GO SLOW

Each one of us has felt it- the sheer exhaustion that envelops us as we rush through the day completing chores at home. Beating the traffic, meeting deadlines in office and multi-tasking. At the end of the day, we may realize that we have matched the pace of the ticking clock, but lost in the bargain-whether it’s a peace of mind, our health or the satisfaction that one derives of a job done well or a day spent well.

Fareed Zakaria, one of the most-respected journalists in the world, after being recently accused of plagiarism, and being too busy to check the details of his column, said, “it forced me to rethink my heavy workload and slow down”. Pop diva Rihanna said in a recent interview that she was so overworked during the making of her recent album that instead of creative high that every artiste has the right to experience and enjoy, she felt sick, “ I realized I needed to cut back on work slow down.” She said. TV actor Sanjeeda Sheikh explains, “People like us in the television industry are always on the run because there is this feeling that if we slow down, we will miss out.”

However, that life in a hurry is superficial is being felt by people these days, and it’s because of this reason that the “The Slow Movement” a cultural revolution that began in the West in the mid-1980s. is fast catching up. The basic idea is to cut back on speed, slow down and derive satisfaction out of work, rather than just finishing it in a hurry.

Mumbai-based textile based designer Padmaja Krishnan is part of this global movement. “Slow Fashion looks at all that’s useless and discarded. I chose techniques that are slow and not fully controllable I’m against mass consumerism and don’t believe that you need 20 outfits. I take time and joy in making clothes”

In 2001, Time magazine rated the Slow Food Movement as one of the 80 ideas that shook the world. The movement has found its takers in India too. Vandana Shiva, who owns Slow Food Café, in Delhi, says,” We make food from organic produce and use ingredients that are fast disappearing from India. For eg, make pizza and crepes from ragi and upma.”

Slowing down isn’t just a fad or a luxury. Neither does it mean one’s inefficient or ineffective. It’s more of a necessity. Believing in this movement does not mean one undoes all the advantages technology has offered to make life easier; it simply professes one should live life fully, at a slower pace. It asks each individual to win his existence. The aim is to find the right pace for each part of our daily routine.

Hectic life caused them to lose the touch with their friends. Latest neuro-sceintific research too suggests that the human brain is not very good at multi –tasking says psychiatrist Dr Avdesh Sharma about multi –tasking, which is professed as a super-positive trait in today’s world, “There’s a tendency for people to be less and less mindful. Texting while driving, eating while talking on the phone, reading and listening to music at the same time…it’s exhausting. And you derive pleasure out of none of the activities that are keeping your mind occupied. What’s the point?”

In his best-selling book. In Praise of Slow: How A Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Culture of Speed, Canadian journalist and author Carl Honore talks about the negative impact of life in the fast lane.” Today, one can do a course on speed yoga, speed dating, speed meditation, but the fact is that you can’t hurry up relationships.” He says in the bargain, parents and adults apart, children also suffer, “Children need slowness even more than adults do. its’ in the moments of quiet, of unstructured time of boredom even, that kids learn how to look into themselves, how to think and be creative, how to socialize.

We are doing a great disservice to our children by pushing them hard to learn things faster and by keeping them so busy. They need time and space to slow down to play to be children.”

Rushing against time also has medical repercussions. Cardiologist Dr. Anil Bansal explains. “Fast-paced life isn’t heart-friendly. Stress increases cortisol in the body and puts one at an increased risk of a heart problem.”

The cult of speed actually ends up slowing us down, because a slightest hiccup may stress us to the extent that we lose our temper, and instead of thinking of solutions, we slow our minds down with more problems. Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of Power of Slow, says, “Slow is actually faster whilst fast is merely exhausting! When you slow down long enough to actually think, you make smarter decisions, that leads to better outcomes and there by saves you time in the long run. You learn the art of managing expectations.”

• How you start your day is how you spend it. So if you reach for your Smartphone before you even brush your hair, you might want to reconsider your morning routine.
• Eat sitting down and never eat in the car or en route to somewhere else. Be mindful about what you consume. Enjoy it as it will soon be a part of you.
• Slow down period. Enjoy what you have. When you think that way, there is no rush, just flow.
• Learn to delegate work.
• Disengaging from clock combat is your first priority. When you realize you will reach your destination at the exact moment you need to, everything else takes care of itself.
• Learn to say ‘no’ in a polite way to invitations, and requests.
• Manage your own and others’ expectations in the time frame.
• Declare gadget-free zones to enjoy your leisure time.
• Know when your plate is full.
• Look at what you can eliminate. Do you (or your children) really need to be engaged in all those extracurricular activities? What can you live without?
• Considering retiring your TV set. How much time do you spend in front of your TV whilst complaining you have no time? Three hours gained right there.