In Praise of Slow
Whilst sorting through our books recently I came across it again and decided to give it another go. I have to admit I was slightly resistant to the concept at first – I’m running a business, so speed is important, right? But after a while I was completely hooked and the ideas really began to sink in.
So, what’s the book about? It’s all about the Slow movement – a movement to slow down on the basis that slower is better. It covers lots of angles – food, cities, exercise, medicine, sex, work, leisure and education. It’s an absolutely fascinating read, taking examples from all over the world to build up a picture of how many people are benefiting from a slower approach.
I am absolutely convinced that slowing down in my leisure time will benefit me. If I allow myself to take my time and not feel like I have to rush through everything in the evenings and at weekends, I should be a much more chilled out person able to take things in my stride and enjoying what I do more.
However, applying it to my work is another matter. I have a fear that if I slow down too much at work then that will have a negative affect on productivity. But, that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing I can take away from the book in terms of running a business – I don’t think I’m going to be taking catnaps at work but regular breaks to clear my mind will definitely be a good idea. It’s made me realise that I’m working flat out for most of the day, apart from a short pause for lunch. That can’t be good can it? In theory if I have regular breaks I should actually become more productive.
And, an important message from the book is that you don’t have to do absolutely everything slowly. There are occasions when speed is appropriate.
I highly recommend this book. It can help you slow down enough to think about how you do things and will definitely make you look at things differently.
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Knowing when to stop
I actually stopped work at 6 today. Problem is I’ve got so used to working all the time that I’m not sure what to do with myself. I know I’d like to chill out but seem to have forgotten how. Silly Emily.
Live to work / work to live
My work/life balance seems to be non-existent this week. Early mornings and late nights are what I seem to be up to. Just forcing myself to stop work for the day. It’s not good to work this late, especially when I was up at 6.30, but I did get one of those jobs done that kept getting pushed to the bottom of the list – so very satisfying. I’m hoping that leaves me with a clear day tomorrow to tackle some other important tasks.
Actually, I’m not usually one for working into the evening. Early mornings, yes, but come 5.30 I’m usually done for the day. I’m just much more of a morning person. But sometimes a bit of extra effort can help a lot – as long as it’s only occasionally. Generally I do like to chill out a bit more in the evenings, keep the stress levels down and all that. We just see to be so busy at the moment (and jolly pleased I am about it).
Some time to myself
I found myself getting up at 8.30 this morning thinking that it was going to be 11ish. I guess I haven’t adapted to the lighter mornings yet. It was good to have a head-start on the day. I spent the morning preparing the first draft of the presentation I have to do for my management course. I’m meeting up with my group tomorrow morning to have a run through. It feels good to have got to this stage as it’s been feeling like it’s been hanging over me for the last couple of weeks.
So, having done that I’m treating myself to some time to myself this afternoon. After a full-on week it actually feels odd to not have to be urgently doing anything. I think I’m going to do some work on goal setting, so I guess strictly speaking I will be working but it feels like it doesn’t count if it’s something that I actually want to do. Will intersperse with some mindless reading as well to make sure that I don’t overdo it. Tonight we’re off to my mother-in-law’s for dinner, so that will be a nice treat. Think we’re supposed to be round there for 5pm, so that will force me to stop doing anything remotely worky nice and early.
Time out
Having some time out this weekend. We ended up taking yesterday off which was very chilled out. Part of me is thinking I should be doing some catching up today and the other part is going ‘nah, it’s the weekend just relax’. Think it’s the second part that is winning. Might do a bit of reading to quieten my inner workaholic, but apart from that I’m just lazing around not doing an awful lot.
The Total De-stress Plan
She covers relaxation, covering the different techniques you can use and making your workplace and home much more amenable to it; diet and how you can reduce stress by eating sensibly; exercise, giving details of different types of exercise that are particularly good for stress-relief (i.e. yoga); and pampering, treating yourself well to aid relaxation.
The final chapter gives some ‘fast-track alternative solutions to stress-related problems’ if you have particular issues you want to deal with more quickly.
The book is a very comprehensive coverage of the subject of stress-relief. I’ve come away from it with a list of things that I can put into practice straight away and a few things that I plan to read up on further. I particularly like the idea of making my home and office a more relaxing place and will be following up on this in the coming weeks.
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Exercise and relaxation all in one
The only criticism I have is that sometimes she does talk a bit too much. She can get you into a position and then go rambling off into an explanation when all you want to do is get on with it before your arms/legs etc. give out. Sometimes the hardest thing is to just hold a position! Still that’s just a minor thing and definitely doesn’t put me off doing the workout.
The final position is complete relaxation, which is brilliant (though it would be nice if she would just shut up and let me relax). I finish the workout feeling more flexible, relaxed and ready for the day – a really good feeling.
The DVD also includes a bonus intermediate workout but I haven’t felt brave enough to look at this one yet. A few weeks of the basic and I’ll give it a go.
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Off to a good start
Well, I think it’s fair to say that I’m off to a good start with my 90-day plan. I was up at 6am this morning and did my yoga DVD … not very flexible at all so definitely need a bit more of that. Apart from that I’ve got most of the things ticked off my list for today, which is a good feeling. All that’s left is a bit of reading, doing my relaxation cd (brilliant people know how to deal with stress apparently) and to phone my ‘buddy’, which I’ve got booked in for 7pm.
I’m generally feeling motivated and keen to keep going. Well you’d hope so after just one day, wouldn’t you?
Taking my own advice
After feeling a decided lack of oomph when I got up this morning I decided to take my own advice and did Tip 10 from my 10 tips for staying motivated – I gave myself a break. I decided that if I got through as much as I could before lunch time that I could take the afternoon off. That in itself was a great source of motivation and I actually got quite a bit done. Then when I stopped for lunch I turned my pc off and enjoyed a work-free afternoon. What did I do with it? Slept mostly, then watched a DVD and did some reading. Lovely, could get used to that! Of course I won’t though. Tomorrow it will be back to work and hopefully feeling a lot more with-it.
