Is busy the new good? (and how to go slower)

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When someone says “how are you”, what’s your typical response?

I’m going to guess it’s usually one of these two…

Good” or “Busy”.

I’m also going to guess that when we say ‘good’, we often don’t genuinely mean it. The word slips out of our mouth, more of a reflex than a considered answer. Because perhaps what we really is busy. Frazzled. Over-scheduled.

Is busy the new good?

A couple of years ago I began to notice my answer was always ‘busy’. And I noticed how much I hated saying it. I may as well have put a post-it note on my forehead saying ‘I’m way too busy to engage in a conversation with you’. I’ve missed out on lots of meaningful, valuable interactions because of this default answer.

Busy is disguised in other ways too. Here are three of my favorites. My girls hear these far too often.

  1. “In a minute” (when I actually hope they forget)
  2. “I just need to finish this” (what I am doing is more important right now)
  3. “Hurry up we’re running late” (I’ve tried to squish too much into my day and now you have to pay the price)

I hated how busy I was and was desperate to slow down.

Yes, I’ve been super busy the last few years, juggling my dream job and a family. And what I’ve realized is that I don’t want to be this busy. Ever. Again.

Our world is the fastest, biggest, and brightest it’s ever been. And it’s constantly evolving to the next level of crazy. And that’s even become a term – ‘crazy-busy’.

But what if you gave yourself permission to slow down, maybe simplify your life so you used the dreaded word, ‘busy’, less often? What would your life look like? For a start, it might mean being able to honestly answer ‘good’, and even have time to elaborate and engage in a meaningful conversation?

How do you slow down?

Unfortunately there isn’t a fail-safe recipe. Slowing down looks different for everyone.

What you should know, though, is that it may not be as drastic or as hard as you might think.

For me, slowing down hinges on these four things;

  1. Incorporating slow deep breathing as often as possible
  2. Noticing the physical world around me
  3. Single tasking instead of multitasking
  4. Being mindful instead of mindless

Maybe for you slowing down means;

What you might get when you slow down?

  • You might feel less stressed. Deep breathing activates our Parasympathetic Nervous System (the opposite of the sympathetic system – Fight or flight mode) and calms us down.
  • More time to do the things you love with the people you love
  • Criticism – from the people you politely say no to (but who’s life are you living?)
  • Disdain – from those who think you should be doing MORE (again, life = yours)
  • More quality sleep. If we are less stressed our sleep quality is likely to go up.

Slowing down is countercultural, it’s radical. But the benefits can be immense.

What next?

You might like to sign up for my weekly letter that includes more ideas on slowing down and simplifying life.

If you are on Facebook, you might want to join our growing community – Slow & Mindful Living.

1 Comment

  1. Vanessa May 28, 2017 at 12:12 am

    Awesome Emma! I definitely need to do this more 😄