Slow Down Now in the news
Posted on November 14th, 2007 by Christopher
Here is a short interview by Dawn Anfuso, a Southern California business writer, Slow down now to become productive.
How has slowing down helped you at work?
Here is a short interview by Dawn Anfuso, a Southern California business writer, Slow down now to become productive.
How has slowing down helped you at work?
Slowing down… maybe more of a state of mind… a peaceful determination that the only things that need to be rushed are the things that need to be rushed… like whipping cream… it takes a bit of speed to get that done right. But so many things can be done with focused, deliberate moderation of pace. No hurry required. The other day I was at the grocery store and I had forgotten my shopping list. I called my hubby at home to ask him to read the list over the phone. He couldn’t read my writing at all. Today I noticed that if I write just a little slower, it’s legible. And if I take my time while unloading the dishwasher, nothing gets broken. And if I shut off the TV and the radio and let silence prevail, intentional slowness seems that much easier…
“Slowing down” sometimes gets mistaken for “getting less done” - which is as fallacious as it is unwise. Rushing into things, like Beth illustrated, is a good way to do a bad job and cost yourself in the long run. Careful planning, meticulous work, and thoughtful review not only get a job done, but they get them done right with little time wasted.
Not to say there aren’t situations where speed is preferable to quality, but I find that these are less the case.
Beth,
Yes all things can’t be done slowly. I just demonstrated that to myself by trying to blink slowly. Don’t try this at home. It’s only for advanced practitioners: more advanced than I am. I can’t blink slowly.
Yours is a funny story. Handwriting is a wonderful slow topic.
My own handwriting was abominable until I started writing with a pencil on a regular basis. I noticed how the quality of my handwriting changes depending on my mood. When relaxed it starts to look quite elegant.
Before we all learned to type, handwriting was how we communicated the written word. It had to be legible. That was unless you were a doctor. I think doctors had to go to the Lousy School of Handwriting for a Certificate of Sloppiness before they would be allowed into medical school.
All my family had an elegant hand, but not me. This sort of thing comes from paying attention, (yes, slowing down) and making handwriting a priority. In France, I