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In
Praise of Slow
To
get where we want to go – go slower!
Battle weary, over-hyped, stressed-out. Our addiction
to speed in all things is quickly taking it's toll. But around
the world there is a movement calling on each of us to slow
it down. It all started one day when Carlos Petroni walked
past the McDonalds in his local town, and thouroughly sick
of the accelerating pace of life, thought to himself – "if
we can have fast food, why can't we have slow food?" And
so a movement was born.
Slow food led the way, and now, slow is becoming
the new mantra. It is showing up in the nooks and crannies
of our lives. From new urban developments that put the focus
on walking not driving, to the stampede of people out of the
traditional doctor's waiting room over to their local acupuncturist,
and into the corporation where lunchtime yoga classes and meditation
rooms are starting to appear. Slow learning, slow cities, slow
music, slow reading, superslow weight training – when
this many people are embracing an idea, there must be something
to it.
But what does this have to do with business – after
all today you can be yesterday's news before today is even
past. Well consider this - research confirms that when we slow
down we actually get more done, we do it better, and find it
more satisfying.
So when did we get so addicted to speed? It's
not exactly a new phenonenom - since the invention of the mechanical
clock in 13th Century put time at the fore, we have chafed
against its limits. But by any standards, today's world makes
impossible demands, whirling us out of control until each day
is nothing but an interrupted blur of activitites and actions,
one running into the next. It seems to be well past time for
us to say a collective - enough!
So next time the urge to hurry and squeeze one
more thing into your over-packed day hits, just say no – it
could be the beginning of something – slow.
Read
the book In Praise of Slow to find out
how the idea became a movement.
Slow is not a new idea - this
article from 2004 gives us some great reasons why slow
can be good.
There are a myriad of organisations from around
the globe dedicated to helping you slow down - take your pick
and start exploring a slower way of being!
The
Sloth Club
Society
for the Deceleration of Time
Long
Now Foundation
Slow
Cities
Slow
Food
Entreaty
to harvard Freshmen - Slow Down
The
Slow Movement
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