v e r y s l o w l y.
It's pretty striking; you go super slow, and then when you go normal speed you're all solid and apace.
My friend RF is the most productive person I know. CL points out that she never ever moves quickly; she walks, gathers her things slowly, takes her time to tie her shoes, and she is the most productive person I know.
My friend Rabbi JK teachers her students that in order to learn Talmud effectively you have to slow down.
I don't like slow. Slow is boring, and time consuming. I know it's important. So fine, I'll go slowly. I'll play Blackbird with my metronome at 90, and I'll take my time getting out my metro-card, and I'll take my dissertation one day at a time, all because I know that it'll allow me to reach my goals, large or small, more effectively than if I rushed. But let it be known:
Going slowly is SO ANNOYING!
Well, most of the time.
Walks in the park - slow is pretty nice.
Modern life expects a lot of our brains. We are expected to keep up with an ever increasing circle of friends and acquaintances, but I read somewhere that our brains are programmed to handle a universe of about 200 other individuals, corresponding to a medium sized village about 5000 years ago.
ReplyDeleteThis ever-expanding circle includes celebrities and characters in our favorite TV-shows and movies. And just imagine how many 3rd grade classmates we "reconnect" with via Facebook!
We are also expected to have a basic knowledge of how to use computers and the internet, email, blogging etc.
Filling your head with an education and then with a profession and all the knowledge and know-how that includes.
We are also expected to have basic knowledge of our society's bureaucracies (DMV, IRS, voting, etc.).
We need to keep up with the news. We need to develop hobbies.
It's pretty crazy what we're filling our heads with!
Maybe we should slow things down a little, but who's got the time?