Do You Speed Up Before You Slow Down?
In a fast-paced society loaded with busy-ness and stress — to speed up and achieve more, it's essential to slow down a little.
Go faster. More is more. Hustle. Hustle even more. Sound familiar?
Since childhood, many of us have been trained to see life as a competition. From school days where parents and teachers pushed us to do more, to working life where we're encouraged to take on more responsibility.
Life has become a race — running from one thing to the next, trying to excel or be perfect at everything. At home, the to-do list never ends. In our free time, we're speed-watching a series in one night. In the process, we miss a lot.
Want-It-All-and-Want-It-Now
Remember Naina from YJHD: "Life me jitna bhi try karo, kuch na kuch to chootega he. Isliye jahan hain, wahan ka he mazaa lete hain na."
No matter how much you try, you'll always miss something. So try to enjoy what you have right now — because this is all you have.
We're living in a fast-changing world, and we all feel the pressure to do everything. The busy-ness has overloaded our minds.
Getting Caught in the Fast Lane
We've reached a point where talking about hustling feels more important than actually getting things done. Social media is full of people glorifying hustle at all costs, and we never feel rest or achievement.
Guilt-free lazy days are rare. Sit idle and there's a nagging fear you forgot something. Chill with friends and the guilt creeps in.
Life doesn't have to be this crazy. We aren't meant to live this way.
How to Slow Down in a World That Values Being Busy
The craziness ends when you accept the alternative — slowing down. But that takes deliberate effort, in a world that says "busy is better."
When you're trying to do a million things, slowing down feels impossible. Do less instead. Focus on what's most important. Let the rest go. Build space between activities.
Slowing down isn't enough — you also need awareness. If you start overthinking the past or future, bring yourself back to now. Focus on what you're doing, who's around you, where you are. It takes practice.
Don't always be plugged in. Shut your devices off — or better, leave them behind. Constant connection means constant interruption and stress. It's hard to slow down when new messages keep coming in.
Boredom stimulates creativity. It nudges us to find new solutions, see things differently, generate ideas out of the ordinary. We have to use our creativity to fill time when complicated activities and stimulating media are absent.
When you find yourself speeding up and stressing out, pause. Take a deep breath. Feel the air enter and the tension leave. By focusing on each breath, you bring yourself back to the present and slow down. Try it now.
Slowness, an Antidote to Hustling
Doing many things at once doesn't actually make you more efficient. Slowing down — and prioritising — leads to greater success. It might seem counterintuitive, but slowing down can be the difference between success and failure, thriving and burnout.
Conclusion
Life moves so fast it flies by before we can appreciate it. It doesn't have to be this way. To enjoy life, you have to rebel against a fast-paced lifestyle and slow down. It may seem strange to slow down to speed up — but it leads to more innovation, energy, and productivity.
Hiral Sangoi
A clinical psychologist hooked to scrolling memes, having talent in tuning overthinking into writing.