How can I start slowing down?
Embracing the Slow creed means rethinking your whole approach to life.
But everyone has to start somewhere, so here are five tips for decelerating:
1. Leave holes in the diary rather than striving to fill every moment with activity. Easing the pressure on your time will help you to slow down.
2. Set aside a time of day to turn off all the technology that keeps us buzzing - phones, computers, pagers, email, television, radio. Use the break to sit quietly somewhere, alone with your thoughts. Or try meditating.
3. Make time for at least one hobby that slows you down, such as reading, painting, gardening or yoga.
4. Eat supper at the table instead of balancing it on your lap it in front of the TV.
5. Always monitor your speed. If you’re doing something more quickly than you need to simply out of habit, then take a deep breath and slow down.
©2006 Carl Honoré Author of In Praise of Slow.
