Slow Down to Speed Up: Relaxed Living in a Chaotic World

I took a few days off recently for the first time in a while. It’s funny because I often write about how important it is to let yourself rest and take breaks to heal. Even so, like many self-employed folks, I struggle to take that pressure off myself sometimes.

And, as is wont to happen when you neglect yourself, I was wearing myself out. The funny thing is that your body will always get the rest it needs, whether you comply willingly or it has to shut down on you without your permission. 

That’s what was happening to me. I was falling asleep in the middle of the day; I couldn’t focus for the life of me, let alone get any creative work done. So, despite everything in my head still screaming about how much more I needed to get done (both in my personal and professional life), I decided to take a few days off.

And it was exactly what I needed.

Even with so much going on that feels like it cannot wait, sometimes our best strategy for moving through it is to take a beat. Slow down now so that we can speed up later.

Slow Down to Speed Up

Slow down to speed up. Is it a paradox or another funny little thing we’ve all been missing in pursuit of a smooth and joyful life?

Look, you don’t need me to tell you about how life is fast, busy, noisy, and getting crazier all the time. You know that already. People have been parroting that simple truth ever since they first invented progress. Which, I believe, was around 1760. Yeah, fun fact. A lot of people don’t know that. Progress was invented in 1760. Tell your friends at parties.

It’s true, though. Not the 1760 thing – definitely not that. The part about living in a fast, busy world. It’s a lot to keep up with, which can be exhausting. Overwhelming, even.

We can yearn to go back to a simpler time, sure. But yearning won’t get us very far. And honestly, those “simpler times” had no shortage of their own problems. So how do we play the hand we’ve drawn and keep up with this busy, chaotic life that never stops moving?

The trick is not to keep up with it. Not all of it, anyway. Instead, what we need is to slow down.

The Beauty of the Spaces in Between

If we’re always charging through life at a full sprint, we will inevitably encounter some problems. Fatigue is the obvious one, and we’ve all felt that. I write about managing your energy all the time, and I still got bit by the beast of fatigue.

But more than tiring ourselves out, we also incur missed opportunities when we rush through life. Negative space, the moments in between things, is never wasted space. Remember, simplicity is the greatest friend of productivity. Even in the quiet moments, when we’re not directly facing everything we have to deal with, we’re still working on it in other ways.

When the body rests after exertion, it repairs and builds back up to be stronger next time. Likewise, the mind keeps working on a complex problem in the background long after it is no longer your central focus. Even the soul can reflect, heal, and grow in life’s quieter moments.

Negative space doesn’t come at the expense of these things; it is how we attain them.

The voices in our heads may tell us we can’t slow down. We cannot take a break right now because there is too much we need to do. But for precisely this reason, slowing down now is exactly what we need so that we can speed up later.

Quit Getting Blue-Shelled

I like to think that life works a bit like Mario Kart. And not just because I’m constantly throwing bananas at the people who try to get ahead of me. (I do that, though. That’s something I do.)

When you play Mario Kart, everyone wants to go fast and win the race. Yet speed alone is hardly all it takes to get there. If you want to cross the finish line first, you’ll need to strategically slow down at the right moments to hit a tight turn, take a sweet shortcut, or let your friend generously take that blue shell for you.

Similarly, in life (and actual racing), keeping the gas pedal squashed against the floorboards at all times usually isn’t the best way to get where we’re going. It’s not even the fastest way.

In my case, taking a few days off gave me time to rest and re-center. It gave me a new perspective on some of my personal and professional projects. As a result, I was able to come back to my work with renewed intensity. It got me more excited to jump back in than I’ve felt in months.

Over-exertion always comes crumbling down sooner or later. We all need rest. But on top of that, slowing down, taking time to think, breathe, and process creates new possibilities. Negative space is a gift with which we can discover newfound energy, solutions, ideas, and growth.

Avatar for Sam

Hey, I’m Sam. I created Smarter and Harder to explore big ideas, both old and new, about building a better life. My mission is to evolve the conversation about personal growth and have fun doing it.

4 thoughts on “Slow Down to Speed Up: Relaxed Living in a Chaotic World”

  1. I am definitely with you on this Sam. When there are so many things that need our attention and we keep on working for too long without breaks it can only harm us. What I understood from myself these last months working for myself is that there will always be things that need my attention. No matter how hard I try new things will jump my way that I cannot ignore. Unfortunately if you don’t take some time to slow down, relax and have a rest it is possible to reach physical and mental breakdown. We do need time to slow down if we want to speed up.
    Really enjoyed reading this!

    Reply

Leave a Comment