Fast & Concurrent is a trap. Living Slow will set you free.
Originally Posted on X ↗
For years I optimized every minute of my life in pursuit of productivity. It made everything worse.
By Living Slow, you will paradoxically move faster towards your true goals. A new depth emerges to almost every dimension of life — in your relationships, work, interests, and health. You’ll feel your brain decompress, expand, and maybe even relax (whatever that is).
Consistent intentional engagement with less in the present moment compounds over time. At a rate faster than scattered concurrent multi-tasking and split-braining.
Living Slow is not just about the speed at which you do things.
- Do less
- Desire to do less
- Move at half the pace
It’s a life practice.
1 - A confession, that may resonate with you
Let’s start with a (seemingly unrelated) confession. Maybe this will remind you of someone.
There are three characteristics I see in many people, including myself, that are pertinent to this topic:
- I am an optimized and productive person, always seeking to make progress, and make progress faster.
- I am a firm believer in the “I can do everything and anything” mindset.
- I have goals and ambitions.
This naturally results in the feeling that you need to move fast & efficiently to accomplish what you want in life.
Unfortunately, this approach to life is a slippery slope.
1.) I am an optimized and productive person, always seeking to make progress, and make progress faster. For most of my adult life, I’ve been obsessed with how to get more done in less time. I’ve tried almost every system championed by productivity culture — GTD, PARA, Roam, Tana, Monday.com, and many more. In pursuit of the holy grail that is blissful, stress-free productivity and optimization.
There’s nothing wrong with these systems. In fact, they’re great systems because they work. Though because they work, they are enablers of… faster, more, and more at once.
2.) I’ve been a firm believer in the “I can do everything and anything” mindset. That I can juggle multiple active projects. That I can learn anything. That I can successfully manage my ever-increasing work load, responsibility, interests, passions, relationships, and physical/mental health. That I always need to be productive to “make it” and feel complete.
This mindset is pounded into you by social media and hustle culture. The convenience, sheer optionality, information overload, and demands of modern life sure don’t help. Only recently did “live slow” start to trend on X, or at least in my corner of X.
3.) I have goals and ambitions. Self-explanatory. We all have desire and things we strive to accomplish in this life.
For most of us, the combination of these three characteristics results in:
- Frequent topic jumping & context switching
- Inability to experience deep work and relaxation
- Undue stress
- Perpetually living for the future
- An ever-growing to-do list
- More stress about your ever growing to do list
- Flying through life
- Inability to focus on your TRUE goals, relationships, and engage in the present
More importantly, it prevents you from living in the moment. It prevents you from taking a step back and thinking… man, life is pretty good. It prevents you from experiencing true relaxation. Truthfully, it prevents you from reaching your true goals.
You may not recognize or be ready to accept these issues yet.
2 - The successful Senior Leader
A long-standing observation of mine is the 50-something-year-old Vice President of the company I work at.
He just seems to move slower than everyone. He walks slower. He talks slower. He types slower. He focuses intensely — by doing less on a daily basis, doing less at once, and focusing on what’s in front of him.
Yet he is extremely successful.
He is wicked smart. He is highly skilled. He almost always gives excellent advice and guidance. He gets highly impactful work done, seemingly faster than anyone else. He moves the needle.
Better yet, despite his high-stress job, he seems genuinely relaxed (more often than not, at least). He also seems to have a great life at home — a great relationship with his wife and kids.
Not only is he a true senior leader that everyone respects, but he is also an authentic human being respected by many.
But… how? How can someone who moves slower have such an impact? How can they be content with life? There’s so much to do and so little time. So much life to live. So many things to dip your toes in.
3 - Are you Fast & Concurrent?
Modern life demands fast, concurrent, and spread-thin.
We have too much to do. We really do. Work demands an ever-increasing amount of productivity. Our relationships require time and careful, loving attention. Taking care of your home is a necessary evil. Your health is of the utmost importance, but doesn’t come easily. How about your ambitions and interests… need to find a way to squeeze those in, right?
So you find yourself with 25 (give or take) things on your daily to-do list. And despite your best efforts, you just can’t whittle it down. More than likely, several tasks that you yourself deem important are continually pushed to the next day, for weeks on end. Wait, it may be way more than just a few weeks…
Then you find yourself with 10 active projects at once. You likely haven’t been able to give some “active” projects attention for weeks (or months). So, are these even active anymore? They’re just open loops gnawing away at you.
Do you find yourself unable to make time for the truly impactful work, or the work that resonates with you? Every morning, you tell yourself “I’m FINALLY going to get this done today,” and you genuinely believe it. Then night rolls around… “OK, tomorrow will have to do, another day lost.”
Constantly changing grand plans? Constantly changing your side hustles and side projects? Never seeing anything through to TRUE completion?
Are you constantly changing your interests and hobbies? You want to experience everything in life, right? Pottery sounds fun. Gardening looks relaxing. “I need to form neural connections by learning guitar and a second language.” Wait… I can do 3D printing/CNC/blacksmithing at home… heck yeah!!!
Do you consume 1,500 tweets per day? Check the news every 30 minutes? Open Robinhood (or whatever app is your poison of choice), check the stock market, or check crypto prices every 5 minutes?
Do you find yourself doing things on your computer or phone without realizing it? Opening new tabs, apps, or generally flying around without a purpose.
Are you able to stand still while brushing your teeth? Stay off your phone while driving?
And now the important ones…
Are you engaged in the present moment? Truly engaged — soaking it up. Observing and viscerally experiencing the physical world around you.
Are you present in your relationships, nurturing deep connection and emotional attunement with your loved ones?
Are you properly taking care of your health?
Wait… are you able to even relax and enjoy life?
4 - Modern life is an enticing paradox of choice
Modern life enables us to do too much, too easily. Almost everything is on the cusp of reality for us.
Any topic you want to master — there are ample resources.
Any hobby you want to engage in — there are readily available and purpose-built tools.
Don’t like your job — change it.
One could even argue that modern life entices us. It goads us into desire. Social media shows you tens-to-hundreds of topics a day, depending on how much time you spend.
Modern marketing practices are fine-tuned to activate the neural circuitry that drives desire and action.
In one day, you’re exposed to far more than a human who lived hundreds of years ago would have seen in their entire life.
5 - Living Slow is more than just pace
Living Slow = Letting Go + Moving Slower
If you haven’t noticed, we’ve only lightly touched on the speed at which you live life so far.
There’s a reason — Living Slow is about letting go as much as it is slowing down.
Let go of your desire. Let go of your active work. You really don’t need to do all of it. What would happen if… you just didn’t do that thing? If you just… didn’t want that other thing?
Your daily to-do list doesn’t need to be 25 things. It should be a handful.
You don’t need 10 active projects. You need 3. You only start a new one once you ENTIRELY finish one of the three, abandon it, or are blocked by some other resource for a long amount of time.
Your actions need to align with your intentions. Your WHY — your true goals, dreams, and purpose.
Your goals, dreams, and purpose need to be ultra-clear, deeply rooted, brutally honest, and extremely finite. When you lack clear intentions, you are prone to the wrong path. Even something just barely off your true path is the wrong path.
You need to curate your life. This is a daily practice. You need to defend yourself from external influence and yourself. It’s your responsibility to curate a life that aligns with your intentions.
Then you need to move at half the pace.
Walk slower. Talk a little bit slower. Stand still while you brush your teeth. Stay off your phone while driving, walking, and in the bathroom. Eat slower, enjoy the food. Put your fork down in between bites. Write on paper. Drive slower.
Feel your brain engage in the present moment. You’re no longer always living for the future.
Build a life of moving slow, consuming less, with intention.
It’s a life practice.