Five Ways To Slow Down In A Busy World

How often do you hear the response “I’m just so busy” when you ask people how they are?

According to clinical psychologist Jacqui Maguire, busyness doesn’t equal productivity, rather it’s “a highway to overwhelm, errors and ultimately burnout”.

“When we feel under pressure, slowing down or stopping seems unimaginable,” she says. “Yet the research is clear – when we take time to pause, reflect and be mindful we are more productive, creative, connected and efficient.”

Maguire has five tips for doing things differently:

1. Change your environment. If you feel like you are operating on autopilot or you’re getting flustered, get up and move outside. Nature decreases stress hormones and clears the mind, equalling better productivity when you get back to it.
   
   
2. Schedule mini-recovery breaks in your day. When working at home and online this is more important than ever. Mini recovery can be physical (five star jumps), emotional (watching a funny clip), social (say ‘hi’ to a friend), and mental (a five-minute quiz).
   
   
3. Slow your life down one activity at a time. Sit and drink your coffee in the café rather than getting a takeaway. Read the paper instead of scrolling articles online.
   
   
4. Make a list of ‘slow time’ activities that you enjoy (for example, gardening, reading, cooking, painting), and schedule them into the diary.
   
   
5. With practice, you are teaching your brain that there is another way to live. One where you are in control of your pace of life, rather than accepting that your to-do-list is controlling you.

“We want to ensure that we can sustainably live well and perform highly; rather than operating at full steam then burning out”, says Maguire. “It is in everyone’s best interest to shift the ‘I’m so busy culture’ by creating habits that emphasise rest, recovery and awareness of the problem.”