I enjoyed Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s recent article on slowness for Ness Labs. She explores the benefits of slowing down, reminding us that faster is not always (often?) better:
It may seem counterintuitive, but slowing down can be a faster way to achieve your goals. Fighting our urge to live and work faster can lead to clearer thinking, deeper connections, and better mental health.
She tells us that by slowing down we can build three key pillars to rely on in both life and work. These are:
- intentionality
- quality
- sustainability.
In essence:
Slowing down will help you make better decisions, connect deeper with people, have more meaningful experiences, all while improving your mental well-being by avoiding burnout. You may go slower, but you will go further.
She writes about the need to add slowness to all areas of our life. From how we eat to how we think about the clothes we wear. And she encourages the use of self-reflection as a powerful aid to this process:
Whatever area of your life you are targeting, making space for self-reflection is crucial. Helpful methods to slow down include journaling, meditation, and taking breaks. Speed may sometimes be a goal in and of itself, but it should be an intentional goal rather than an automatic need to “keep up” with others.
For me, it’s not always that I’m going too fast. It can simply be that I’m moving forwards without much deeper thought. Making room to be more thoughtful about how I live and work is what’s key.
–Sam
Got some thoughts on this? I’d love to hear from you – do hit reply or drop me a note.
@samradford | samradford.com
Got some thoughts on this? I’d love to hear from you – do hit reply or drop me a note.
@samradford | samradford.com