isn’t always the best one.”—Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Hooked, Indistractable, and Beyond Belief
“A wonderful book . . . The problem with time-saving technology is that it arrives as an option and ends up as an imposition. As Ann brilliantly explains, sometimes friction isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. Time costs are immediate and quantifiable, but lost opportunities are invisible.”—Rory Sutherland, president emeritus, Ogilvy Consulting
“Take a moment to embrace the profound insight in this groundbreaking book: Better is possible, but it often requires slowing down. Not to hide, but to lead.”—Seth Godin, author of The Knot
“We’ve become so obsessed with doing things faster that we rarely stop to ask whether speed is actually helping us get what we want. In ASAP, Ann Handley makes a compelling case for slowing down when it matters most, showing how a little more patience, attention, and even friction can lead to better decisions, stronger relationships, and more meaningful work. . . . A timely and practical reminder that the fastest way forward isn’t always the best one.”—Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Hooked, Indistractable, and Beyond Belief
“A wonderful book . . . The problem with time-saving technology is that it arrives as an option and ends up as an imposition. As Ann brilliantly explains, sometimes friction isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. Time costs are immediate and quantifiable, but lost opportunities are invisible.”—Rory Sutherland, president emeritus, Ogilvy Consulting
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.