Friday, February 17, 2012
10 Ways to Slow Down
Ian's Messy Desk: Do you have days when you feel life is rushing by at breakneck speed? Maybe your whole life feels that way. Here are 10 ways to slow it down and help you keep things in perspective.
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I found this article to be somewhat counter-intuitive to everything we are normally taught. I feel like I still have yet to master multitasking to further develop it to use it effectively rather than stop doing so all together. Even though I am pretty busy all of the time, I don't feel like time is going by too quickly on a day-to-day basis. I find that I can balance out doing some of the hobbies and things I like to do in my free time with all of my obligations in order to keep me busy enough without feeling like life is speeding by too fast.
I have a hard time slowing down being at CMU. If I'm not doing something then I feel as though I should be doing homework. Granted there are times when I have to stop and just sit because I will go crazy unless I don't but it is hard to constantly do this. During home work and production heavy weeks I feel as though I don't have a spare minute and if I do stop to just chill I will have to stay up to 4 to get everything done. I really want to give things they time they need but sometimes it becomes quite hard. Given this the the tv tip they recommend is really important, TV is a good way to waste an hour but then that hour is completely gone and you did nothing productive.
I agree with both what the article is saying, and what the above comments have said. While all these tips sound ideal and smart, they can be very difficult to apply in real life. Multitasking often becomes necessary with impending deadlines, but napping and listening to music are great ways to break up your busy day. Would the author then say that it is more important to take the time to relax, or to spend more time working in order to avoid having to multitask?
Overall, however, the article gives some excellent advice, and we don't take the importance of stepping outside our work to heart as much as we should.
This is something I have actually made a goal to attempt this semester. Not necessarily slowing down in terms of work load or the amount that I am taking on as a student, but spreading out my time better in a way that allows me to have meal time and general time to take a minute to enjoy what is occurring around me. And....so far, so good! I have found myself working more efficiently over shorter periods of time, even to the point of achieving better results than I was before. I truly believe this is because I now look forward to my meal times, time for my personal life, and my "me" time. Where there's a will, there's a way - even at CMU.
My favorite points in this article were those about the TV (and internet!) and multi-tasking. I often fall into the trap of using my "work" time to do random, unproductive things (such as surfing the internet or doing unnecessary chores) and then wondering why I have no leisure time! I then try to compensate for the lost time by doing three things at once, which ends up just being confusing and useless. This article came at a good point in the semester to remind me to get back on track with my productivity.
Multitasking doesn't work very well. Tasks for which we have "muscle memory" aside, we are unicore processors, i.e., while we can take in several pieces of information simultaneously, we can only think about and act on one at a time. Trying to do things simultaneously is typically counter productive, because we save no time from doing them separately and we create stress.
As for taking time to slow down, yes, we need to remember that there are things outside of this building and to heed what we instinctively think we need.
This article also forgets to mention alcohol, and nicotine. Strange.
The problem I sometimes face with slowing down is thinking that I simply don't have time to take a break. What I have to think about is that breaks are required in equity work and that is for a good reason. It's easy to feel so overwhelmed that it seems impossible to take a break, slow down, do something relaxing for yourself. I've started to set aside some time to do something like the list in the article would suggest. Having that sort of time in my day allows me to perform better during the times when I am working (which is most of the time). It's great to cut down on stress. While the list is good, I wish this article included more of an explanation
I think that it's important to realize the ways at which you would like to "slow down", before the process of actually letting the minutes pass takes hold. One good way to slow down would be to sit, for a longer period of time, write in a journal, read etc. I find it not, however helpful if I instead decide to "slow down" by turning on the tv/ surf the internet. In turn, I find this article stresses the importance of quality vs. quantity. It's stressing the need for appreciating the small things in life- and from these small little thoughtful breaks being productive with the rest of the time that you are given. I truly hope that I learn how to effectively slow down, in the way Kassondra mentioned: smarter planning to make way for more of a normal pace.
I find it absolutely next to impossible to slow my days down at CMU. My problem with two of the points on this list (sitting and listening to music) is that once I am done taking time for myself to do these things I regret it. I look at the clock and think "what did you just do? Thats half an hour you could have been working." Meals are just another thing that has to get done on my checklist and TV is not even a possibility. I know this is a personal problem and not a general argument on the accuracy of the article, but i will survive one way or another.
As a fellow CMU SOD student, I too find it nearly impossible to take a moment to "slow down." Often I find myself going over my schedule, trying to milk every possible moment of work time. However, its not healthy to work all the time. Obviously none of us do, or else we would all probably be so mentally-exhausted we wouldn't be able to wake up in the morning.
Even though breaks might be very short in a program or work-schedule as demanding as CMU's, they still need to happen. In my mind, the most important thing to do when I take a break is to define it strictly as a break. In other words, when I take a half hour to browse the internet, doodle, or just zone out, I say to myself "this is my break." That way, I can actually give myself a real rest, rather than just worry about what work I could be dong (like Sam said). This practice also works the other way, so when I say that I am working, I stay focused on my to-do list, instead of getting distracted. Those unintentional forays into procrastination don't feel relaxing, they just stress me out more. It's all about being specific about my time.
I honestly think that everyone has the time to slow down, even going to the school we do. It is always possible to take some time for yourself. Finding that time depends on actually working when you decide to work, and really leaving work behind when you decide to take a break. My favorite tips offered by this article are “Listen to Music” and “Live Life”. I probably like these best because they are the ones that I actually manage to incorporate into my own life most often. I agree with Pia that it is important to define some time strictly as a break. Especially when you have been working the entire day, it is sometimes important to say, “You know what? I’m taking tonight off.”
I think the trick to "slowing doing" isnt necessarily slowing down. Sometimes to me even the days that I feel are spent the most efficiently and productively while balancing a personal life - go by the quickest. A lot of these tips I employ on a daily basis when I find that i just need a quick break before stagecraft or crew calls to rejuvenate my energies for the next task. In a simple serene moment where you focus on nothing but relaxing, you tend to find peace. This world has naturally taught us to always be thinking ahead towards the next thing, whatever it may be. This article is common sense but sometimes hearing it from somewhere other than the person in our heads is reassuring.
I like this article and have even practiced some of what is suggested, but in reality, and in my life right now, It doesn't help me too much. I want to be able to slow down, but at CMU, and in my area of study, it is not going to happen. I have accepted that and actually embraced it as I know I will be ready for the real world when I graduate. I am sleep deprived and I am stressed at times, but it is what I signed up for. I will keep these suggestions in my back pocket and hope to use them from time to time, but for now, it's full speed ahead.
Wow, this is a popular article.
I think, at CMU, there's some days when you absolutely just have to work, and commit yourself to working that day. But I also think it's important to schedule time to do thinks you enjoy (and aren't getting graded for). Everyone has a different limit, but if you push yourself too far, bad things can happen. It's really good for your optimism level, morale, and overall happiness to indulge in things you enjoy, and take the time to make sure you're getting what YOU need, both physically and mentally.
That being said, I'm not criticizing anyone who has too much of a workload to take a breather. Some things you just have to put your head down and get through.
This article is a bit odd because although all of these suggestions are great ways to relax most of the take up a fair amount of time which then makes me feel even more rushed. When I am just sitting a “relaxing” it is very hard for me to not think about other ways that I should be spending my time. It is hard to slow down with all there is to do at CMU. Some of the ideas on the other hand I think are very true including the idea to stop multitasking. Anytime I am multitasking the things that I am attempting to do almost always take longer.
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