Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast. – Shakespeare
In my previous post i had written about getting used to slow down and do things even more productively.I ,now,have to confess that i have took some ideas given below from some of the philosophers and life coaches(as i call them).enjoy the post.And remember to do it SLOWLY.
In our rush-aholic world slowing down seems foolish. In school we have to be “seen” to be studying. Even though doing a task more slowly can often produce a result faster, many of us get caught up in unnecessary fastness. You may be suffering from too much speed. After all, you are reading this. We humans are NOT ALWAYS efficient machines that can run seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Burning the candle at both ends results in burnout.
Humans need rests, relaxation, and recreation. We need time to think about things, to clear the mind, and to have fun.Slowing down is a way to conserve, and harvest our energy, not about relief from boredom by just watching more TV or going shopping. You may have to confront boredom at first. Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.
In Japan there is an expression for death by overwork: Karoshi (Kah-roe-she).If we let it, work can take over our lives. Work is of course necessary, but the problem is taking it too far. You decide what excess is for you. Having drive is a self-actualizing positive attribute, but being driven, being compelled to work long-hours, is soul destroying.(from robin sharma)
Slow calm
More haste, less speed, or haste makes waste are a well-known sayings. When under pressure, the ability to act slowly and deliberately is a benefit. The wise carpenter measures twice and cuts once. Taking time to read the map instead of blindly heading off in what you guess might be the right direction makes sense.
Thinking and considering before acting takes a level of impulse control that’s missing when we become overly stressed. Rudyard Kipling’s poem, If, is about keeping your head when all those about you are losing theirs. Maintaining a sense of calm when others are stressed and panicking is not easy. Slow is not about being lazy.
Slow eating(from "the primal blueprint")
How many of us have heard our mothers tell us not to gobble our food? Children eat like animals until they are civilized. We eat and run. The slow food movement started in Italy as a backlash against fast food, but that is another subject. Current wisdom has it that eating slowly can help you lose weight. Taking your time to chew your food releases the nutrients. It’s easy to overeat, but slowing down can help.
In America, we talk about being full up after a meal. Food is seen as fuel. You are more likely to eat quickly if you eat alone. You are more likely to eat quickly if you are working at the same time. When we gulp down food our stomachs don’t have a chance to digest it properly, nor signal to our brains that we are satiated.
Taking a break between courses or eating smaller portions and waiting, eating with others, and taking time to digest what you eat is a good way to practice slowing down.
Slow attention
Slowing down helps give our full-attention to what we are doing. Like full-attention Zen, slowing down can put us in the zone, or what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls flow (Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience).
Try walking more slowly. Pause before responding to questions. Speak more slowly. Does this feel awkward? Why?
Slow down now
Personal energy, attention and time are limited. By slowing down we can use these better to our advantage. Slowing down is counter-intuitive. It’s not easy to go against the grain no matter how much sense it makes.
SO JUST SLOW DOWN
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