The need to slow down...

Ask yourself a few questions today 

• Do you feel your mind is always whirring, always running? Jumping from one to the next to-do? Planning the day ahead without pausing enough for the moment now? Even when you are ‘relaxing’?
• Do you feel you are always running to deadlines, whether at work, or even in personal life? Even when you may not have to? 
• Do you sometimes feel guilty when you have free time, and you don’t do something ‘productive’ with it? 
• Do you feel a pressure to always multi-task? To listen to a book or podcast while running? To read something while in the tube? To do something on your laptop while watching tv? To check your phone while having a conversation with a friend? 
• Do you find it tough to sit and focus on one task for too long, without your mind wandering somewhere else? Do you find yourself unable to just read a book or exercise, without getting distracted with something else, especially your phone? 
• Do you find it difficult to stay away from your phone for long? 
• Do you spend time on hobbies sometimes more as a tick-mark than for enjoyment? 

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, it is time for you to hit the pause button, just for a bit. 

It all started with the slow but steady shift from traditional rural life to the fast paced modern life, where with high paying jobs comes the need to be more productive all the time. For a long time, there have been countless articles telling everyone how they can all do even more in even less time. And it has now become the norm, something to be proud of. To be able to multi-task all the time. 

All these shifts have led us to a place where we constantly feel this pressure to do more and more, to a point where being fast and more productive isn’t helping us anymore. Where this is creating stress and anxiety rather than increasing productivity or helping us feel better. And we need to realise, that it is not normal or good for us nor productive to have our minds running all the time. 

I started noticing this unconscious pressure on me at the beginning of the lockdown, and asked myself: 

• Why was my mind always running? Did it need to, always? 
• Is it helping me do more and better? Or only increasing the overall stress and anxiety levels around?

And the answers I found were surprising. My mind was running just because I had become used to it. Of managing multiple things all the time. At work but also beyond. But I did not need it to run or try to multi-task all the time like this. And it was totally fine if I let it slow down, sometimes during the day. 

It is definitely not easy to do that, given how much our lives have become a whirlwind. It is tough to let go. But one has to do that, because its good for our mental health in the long run. And better late than never. Meditation is always a good place to start. It has been for many years. But meditation takes time to slow down one’s pace. 

What I did was use the lockdown to help me with it. I would pick one day (and the weekend was always a good option), given there was nothing much to do then — no work, no socialising, no travel and no classes. I started with just living one day in a week, without an agenda. No to-dos, no alarms, no schedules and no phone. 

Just taking the day as it comes. Deciding what to do depending on what I felt like, spending as much time on it as I wanted, without thinking about the rest of the day and what was coming later. Without hurrying any of the activities I was doing. Just going with the flow. 

I would go for a walk if I felt like, not taking my phone with me but looking around and listening to all that was happening around. Or pick a book and read it till I didn’t feel like reading anymore. Or remember a friend and call and chat, without setting up time. Or start painting something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Or if the weather was sunny, take my bike and cycle wherever I wanted to, without a set time to come back. Or just sit on the couch and think. 

I did whatever I wanted to do, but only one thing at a time. And if I didn’t want to do anything, I would do that too. Just did everything at its own pace. (It also helped if on such days I kept my phone switched off during the day). 

It was tough in the beginning, for the first few times. But I would notice that as the days progressed, I felt calmer. And was able to be more in the moment. It all added to my happiness and elation by the end of the day. And as I kept doing this for more days every week, it got easier. Plus this also affected my other days, where I was able to be more in the moment, and enjoy them, rather than have my mind always running. I also felt that overall, it did not affect my productivity at all. I was doing the same as before, just better, as my mind was able to focus more, at its own pace. 

Over the last few months, this has helped me slow down my mind a lot. I can now pace it better, on the slow days for sure, but even on other days. And can enjoy the moments more, than try to do more all the time. It is a journey that I am happy to be on, even though the end is still some way to go. 

If you also answered yes to the questions at the beginning of the article, and feel that you can do with slowing down your mind a bit, try this for a few days during the lockdown. And see if you feel a difference in the quality of your life too.