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\We want it fast and we want it now. Fast food, instant messaging, on demand services, where will it end? Our obsession with speed is spiralling out of control, so much so that I bet you are trying to “speed read” this article right now! Well I’m here to tell you, SLOW DOWN!!!!.
These days we really struggle to slow down even for a few seconds. I was delivering a seminar at Lend Lease (hi gang) last week and asked the participants “are you the kind of person that enters a lift, presses the button of the floor you want to go to, then, repeatedly presses the door close button until the doors finally shut? Across the room I heard whispers of “oh my god, he’s talking about me”. The fact is, most people can relate to this addiction we all have for speed.
A great client and friend of mine Lance Mayer gave me a great little book called “Don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff” by Richard Carlson. In this issue I want to share some of Carlson’s thoughts, and how his ideas could help you build some much needed slow down strategies.
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The next time you miss the bus, argue with your partner, burn the toast, make a mistake at work or just can’t fit everything in, I want you to ask yourself the question “will it matter a year from now?” In most cases, it won’t. When you realise it isn’t as big a deal as you made out, you can free up time normally spent worrying and slow down, to focus on more important tasks.
This is a simple tool you can use to gain a little perspective on any given situation.
If we constantly race from one thing to the next, how can we ever expect to feel relaxed or have clarity of thought. We need to schedule in slow time everyday to avoid stressing out and eventually burning out. I, like most of you, am addicted to speed. It took me a long time to adapt to scheduling in quiet time as I thought it was inefficient and a waste of time.
However, since I have set aside a little slow time for myself each day my stress levels have gone down and my productivity levels have gone way up! Now, if I don’t get my slow time, I get agitated and become very unproductive. So get out in nature, meditate, read or just do nothing. Whatever it is, do it slowly.
I call this avoiding C.P.A (constant partial attention). When you are attempting to do multiple tasks, it is pretty hard to be truly focused on what you are doing.
Apart from not being focused, we are also less likely to enjoy what we are doing. Try writing down the three to five important tasks you’d like to do each day in order of priority. Focus on doing one at a time, until you are done.
By doing this you can learn to slow down knowing you are doing what is important while enjoying the experience.
We all need to learn how to slow down regularly. Slowing down will help you
De-stress and give you clarity. You need to remember that if you treat life as one big emergency, you risk missing out on enjoying all the great experiences life has to offer. John Lennon said it best “life is what is happening while we a busy making other plans”. Think about it!
Slow down,
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Daniel Carlin.
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