Self-Organizing Man

3 Tools for Slowing Down

January 2, 2008 – 6:43 pm

So I lied. Kind of. While I stated that loving myself is my top resolution for 2008, I confess to having one more: to slow down.

I’ve become all-too aware of how much I have let busyness rule my life. This realization provided me with motivation to do less in 2008. One way to begin the process of doing less is to slow down.

I’ve found three tools that I will be (and already have started) using in order to slow down, really, really slow.

1. Contain the Email ~ I’m only checking personal email once a day. I can’t conceive of anything arriving in my inbox that requires me an immediate answer. I resolutely did not check my personal email before lunch. As I listened to the iPod and walked around campus taking in the beautiful, winter snowscape, a little voice kept urging me to check my email when I get back! Check my email when I get back. Why? To distract myself. One of the reasons I’m slowing down is to see how distracted I really am.

2. Stop Multitasking ~ Do you read blogs while you eat lunch? Answer email while you’re on the phone? Chow down on popcorn, M&Ms and other junk food while watching television? I do. And I’m vowing not to this year. Today I ate my lunch, slowly, one bit at a time. It took me about 25 minutes to do it. Usually I wolf down my food in under 10 minutes. By slowing down, I think I’m going to learn that I eat more than I really need to and most of what I read I don’t remember. I’m not really reading it in the first place, just filling up the time waiting for that All Important Big Thing to happen. Meanwhile, life zooms on by.

3. Focus on Breathing ~ As I walked, I focused on feeling both my inhalation and expiration. Sounds easy. But try sitting in a favorite chair and focus only on this: breathe in, breathe out. If, like me, you are a thinking and feeling human being, in less than one expiration, the monkey mind sets in, screaming “go,” “move,” “do something now!!!” Just keep breathing.

One of the most important reasons for me to slow down is that I want to address a persistent feeling of unhappiness I’ve had throughout 2007. I can most accurately characterize it as a lack of gratitude. A lack of gratitude arises because I’m not paying attention. I’m not paying attention because I’m moving too quickly, multi-tasking, etc. Thus, slowing down may be a ticket to more joy.

What other tools do you use to slow down?